Article Posted on : - Jul 06, 2011

Rusia's new spaceship Klipper

MOSCOW (PTI): Russia is developing a two-seater next generation spaceship which is set to be test launched in 2015 for servicing the malfunctioning satellites on the orbit and collecting trash posing threat to its new spacecraft.

The spaceship designed by Energia Aerospace Corporation is expected to be first test launched from the new Russian spaceport 'Vostochny' in Amur region in the east of the country in unmanned mode and the first cosmonauts are to leave on it in 2018, Interfax reported.

The new spaceship, unofficially dubbed "Rus", can take the cosmonauts on a two-week independent mission and its advanced manipulators with dexterity comparable to that of a human hand in a spacesuit glove will be used to change parts of a satellite, refuel it or help its solar panels to unfold without crew members taking a spacewalk.

The vehicle will also have the airlock equipment necessary for spacewalks too.

It will be mainly used for the maintenance and repairs of expensive spacecraft like weather and remote sensing satellites.

It will be also able to handle large chunks of space trash like pieces of defunct spacecraft as it cleans up the orbit to prevent possible accidents.