Posted 4/1/2024, 3:17:48 PM
Russia races to develop new rockets amid lost market share, but faces doubts over timeline
- Russia once dominated the global launch market but has lost ground to innovative companies like SpaceX and rising competition from China and India
- Russia's workhorse Proton rocket is retiring soon, the Angara rocket is still in testing, and Soyuz lost lucrative Western contracts after Ukraine invasion
- Russia has relied on outdated technology instead of innovating like SpaceX with reusability
- Russia's plan is to develop a partly reusable Soyuz replacement called Amur-CNG and "ultralight" boosters with reusability
- The head of Roscosmos hopes to "restore position in the global launch services market" by 2028-2029 with this new fleet, but there have already been significant delays so timeline is uncertain