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Firms based in Russia and Australia are jointly developing a system for launching small satellites from a high-altitude airplane carrying a cheap, disposable rocket, Interfax news agency said Tuesday. The project, being developed by Russia's Myasishchev Experimental Engineering Plant and Australia's Technoimport Company, will cost around 200 million dollars and is expected to complete the research and development phase within three years, the agency said. Use of an M-55 Geofizika aircraft to carry the satellite and booster rocket to high altitudes before launch will dramatically reduce the cost of launching satellites as no space launch factility is needed and no massive rockets will be required. "The M-55 Geofizika aircraft would become the basis for a flying space center," the report quoted Valery Novikov, chief designer of the Myasishchev plant as saying. All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
Moscow (AFP) Oct 07, 2005Russia has successfully launched a space apparatus that would be used to bring useful cargo back from orbit to Earth, the defense ministry was quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency as saying early Friday. |
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