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Russia to create Krylo-SV reusable rocket prototype by late 2022

According to Roscosmos chief, the technology used by US-based SpaceX is not suitable for Russia

DUBAI, October 25. /TASS/. A prototype of a Krylo-SV reusable wing-deployable space rocket will be created by late 2022, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin told a press conference at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai on Monday.

"This project is called Krylo-SV. We are planning to create this rocket’s prototype at the end of next year," Rogozin said.

As the Roscosmos chief said, the technology used by US-based SpaceX is not suitable for Russia. "Based on ballistic calculations, if we lift off from the Vostochny spaceport [in the Russian Far East], the boundary of the Sea of Okhotsk and our Far Eastern coast in the Khabarovsk Region will be a landing site for rocket stages. This is a completely undeveloped area and a place where we can recover our rocket module seems to be very complex," Rogozin explained.

A conceptual design of the Krylo-SV reusable rocket was drafted and approved at the Advanced Research Fund on May 29, 2019. The project was developed by the Myasishchev Design Bureau. As the United Aircraft Corporation’s Horizont journal specified, the rocket will deploy a wing and switch on a jet engine after reaching the designated altitude, which will help recover the rocket’s first stage.

Currently, reusable stages are used in Falcon launch vehicles of SpaceX and New Shepard rockets of Blue Origin company. Reusable rockets are also being developed in China and Europe.