Russia’s Federation Spacecraft Still Targeting 2021 Test Flight

Tomasz Nowakowski writing for Spaceflight Insider about Federation:

The Federation spacecraft will measure some 20 feet (6.1 meters) in length and have a mass of approximately 14.4 metric tons. It should be capable of delivering people and cargo to the Moon and to space stations positioned in a low-Earth orbit.

There’s not a whole lot new in this article—it’s more of a status update—but this line in particular deserves some attention:

The spacecraft will replace the country’s flagship Soyuz vehicle, and the cost of its development is estimated to be about $734 million over the next six years.

It’ll be surreal to see Soyuz retired—it will have flown people into space for over 50 years. Truly an iconic spacecraft.

But the bigger point about the line above: it’s important to keep the budgets of NASA and other governmental agencies in context. NASA is spending billions per year on Orion’s development. Roscosmos is spending an average of $122 million per year on Federation.