[FPSPACE] Russian spacecraft tender cancelled

[Bart Hendrickx]

The Russian Interfax/AVN and RIA-Novosti news agencies are quoting Anatoliy
Perminov as saying at the Farnborough Air Show that the tender between
Energiya, Khrunichev and Molniya has been cancelled now that Russia and
Europe are planning to jointly build a manned reusable spacecraft. Perminov
said
that RKK Energiya's Kliper met virtually all requirements, except financial
ones.
Energiya has now been selected as the prime Russian contractor in the joint
Russian-European project. Perminov did not rule out that Energiya's Kliper
will
appear "in the second phase".

This is Flight International's version of the story :
http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles/2006/07/18/Navigation/177/207935/Farnborough+Russia's+Federal+Space+Agency+cancels+manned+spacecraft.html

Farnborough: Russia's Federal Space Agency cancels manned spacecraft tender

The tender process for Russia’s Federal Space Agency’s (FSA) reusable manned
spacecraft programme has failed with no winners. Speaking at the Farnborough
air show on 18 July FSA director-general Anatoly Perminov said that cost
issues saw Energia’s reusable manned spacecraft proposal Kliper (see below)
fail to win the tender competition, which also involved NPO Molniya and
Khrunichev space centre.

That tender competition would have led to a programme of vehicle development
to replace Energia's Soyuz capsule, which could have been in co-operation
with the European Space Agency (ESA). NPO Molniya's bid was a winged vehicle
and Khrunichev's was a capsule; neither was considered better than
Energia's.

"This tender has not been fulfilled. It has been cancelled,” says Perminov,
who will be attending the Farnborough air show's space day's international
future for space press conference on 19 July; also attended by UK science
and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury, ESA director-general Jean-Jacques
Dordain and Japan Aerospace Exporation Agency vice president Kaoru Mamiya.

ESA's leadership had proposed to its member states' ministerial council in
December last year that they provide €30 million ($37.5 million) for a
two-year programme studying the development of a Kliper like vehicle.
However the proposal was largely rejected with only a few million euro
raised.