Russia starts to develop reusable manned spacecraft

MOSCOW, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Russia has started to develop a new reusable manned spacecraft, a space official said Wednesday.

Igor Khamits, chief of Russian Rocket and Space Corporation Energia's research and technological design center, told reporters in the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan that the spacecraft was under initial design while drawing on experiences from the "Soyuz" manned spacecraft.

Based on initial designs, the entire spacecraft, known as "Rus," except for its one-off power system could be used 10 times, Khamits said.

The spacecraft could be used for near-earth orbit flight as well as moon exploration, he said.

Russian media said previously that a design draft of "Rus" would be submitted to the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos by mid 2010, and its debut blastoff would be set for 2017 before being formally deployed one year later.