A deputy chief of the Russian space agency confirmed last week that there are no technical challenges to orbiting an updated Soyuz capsule around the Moon.
The Soyuz is the workhorse of Russian manned spaceflight, having served for years to send three crewmembers to and from low Earth orbit. Recently, Soyuzes were used as space taxis to send and retrieve cosmonauts and astronauts to the International Space Station.
The comments follow Russian reports that a similar plan which would be used for lunar tourism may be proposed by Energiya, a Russian manufacturer of booster rockets.
The use of Soyuz as a relatively inexpensive means of orbiting the Moon was praised by an official at the European Space Agency.
For more information on this use of the Soyuz, read this article from the Seattle Times, from which the above information was obtained.
Comment: The Russian Space Agency is well known to be cash-strapped. In the above report, there was a reference to making such a lunar mission "self-financing", at least in part. Another report (cited in this journal) stated that a seat aboard the Soyuz sold at $20 million. The use of Soyuz as a lunar craft would cost $2 billion. Could such a financing model make sense?
What if development cost more than $2 billion? What if there were in fact difficult technical challenges?
The possibility that the European Space Agency may become involved is intriguing. While the ESA is not exactly flush with cash, it certainly could offer its services in exchange for participation rights in such an endeavor.
Nothing has been decided one way or the other. The lunar proposal seems to be a way for Russia to compete against America's Project Constellation. Only time will tell whether it's a viable one.
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