Russian Manned Rocket Launches Cheaper Than U.S. Ones, Roscosmos Chief Says

Illustration

Russian manned rocket launches are much cheaper than those in the USA, because a medium-range launch vehicle is used by Russia, head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said in a column published by Forbes Russia on Monday, TASS reported.

“Our Soyuz-MS is launched into orbit by Soyuz-2.1a – a medium-range rocket, not a heavy-class launcher. This is why the cost of our launches is much lower than of the American ones,” Rogozin wrote.

The Roscosmos chief noted that while his US colleagues claim that the cost of “one seat” at US-built Crew Dragon reaches $55 mln compared to $90 mln at Russia’s Soyuz, they misinterpret the cost of the launch service and the prime cost of the launch which is market-based.

“In this regard, I believe that the Soyuz MS in conjunction with Soyuz-2.1a remain unbeaten, whatever our competitors say,” the director general of the Russian space corporation said.

The Falcon 9 carrier missile with the Crew Dragon manned spacecraft started towards the ISS from Cape Canaveral on May 30. The launch took two attempts: on May 27, the launch was cancelled over bad weather around the launch site. This is the first manned flight from the US territory on the US-made spacecraft in nine years. The Crew Dragon successfully docked with the International Space Station on May 31.