Russian propulsion engineering firm Energomash is open to contracts to build partially reusable launch vehicles, the company’s chief executive Igor Arbuzov said.
“If a real customer turns up who will need a carrier rocket with a reusable stage – we will make one”, Arbuzov said.
He added there had been no contracts for rocket stages that could safely return to Earth after the launch, “although the topic of reusable stages is frequently discussed among chiefs of design bureaus”.
According to Arbuzov, the technology will help preserve costly booster engines that are used in the first stages to propel the entire carrier rocket upwards. (Russian Aviation/Business World Magazine)
