The New U.S.-Russia Space Race Has Begun (But Moscow May Be Bluffing)
Russia’s space agency has approved the blueprints for the country’s most powerful rocket since the 1960s space race, a 246-foot-tall monster packing 10 separate engines in five stages.
In theory, the new Yenisei rocket, named for a river in central Russia, could boost cosmonauts vast distances, allowing Russia to plan independent missions to the Moon. With Yenisei, the Russians could compete with the Americans in a new wave of space exploration.
The idea behind the Yenisei program is to develop a rocket capable of slinging manned capsules the quarter-million miles to the Moon or to a space station orbiting the Moon. The same rocket could also carry extremely heavy satellites weighing 80 tons or more and place them in orbit around Earth.