MOSCOW — Russia on Wednesday laid out its ambition to gain an edge in space by building a nuclear-powered spaceship.
Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov told a government meeting that the preliminary design could be ready by 2012. He said it would take nine years and $600 million to build the ship.
President Dmitry Medvedev hailed the plan and ordered the Cabinet to find the money for it. But the stated ambition, contrasted with slow progress on building a replacement to the mainstay Russian spacecraft, sounded more like a plea for extra government cash than a detailed proposal.
“It’s one of a series of sucker- bait trial balloons looking for some government or corporation in the West with more dollars than sense,” said James Oberg, an engineer in Houston who is an expert and consultant in the Russian space program.
