MOSCOW, June 7 (RIA Novosti) - In case the United States withdraws from the International Space Station (ISS) program, Russia will develop the orbital station with help of the new Kliper spaceship now on the drawing boards, deputy head of the Russian Space Agency (Roskosmos) Alexander Medvedchikov said.
"We are looking ahead, too. Russia is developing a multiple-use spaceship, Kliper. If the United States happens to leave the program, we'll be prepared," he said at the Internet briefing.
Meanwhile, the president of the United States, former and present chiefs of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration have not yet officially refused to participate in the ISS program, Medvedchikov said.
"As far as I know, the problem is different. The United States is not going to make endless use of its shuttles. They are a costly affair and too old at that. To the best of our knowledge, the American side is going to make another spaceship. I don't know if it is going to be fit for missions to the ISS or something else but, hopefully, everything will be thought and weighted out," Medvedchikov said.
He also said that the Russian Buran re-usable spaceship project can be revived, if necessary.
"I think this system is much better than Shuttle, which operates only in tandem with a launch vehicle. The Energia-Buran project ideology is far more practical: the Energia LV and the Buran shuttle are independent," Medvedchikov said.
In his opinion, the Buran merely was ahead of its time.
"We created it ahead of time. No large-scope goals were in view to be handled by the Buran," he said.
