Russia to have own manned access to Moon using Angara rocket in 6-7 years - Rogozin
KOROLYOV, Moscow region. Oct 4 (Interfax) - Russia will be able to develop its own transport system to deliver cosmonauts to the Moon within the next six or seven years, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said.
"Our ballistics specialists from the Energia Corporation have calculated the probability: using an Angara A-5 rocket launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, we will be able to create a regular, efficient transport system capable of reaching the Moon, even using the current Soyuz spacecraft," he said.
Russia is currently the only country capable of delivering people to space, Rogozin said.
"They [the United States] are only planning expeditions, without having the hardware, while we do have the hardware but are not planning our own expeditions yet. Even when they build their own transport system, they'll come to the conclusion that it's impossible to fly to the lunar orbit without a reserve system. Roscosmos is already capable of flying," he said.