Energia readying to increase production of Soyuz spacecraft
BAIKONUR. March 27 (Interfax-AVN) - The Energia Corporation will soon increase the annual production of Soyuz manned spacecraft to five for the International Space Station (ISS) program and commercial purposes, Energia President Vitaly Lopota told Interfax-AVN.
"The corporation and Russian space industry plants engaged in manned space programs are capable of doing that," he said.
It is unnecessary to build more than five Soyuz spacecraft per year although that is possible, Lopota said.
He also said they were building spacecraft and modules of the ISS under contracts with appropriate funding.
"Roscosmos fully meets its payment commitments without delays. I must say we had certain problems before 2009 but servicing of bank loans Energia borrowed to fulfill the contracts was included in contract prices," Lopota said.