Japan, USA plan to jointly construct spaceship equipped with Russian-made engine

Japan and the USA plan to construct a fundamentally new small-sized spaceship, equipped with a Russian-made engine. The new space missile "GX" will be capable of setting into the earth orbit a spaceship with astronauts, the Japanese TV-Channel NHK reported on Saturday.

It will be a two-staged missile, only 48 metres in length. In order to fulfil the joint project, the Japanese government and a number of major American companies are ready to establish a company "Galaxy Express" with the authorized capital stock of approximately $500mln. According to the given information, the first space missile of this model will be launched in 2005.

In order to reduce spendings on the project, the space missile is planned to be equipped with Russian-manufactured engine and an American fuel tank.

According to expert estimations, "GX" will be the first space missile of this model, which will rule the international market of small-sized crew-spaceships.