The Russian space corporation, Roscosmos is planning to build a new Amur rocket for an estimated $900 million. It is claiming that an Amur launch will only cost $22 million.
Methane powered booster rocket engines are in the planning stages and the proposed build is using re-usable stage one rockets, the first-time for Russia.
Tass, the Russian state news outlet reported that the first-stage booster will be reusable, but will still have a “non-recoverable” second stage. The rocket will stand 180-feet tall, and its reusable stage could launch a 10.5-ton payload into low-earth orbit.
“The central engine will be responsible for landing the stage back to Earth. In each flight it will operate three times: first, it will ignite at the launch of the rocket, the second time the engine will fire when the reentry stage is decelerated in dense layers of the atmosphere, and the third time will [be returning to the] ground with a soft landing on ‘feet’,” explained Igor Pshenichnikov, an Amur project engineer.
