MOSCOW, July 20 (RIA Novosti) - One of Russia's important offers on the international space market is the Rokot, a light and cost-efficient launch vehicle derived from the Stiletto (NATO Classification: SS-19), a once-formidable Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile, the Biznes daily reported.
Rokot gave a new boost to Russia's northern Plesetsk Space Center in the Arkhangelsk Region, Plesetsk chief Anatoly Bashlakov said Tuesday.
Since 2000, Plesetsk has successfully completed five commercial launches, orbiting 13 international spacecraft. Bashlakov praised the Rokot for its higher cost-efficiency compared to many of its Russian competitors.
"A single Rokot launch costs $12 million to $14 million, which is far less expensive than the launches of similar Western converted Athenas and Towers," a source in the space industry said.
While hundreds of Russian ballistic missiles will be cannibalized under international arms-reduction treaties, most of them are already nearing the scrap-only 15-20-year age. There is still time to convert some of these missiles into Rokot launch vehicles.
However, the Rokot market is tough and extremely competitive.
"The market for light rockets is overstuffed, orders are scarce," an industry source said.
The Rokot concept is marketed internationally by Evrorokot, a company partly owned by European aerospace major EADS. Experts say the Rokot will have good prospects on the market until 2008, when Europe is expected to come up with a new light rocket, the Vega. It will be more expensive - $20 million per launch - but Europe is unlikely to dismiss the huge and politically important project.
