FRANCE should join forces with Russia to build the Crew Rescue Vehicle abandoned by the European Space Agency, says French research minister Fran莽ois Fillon. The CRV, which would ferry astronauts to the international space station, was to have been part of ESA鈥檚 contribution to the station.
But ESA鈥檚 decision to scale down its part of the space station project has left it with just the Columbus laboratory and the Automated Transfer Vehicle, which will ferry freight to the station. Together these will cost about 拢1.5 billion.
German officials say that France鈥檚 insistence on going ahead with the CRV with Russian help stems from its reluctance to rely on US technology.
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Under Fillon鈥檚 plan, the CRV would be built in stages by adapting and modernising the Russian Soyuz capsule, which is likely to be used to bring astronauts back to Earth, at least initially.
Officials at the French space agency say the CRV presents more of a technological challenge than the other projects. Fillon says it will allow Europe 鈥渢o master this technology which is indispensable to its long-term space autonomy鈥�.