In March 2005, Khrunichev

Khrunichev

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is a Moscow-based producer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets. The company's history dates back to 1916, when an automobile factory was established outside Moscow...

 enterprise, Russia's major developer of rocket

Rocket

A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...

 technology and spacecraft

Spacecraft

A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....

, unveiled plans for the country's participation in the exploration of the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

. The Moscow-based company proposed a super heavy-lift launch vehicle

Launch vehicle

In spaceflight, a launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket used to carry a payload from the Earth's surface into outer space. A launch system includes the launch vehicle, the launch pad and other infrastructure....

, along with a new generation of partially reusable spacecraft, which could be used to support manned expeditions to the Moon.

Follow-on to the TKS series

In addition to the heavy-lift launch-vehicle, Khrunichev concurrently proposed a new manned spacecraft, loosely based on the company's long-lasting TKS family of space tugs and modules. A partially reusable vehicle could carry up to 6 people -- not coincidentally a full crew of the International Space Station

International Space Station

The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 -- but also clearly featured capabilities for deep-space missions. The spacecraft is in competition with RKK Energia -- which earlier proposed Kliper spacecraft with similar capabilities.

The new spacecraft would be launched by a "man-rated" version of the Angara-3 rocket, which was designated Angara-A3M.

The interior of the new version of the TKS spacecraft was designed to accommodate as many as six people.

Technical specifications of the follow-on to the TKS series of spacecraft:

• Liftoff mass 14 tons
• Crew 2-6 people
• Number of flights 10
• Payload to LEO 6,350 kilograms
• Payload from orbit 1,870 kg

Another TKS-based spacecraft is Excalibur Almaz

Excalibur Almaz

Excalibur Almaz is a private spaceflight company which plans to provide orbital space tourism, and provide test beds for experiments in a microgravity environment., Excalibur hoped to begin flights by 2012 with revenue flights starting as early as 2013....

's modernized TKS VA capsule, which is intended for private spaceflight

Private spaceflight

Private spaceflight is flight above Earth altitude conducted by and paid for by an entity other than a government. In the early decades of the Space Age, the government space agencies of the Soviet Union and United States pioneered space technology augmented by collaboration with affiliated design...

.