The Russian national space administration, Roskosmos, announced its intent to move on to the next generation of spacecraft and boosters. Planning is still in its early stages, though the new spacecraft might follow along the lines of the heavily-used Soyuz design or take after Russia's Angara rocket. Roskosmos is one of the lead partners helping to maintain the International Space Station and, despite many obstacles to its progress, the Russian space program is still competitive on a global scale. Much of the world's space tourism is Russian-operated.

As the Soviet Union, Russia's space program enjoyed high honors. The nation was the first to send a satellite into space, and launched the first single- and dual-manned craft, putting the Soviet Union ahead in the race to get men and women into space. The country is currently building a new cosmodrome to launch rockets from. — Kevin Hall

Via Reuters