Russian space rocket company Energia has unveiled plans for a reusable ‘space taxi’ to shuttle cargo and crews between the International Space Station (ISS) and the moon.

The announcement was made at the Human Space Exploration international conference in Korolev, near Moscow.

Provisionally named Ryvok, meaning ‘charge’ in Russian, the new spacecraft would be permanently docked at the ISS, or its replacement space station.

The flights down to the lunar surface would be powered by a fuel in an ‘accelerator block’ delivered from Earth by a Russian rocket.

The new space vehicle would be used for five-day return trips to the moon from the space station.

The Angara A5 rocket and the ‘Federation’ spacecraft, which is currently in development, are expected to replace the long-serving Soyuz.

However, Energia thinks that it’ll be more cost effective to develop the Ryvok ‘moon taxi’, rather than waiting for the new rocket to be declared safe to carry humans.

Federation is scheduled to be built by 2021 with flights set to start in 2023.

Russian space agency Roscosmos expects flights to the moon to begin in 2025.

SOURCE: Yahoo