Russia believes it can compete in space with private companies including SpaceX, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday commenting on the firm's achievements.
Peskov told reporters the Kremlin and government scientific bodies "closely monitor" SpaceX's progress, including the successful launch of the Falcon 9 rocket's refurbished first stage Thursday.
"Our space corporation Roscosmos is also going through a transformation period, work is improving. Head of Roscosmos [Igor] Komarov has repeatedly reported to the president of no less advanced and breakthrough developments our specialists are currently working on," he said.
"Therefore, this is fairly intense competition. We have every reason to believe that we can adequately take part in this competition," Peskov stressed.
Earlier SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 9 carrier rocket with the SES-10 satellite.
The launch was the first attempt by SpaceX at sending the well-known Falcon 9 rocket back to space – and since, it's already been there back in April 2016, when it delivered necessary supplies to the crew of the International Space Station (ISS), it's been labeled as "recycled."
SpaceX started experimenting with drone ship landings in 2015. After the successful drone ship landing in April 2016, Musk said that the Flacon 9 booster could be used for 10-20 more flights and with the help of some modifications, it could fly up to 100 times.
Spaceport America sets new record for student launched sounding rocket
Spaceport America and the University of Southern California Viterbi School of Engineering Rocket Propulsion Lab announced a record-breaking rocket launch took place at 9:23 am MST from Spaceport America's Vertical Launch Complex-1 on the East Campus in New Mexico on March 4, 2017.
USC students and Alumni cheered alongside Spaceport America crewmembers as the Fathom II rocket soared past th … read more
