14 DAY TRIAL // Officials with the Russian Federal Space Agency (RosCosmos) said at an annual space conference held today, January 28, in Moscow that the organization will be pushing for the development of the world's largest rocket, a behemoth capable of lifting more than 150 metric tons of cargo in Earth's orbit.
The announcement was made by the head of RosCosmos, Oleg Ostapenko, who was appointed to this position last October. The official said that the first version of the new rocket would have to be able to launch as much as 80 metric tons of cargo into orbit, Space Fellowship reports.
Future versions, he went on to say, should be able to launch as much as 160 metric tons of cargo. Such vast lifting capabilities are required for manned missions to Mars or the Moon, experts comment. The heaviest variant of the new launcher could thus be able to lift 8 times the payload a Proton rocket can.
The record-holder for the largest rocket ever crated is NASA's Saturn V, which delivered the Apollo astronauts to the Moon. Its maximum capacity for LEO insertion was 120 metric tons. The Space Launch System, currently under development in the US, will be able to lift 70 to 130 metric tons of cargo.