Europe to join Russia in building next space shuttle

This paper reports on the cooperative effort between Russia and Europe to build a next-generation manned space shuttle. The announcement was made at the Paris Air Show as Russian officials confirmed earlier reports that their partners at the European Space Agency would join the Russian effort to build a new reusable orbiter, dubbed Kliper. While Kliper's principal mission is to ensure that the International Space Station (ISS) is effectively supplied and maintained after the planned retirement of the US Space Shuttle, Russian officials are hoping that it might also become the cornerstone of a future deep-space exploration program.