So what's happening with Russia's new, long-delayed crewed spacecraft?
In what seems like an alternate universe in hindsight, Russia and the European Space Agency began discussing collaboration on next-generation crewed spacecraft two decades ago. [Under the agreement][1], Europe would have provided a service module to power a crew capsule carrying up to six passengers.
Europe ultimately decided not to pursue a crewed spacecraft project at the time, and Russia's state-backed space corporation, Roscosmos, chose to move ahead with a crewed spacecraft on its own. This project—always seemingly more of a Potemkin village than an effort encompassing real hardware—has gone under various guises over the years:
* **PPTS** (Perspektivnaya Pilotiruemaya Transportnaya Sistema / Prospective Piloted Transport System): The initial conceptual project name used in 2009
* **PTK NP** (Pilotiruyemy Transportny Korabl Novogo Pokoleniya / New Generation Piloted Transport Ship): The official technical designation used until 2016
* **Federatsiya** (Federation): The official name chosen following a public contest and announced in January 2016
* **Orel / Oryol (Eagle)**: A new name adopted in September 2019 when Roscosmos was under the control of Dmitry Rogozin
## Actual hardware tests, maybe?
Beyond the name changes and a flood of renderings, after nearly 20 years of work, then, is anything actually happening with the Eagle spacecraft?
[Read full article][2]
[Comments][3]
[1]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519723.stm
[2]: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/#comments
An officer looks at a model of Russia's Oryol spacecraft at the International Military Technical Forum 'Army 2022' exhibition on August 15, 2022.
https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/
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npub1ls…2cgqv
2026-10-01 14:45:17 UTC
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"content": "So what's happening with Russia's new, long-delayed crewed spacecraft?\n\nIn what seems like an alternate universe in hindsight, Russia and the European Space Agency began discussing collaboration on next-generation crewed spacecraft two decades ago. [Under the agreement][1], Europe would have provided a service module to power a crew capsule carrying up to six passengers.\n\nEurope ultimately decided not to pursue a crewed spacecraft project at the time, and Russia's state-backed space corporation, Roscosmos, chose to move ahead with a crewed spacecraft on its own. This project—always seemingly more of a Potemkin village than an effort encompassing real hardware—has gone under various guises over the years:\n\n* **PPTS** (Perspektivnaya Pilotiruemaya Transportnaya Sistema / Prospective Piloted Transport System): The initial conceptual project name used in 2009\n* **PTK NP** (Pilotiruyemy Transportny Korabl Novogo Pokoleniya / New Generation Piloted Transport Ship): The official technical designation used until 2016\n* **Federatsiya** (Federation): The official name chosen following a public contest and announced in January 2016\n* **Orel / Oryol (Eagle)**: A new name adopted in September 2019 when Roscosmos was under the control of Dmitry Rogozin\n\n## Actual hardware tests, maybe?\n\nBeyond the name changes and a flood of renderings, after nearly 20 years of work, then, is anything actually happening with the Eagle spacecraft?\n\n[Read full article][2]\n\n[Comments][3]\n\n[1]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7519723.stm\n[2]: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/\n[3]: https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/#comments\n\nAn officer looks at a model of Russia's Oryol spacecraft at the International Military Technical Forum 'Army 2022' exhibition on August 15, 2022.\n\n\nhttps://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/so-whats-happening-with-russias-new-long-delayed-crewed-spacecraft/",
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