Russia: Fine, I guess we should have a Grasshopper rocket project, too

Like a lot of competitors in the global launch industry, Russia for a long time dismissed the prospects of a reusable first stage for a rocket.

As late as 2016, an official with the Russian agency that develops strategy for the country's main space corporation, Roscosmos, concluded, "The economic feasibility of reusable launch systems is not obvious." In the dismissal of the landing prospects of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, Russian officials were not alone. Throughout the 2010s, competitors including space agencies in Europe and Japan, and US-based United Launch Alliance, all decided to develop expendable rockets.

However, by 2017, when SpaceX re-flew a Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, the writing was on the wall. "This is a very important step, we sincerely congratulate our colleague on this achievement," then-Roscosmos CEO Igor Komarov said at the time. He even spoke of developing reusable components, such as rocket engines capable of multiple firings.

A Russian Grasshopper

That was more than seven years ago, however, and not much has happened in Russia since then to foster the development of a reusable rocket vehicle. Yes, Roscosmos unveiled plans for the "Amur" rocket in 2020, which was intended to have a reusable first stage and methane-fueled engines and land like the Falcon 9. But its debut has slipped year for year—originally intended to fly in 2026, its first launch is now expected no earlier than 2030.

Now, however, there is some interesting news from Moscow about plans to develop a prototype vehicle to test the ability to land the Amur rocket's first stage vertically.

According to the state-run news agency, TASS, construction of this test vehicle will enable the space corporation to solve key challenges. "Next year preparation of an experimental stage of the (Amur) rocket, which everyone is calling 'Grasshopper,' will begin," said Igor Pshenichnikov, the Roscosmos deputy director of the department of future programs. The Russian news article was translated for Ars by Rob Mitchell.

In a separate interview with TASS, another Roscosmos official, Dmitry Baranov, said the company is looking for a launch pad at which to test the experimental vehicle.

Falling way behind on reuse

If Russia does begin to build a hopper test vehicle next year it will underscore just how far behind the once-dominant global launch provider has fallen. SpaceX began development of its hopper vehicle back in 2011 and began testing it a year later in McGregor, Texas. The rural location inspired the "Grasshopper" moniker for the test vehicle—which was bestowed on the vehicle by its director of structures, Chris Hansen.

It's not entirely clear why Russia adopted the exact same nickname as SpaceX. The TASS article omits any mention of the SpaceX vehicle, perhaps inviting readers to believe this plan was conceived by Russian engineers.

SpaceX built the first Grasshopper from scrounged up parts, including the avionics components pulled out of the mothballed Dragon spacecraft that had made a test flight in 2010. The SpaceX Grasshopper vehicle initially flew for just a few seconds before eventually reaching an altitude of about half a mile. At the time there was a lot of skepticism that the test program would work, even internally at SpaceX. But ultimately it proved a successful test bed before SpaceX began experimental landings with real rockets and ultimately recovered a booster for the first time in December 2015.

Other competitors arise

On this timeline, then, Russia is nearly a decade and a half behind SpaceX in building reusable rockets.

The country is not alone. The European Space Agency began funding a "hopper" program in 2020, but a low-altitude test of the Themis project has yet to take place. It may happen in 2025. Other global space agencies have not attempted such tests yet. However, several Chinese firms are making progress on hopper tests, and one or more companies is likely to land the first stage of an orbital rocket in the next year or two.

Finally there is Blue Origin in the United States, which has successfully landed its suborbital New Shepard rocket about two dozen times. Within the next few months, the company plans to launch its much larger, orbital New Glenn rocket, and it will attempt to land the first stage on a drone ship during its very first mission—a sight to see, to be sure.