France and Russia on Tuesday signed a five-year, 200-million-euro (260-million-dollar) deal for joint research into a next-generation rocket launcher, the French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) said.
The deal on the so-called Orel project was signed in Paris by CNES and the Russian space agency Roskosmos, the agency said in a press release.
Scientists from the two countries will build and test prototype engines fuelled by hydrogen, oxygen and methane as well as a first-stage rocket booster that would glide back to Earth after launch so that it can be refuelled for another mission.
