A Russian version of the RASCAL ?

RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN SET TO ORBIT SATELLITES FROM MIG-31 FIGHTER

MOSCOW, March 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Kazakhstan have pondered the project of launching small satellites into space from the Russian fighter MiG-31, the spokesman for Roskosmos (Russian Space Agency) has told RIA Novosti on Friday.

"At the meeting in the Kazakh capital Astana on March 23, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Danial Akhmetov and director Yuri Solomonov of the Moscow-based Heat Engineering Institute discussed the creation of the Ishim aerospace rocketry system. It intends the launching of small satellites with the help of Russian the MiG-31 fighter", the Roskosmos spokesman said.

Ishim is designed for injecting small non-military spacecraft into the near-earth orbit.

"Essentially, Ishim work is this: the MiG-31 rises to the required altitude with an attached small-size rocket carrying a satellite. Separated from the plane, the rocket, powered by its engine, orbits a spacecraft weighing up to 160 kilograms", the Roskosmos explained.

Director and general director of the Heat Engineering Institute Yuri Solomonov stressed that Russia and Kazakhstan have all it takes to unfold the system.

"We have planes, airfields and our institute can in a short time design and manufacture the new rocket with a solid-fuel engine, which is a guarantee of its dependability and avoids the use of toxic components", he noted.

Kazakh Prime Minister Danial Akhmetov has instructed the Kazakh Aerospace Committee and the Informatics and Communication Agency to set up a working group for comprehensive feasibility study and realization of the Ishim system, Roskosmos said.