The PPTS future Russian spacecraft proposal is renamed the PTK NP (ПТК НП, пилотируемый транспортный корабль нового поколения) – New Generation Crew Transport Spaceship by Energiya.
“Russia mulls rocket power ‘first’ ”, BBC News, 29/4. The landing system for the PTK NP might be a rocket-powered landing system, the first in history (the Soyuz uses parachutes, with retro-rocket engines to cushion the landing, and the Shuttle uses wings). The PTK NP return vehicle, at around 8 tonnes, would be too heavy to land safely with parachutes alone (though one could be carried for a backup).
