Russian sub successfully launches prototype of inflatable space

MOSCOW -- A Russian nuclear submarine on Friday launched a prototype of a European-Russian inflatable space vehicle that could be used to bring payloads or people back to Earth from space, its designers said.

The Demonstrator-2 blasted off from underwater, aboard the Ryazan submarine in the Barents Sea, into orbit on a converted Volna SS-N-18 intercontinental ballistic missile, the Russian navy said in a statement.

The project was a joint effort among Russian space officials, the European Space Agency and Germany-based Astrium, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense & Space Co., according to Russia's Babakin Space Center, which designed the craft.

"According to the telemetric flight data, the experiment to send the Demonstrator-2 into orbit and return it to the atmosphere went successfully," the navy said.

The test model was a 2.6-foot diameter sphere launched atop the ICBM, Avdeyeva said. Upon release, its two sail-like panels -- one 7.6 feet high, the other 12.5 feet high -- inflated one inside the other and then drifted back to Earth.

"I'm very excited about this technology, for using it as an emergency bailout or for unloading cargo from space stations," said James Oberg, a Houston, Texas-based space industry expert.

He said the European Space Agency has been particularly interested in developing such an inflatable recovery vehicle to more quickly retrieve its experiments from the international space station.