Russia's space corporation Energia is doubling production of manned spacecraft, the Company's president has stated. Vitaly Lopota said production of space freighters would increase by 50 percent.

Lopota did not say what the current production levels were or how many spacecraft would be built. Nor did he offer a timeframe. Lopota said Russia had an "insignificant share" of the world's $300 billion space services market and that Russia should increase its share and that the outlook for this was good. He also said Russia's Moon and Mars mission projects were far more cost-effective than similar U.S. projects. "We can achieve more with less money," he said, adding that NASA had taken an interest in Russian projects. Energia is the principal contractor for the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS).