After being launched by a commercial rocket, it would carry the rover from Earth orbit to lunar orbit and then down to the surface. During descent, the lander would use propellant to hover for perhaps 45 seconds at an altitude of two kilometers to select a landing target that is relatively flat and free of major obstructions. The lander would hover again at an altitude of about 200 meters to ensure that no large rocks or boulders are directly beneath it. This image shows one of the expected new reusable launch vehicles, the Roton from Rotary Rocket Company . Unlike current expendable rockets that are used only once, the Roton will return to base completely intact, like an airplane.
Many Western firms use Russian rockets to put their communications satellites into orbit.
Russia's Lavochkin Assn. is offering its expertise to Western companies as the primary builder of Soviet-era Moon landers. The device pictured at the left is the Luna 24 probe that landed on the Moon in 1976, drilled down for a soil sample, and returned it to Earth. Luna landers were launched by Proton rockets and could deliver an enormous 1,000 kg payload to the Moon, making them more than capable enough to deliver the LunaCorp mission to the Peary crater. LunaCorp would use a lander adapted from the one built for NASA's Mars 98 mission to the Red Planet. The launch would take place from a commercial launch pad near the Kennedy Space Center.