"Ed Kyle" wrote in news:1115700375.069758.129750
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

It's about time Russia accepted Zenit for what it
is - maybe the world's most perfectly conceived
(if not perfectly executed) space launcher. It is
the rocket that NASA would like to have for CEV -
kind of like an Atlas V on steroids - able to boost
a 14-15ish ton payload to low earth orbit with no
solid booster augmentation. It is the capability
Russia is trying, unneccessarily, to copy with its
Angara program. China and Japan would like to have
such a rocket, but they don't. Europe had to work
hard to get its Zenit (Ariane 5G) working.

Ukraine and Russia have had the perfect machine
for nearly 20 years. They just haven't used it.

The Zarya 'super-Soyuz' would have been a great complement.
The FSU blew its budget on Buran instead.

--Damon