Russia on Friday test-launched a collapsible mini-spacecraft, which is designed to carry cargo and even passengers from the international space station to Earth, a Russian space design bureau said.

The Demonstrator spacecraft, which blasted off on a converted Volna ballistic missile from the Borisoglebsk nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea, began its descent toward the Kura test range on Russia's Far East Kamchatka Peninsula on schedule, the Interfax news agency reported.

Searchers, however, have not yet found the spacecraft, according to a duty officer at the Lavochkin space design bureau, which worked on the project.
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The spacecraft is to be folded up and transported to the international space station on a Russian progress cargo ship, and is to be used to bring payloads back to Earth, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

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