Students Teach Rockets to Come Home: How Russia’s Next Generation Is Reshaping Reusable Spaceflight

From Simulation to Real Flight

At a time when reusable rockets are no longer science fiction but a commercial reality, Russia is taking a tangible step toward a new technological paradigm in spaceflight. A student team at the Moscow Aviation Institute has created a hardware–software complex capable of high-fidelity simulation of the controlled descent and vertical landing of a reusable rocket’s first stage. This is not just an academic exercise – it is a practical tool that could help reduce costs and accelerate domestic launch programs.

The system allows engineers to rehearse the most challenging phases of booster recovery on the ground, from atmospheric reentry to final vertical touchdown. The model accounts for dynamically changing parameters such as vehicle mass, atmospheric properties and the inertia of residual propellant. Control logic is built around PID controllers that stabilize attitude and manage vertical velocity. Looking ahead, the developers plan to introduce neural-network algorithms to adaptively optimize trajectories, even under non-standard aerodynamic conditions.

Why It Matters for Russia and Beyond

Lowering the cost of delivering payloads to orbit is one of the central challenges of modern spaceflight. That is why solutions like the MAI system carry strategic weight. For Russia, they open a pathway to developing domestic reusable launch systems without relying on expensive, high-risk early flight tests. This is especially relevant for projects such as the methane-fueled Amur-SPG rocket, where precise landing control is not optional but fundamental to the design.

First-stage engines are extremely complex and expensive to manufacture. When a recoverable first stage is used, those costs can be significantly reduced. Reusable boosters will dramatically speed up and lower the cost of many space projects, including the deployment of low-Earth-orbit communications constellations. Our development makes it possible not just to calculate how such a stage behaves during landing, but to simulate all physical processes involved – from mass reduction and changing atmospheric properties to the inertia created by residual fuel in the tanks

Ilyas Galeev

project participant and student at the Moscow Aviation Institute, Department 610 “Operations Management of Rocket and Space Systems”

Globally, comparable technologies are already in use. Europe’s Themis demonstrator is undergoing tests in Sweden and France, while SpaceX’s Falcon 9 has long mastered booster recovery, as reflected even in official U.S. regulatory filings. Yet the commercial launch market remains open to new entrants. A Russian-developed simulator could appeal to international startups, particularly in the small- and medium-lift segment, where development speed and design flexibility are decisive.

Scientific Foundations and Educational Impact

The MAI student project fits naturally into Russia’s existing scientific infrastructure. Organizations with extensive experimental capabilities can already test structures for strength, vibration and thermal resilience. Integrating the new simulation complex into such centers would allow engineers to validate models and, just as importantly, use them to train future specialists. It creates a direct link between theory and practice, between the university lab and the launch site.

This approach also reduces dependence on costly real-world testing during early development stages, a crucial advantage when resources are constrained. National space programs could eventually adopt initiatives like this, turning student-led developments into building blocks of broader technological policy.

What Comes Next

The roadmap for the system is ambitious. By 2026–2027, the team expects to incorporate neural-network components, making the simulator more flexible and resilient to external disturbances. By 2030, the solution could be commercialized, both domestically and internationally. Russian technology may find a niche in the global market for reusable-rocket simulators, competing with established Western alternatives.

Ultimately, the work of these MAI students is more than a scientific experiment. It illustrates how young engineers, grounded in fundamental knowledge and modern tools, can shape the future of an entire industry. Today they are modeling landings in a laboratory; tomorrow, their algorithms could be guiding a real rocket safely back from orbit.