Standing on decades of successful operation of the Soyuz, Russia has made no secret that it has plans that place their crafts well outside Earth orbit. To effect these plans Russia has finalized the design for a new spacecraft capable of transporting humans to the Moon.
The "Prospective Piloted Transport System, as it has been designated, design contract has been was awarded to Energia in 2009 and is the company that presently construct the Soyuz. All indications point to the PPTS being ready for flight soon. Energia execs have said "If we get normal financing, we will start flight tests of the spaceship in 2017."
Here is the complete Dvice article and the original RT article here
