Moscow ? 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 blasted off on a converted ballistic Volna rocket from a nuclear submarine in the Barents Sea at around 1:30 a.m. (4:30 p.m. CDT Thursday), and it later descended toward the Kura test range on Russia’s Far East Kamchatka Peninsula on schedule, the Interfax news agency reported.

Searchers, however, have not found the spacecraft, according to a duty officer at the Lavochkin space design bureau, which worked on the project.

The spacecraft is to be folded up and transported to the space station on a Russian Progress cargo ship and will be used to bring payloads back to Earth, ITAR-Tass reported.

Its collapsible, cone-shaped body is made of light material that can withstand high temperatures and it can fly on a predictable trajectory without engines – making it a cheap alternative to the Soyuz spacecraft currently in use.