Russia doesn't have the resources to develop new advanced technologies. Most smart people left for high salaries, ones remaining make money in business, not engineering.

Russia's space industry has essentially relied on tech developed during Soviet Union. Try to think of any technology that's not encryption related that was developed in Russia in last 20 years.

> Russia doesn't have the resources to develop new advanced technologies.

> Try to think of any technology that's not encryption related that was developed in Russia in last 20 years.

Yandex.

Parallels, Acronis, JetBrains but it is all IT. In aerospace all companies is government owned and and it is not possible to create private ones because Putin regime will take it away from you.

> What's stopping them from going this route

The same issues, that preventing them from fullfilling their promise to open Moon base in 2015.

They're behind in technology, in science, in work culture and they're plagued with corruption.

In my eyes reliability, having Russian expertise on metal working it is easer to build new rocket than create bullet prof inspection methodology and reuse it. That guy can lost trust with just few failed rockets and everybody will tell that vertical landing is not feasible.