[NP-INCOMPLETE]

The soyuz modules are decades old, but remember they can be upgraded with each new launch. But you can only overhaul a shuttle every 5 to 10 years. So it means in terms of safty and components, the Soyuz is technologically ahead of any shuttle.

[Cold Heat]

Soyuz is technologically ahead of any shuttle.

LOL! The Soyuz is comparable to Apollo without the frills. It can't carry large payloads, It can only carry 3 to four people like sardines. It is nothing but a tin can on a bunch of bottle rockets.

I think a space plane is more the proper vehicle. Large payload capacity. (it could be built to about any size) A re-usable airframe and no expensive polluting boosters.

Larger transport vehicles could be built in space if a dock were available. That is why a large payload capacity is needed.

Rocket boosters are terribly obsolete.