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Russian space agency hopes new Il-96-500T aircraft will be created in promised timeframe

In total, the the Ilyushin company plans to build 16 aircraft of the new type from 2026 to 2034

Il-96 aircraft Marina Lystseva/TASS

Il-96 aircraft

© Marina Lystseva/TASS

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. Russian national space agency Roscosmos is interested in the use of new aircraft Il-96-500T and hopes that it will be built in the promised timeframe, an official with the corporation told TASS on Tuesday.

"The Roscosmos state corporation is interested in the start of production and operation of the Il-96-500T aircraft, which is being designed to transport parts of rocket and space technology to the Vostochny space center. Roskosmos hopes that the Il [Ilyushin company] will be able to create this aircraft within the in promised time frame time frame set earlier," the official said.

According to the presentation of the Ilyushin company, a copy of which was obtained by TASS, the company (part of the United Aircraft Building Corporation) developed a draft design of the IL-96-500T aircraft with an bigger body for transporting oversized cargo, for example, components of Angara missiles to the Vostochny space center.

In total, the company plans to build 16 aircraft of the new type from 2026 to 2034. Six of them are supposed to be handed over to Russia’s Defense Ministry, six will be delivered to commercial customers (through the Ilyushin Finance Co leasing company), four more will be built in the interests of Roscosmos and Russian-Chinese cooperation on CR929 wide-body aircraft.

The cost of experimental aircraft, including research and development, preparation for production, testing and certification, is estimated at 30.3 bln rubles ($475 mln). The payback period for commercial operation is 10-12 years. According to industry specialists, the project can be implemented in 5-7 years.

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