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Russia to start developing new generation carrier rocket

The Sunkar is a new generation medium-class carrier rocket for the Baiterek space rocket center, which Russia and Kazakhstan are building at the Baikonur spaceport

© Piotr Gridin/TASS

MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. The development of Russia’s new generation carrier rocket Sunkar for the Baiterek compound at the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan is expected to start in 2018, according to government materials released on Wednesday.

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"Partners from Kazakhstan have reached an agreement on establishing the Baiterek compound at the Baikonur space center with the use of the new Russian advanced carrier rocket whose development is planned in 2018," according to the government materials prepared for an annual report.

It was reported earlier that the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau, part of Russia’s Energomash Research and Production Association, had started developing a new engine for the Sunkar rocket. The power plant will be designed for oxygen-kerosene fuel components, using the engine 14D23, which is produced in Voronezh and features a record-high specific impulse of thrust among all oxygen-kerosene rocket engines in the world. The enterprise faces the task of making the engine more efficient, simpler in design, cheaper and competitive on the market.

The Sunkar is a new generation medium-class carrier rocket for the Baiterek space rocket center, which Russia and Kazakhstan are building at the Baikonur spaceport. It will be similar to a carrier rocket for the Sea Launch project. The rocket’s first stage is also planned for use in a carrier rocket being developed for launches from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East as part of the Feniks R&D work. The Feniks will eventually become the basis for Russia’s super-heavy carrier rocket.

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