BISHKEK, June 8. /TASS/. Russia has started developing a hydrogen engine for the Angara-A5V carrier rocket with the increased lift capacity and also for a super-heavy launcher, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told TASS on Thursday.
"A decision has been made to accelerate work on a super-heavy-class rocket. In this regard, R&D work has already been launched and work will begin on the RD-0150 hydrogen engine," Rogozin said.
According to Rogozin, this engine as part of the third stage increases the lift capacity of the Angara-A5 carrier rocket in its Angara-A5V modification to 37 tonnes and the engine will be subsequently used in the third stage of a super-heavy carrier rocket.
The vice-premier compared the Angara-A5 upgrade to the Angara-A5V version with the inclusion of a motor vehicle into a different category.
"Speaking in automobile terms, this is a heavy truck."
Rogozin earlier said that the Russian president had assigned State Space Corporation Roscosmos the task to accelerate the work on creating a super-heavy rocket through the development of the relevant technologies.
Roscosmos Head Igor Komarov said earlier that the launch complex for the super-heavy rocket at the Vostochny cosmodrome was planned to be built by 2030. The Soyuz-5.1 new medium-class rocket being developed under the Phoenix R&D work is expected to become the first stage for the super-heavy launcher.
Development strategy envisaged a Soyuz-5 launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome for 2034 and a super-heavy rocket launch for 2035.