MOSCOW, December 29. /TASS/. The next launch from Russia’s Far Eastern Vostochny space center is scheduled for February 1, 2018, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said on its website on Friday.
Roscosmos posted a plan for spacecraft launches for January-March 2018. Thus, the first launch from the Vostochny space center is planned for February 1, 2018, when a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with Russian Kanopus-B No3 and No4 remote sensing satellites will be blasted off. Their launch was initially planned for December 22, 2017 but was postponed due to an abortive launch on November 28.
"In the first quarter of 2018, it is planned to make two launches from the Baikonur space center to the ISS [International Space Station]. A Progress MS-08 cargo spaceship will be launched on February 11 and a Soyuz MS-08 manned spacecraft will be launched on March 15," Roscosmos said.
It is also planned to make two launches under the federal commercial space program in January-March 2018.
Apart from that, a Soyuz ST-B carrier rocket with an O3b communications satellite is to be launched from the Kourou space center in French Guiana on March 1.
Crews working at the International Space Station are expected to conduct 290 research experiments through to 2024, the state space corporation Roscosmos said.
"No less than 290 research experiments will be held at the ISS through to 2024," the report said. "Of that number, 90 experiments have been completed successfully; another 78 experiments are at the stage of implementation and the materials for 122 more experiments are getting ready for delivery to the station."
Simultaneously, the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center near Moscow continues coaching future cosmonauts and astronauts. On December 15, Roscosmos rounded up the acceptance of applications and documents from aspirants to future jobs at the Cosmonauts Corps, including those who hope to take part in Russia’s Moon exploration program and in the testing of the next-generation Federatsiya spacecraft.
"We have accepted the documents from 400 applicants [80 women and 320 men]," the report said. "Some 80 applicants have been invited to take part in the on-site testing. At the same time, we are scrutinizing more than 60 applications.".