ST. PETERSBURG, June 7. /TASS/. The timeframe for the first launch of the Angara rocket from the Vostochny spaceport remains unchanged and the liftoff is scheduled for 2023, State Space Corporation Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV Channel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2019) on Friday.
"Echelons of equipment are moving to that site [the Vostochny Cosmodrome] and we have started creating a foundation area and pouring the concrete. The timeframe [of the Angara’s first launch from the Vostochny] remains unchanged: we must necessarily carry out this launch in 2023," Rogozin said.
A source earlier told TASS that the Kazan production and construction association would continue building the second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. Later, Roscosmos confirmed this information to TASS.
The Roscosmos chief earlier said that an Angara-A5M heavy carrier rocket would blast off from the Vostochny spaceport, specifying that this upgraded version had a more powerful engine. If an Angara-A5 carrier rocket can lift 24 tonnes of payload, an Angara-A5M is capable of delivering 27 tonnes, he said.
Third Angara-A5 rocket may deliver Express satellite into orbit
The payload for the third Angara-A5 carrier rocket will be chosen by the end of June and this may be a communications satellite Express, the Roscosmos chief said.
"The third Angara will be launched with payload. I think we will finally decide on that by the end of the month. A proposal has been made to launch an Express," Rogozin said, without specifying the satellite’s class.
The Angara’s launch in December 2019 is required to test the rocket’s booster as for its compatibility with the carrier, the Roscosmos chief said.
The first launch of the Angara rocket took place in 2014 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north Russia. The next blastoff of the heavy Angara rocket is due to take place in December 2019 also from the Plesetsk spaceport, as Roscosmos announced earlier. The Khrunichev Space Center reported in the summer of 2018 that it had already launched preparations for this flight.
The 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 6-8. The forum’s motto this year is "Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda". The organizer for SPIEF-2019 is the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is a media partner, the official photo hosting agency and the operator of SPIEF’s presentation zones with support from multinational firm EY, and the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Russia.