MOSCOW, July 14. /TASS/. Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos is starting work to develop a medium carrier rocket with a methane propellant engine, Roscosmos said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Simultaneously, work is beginning on a new medium-class commercial rocket with a methane propellant engine," Roscosmos said on its Twitter.

The new rocket is set to replace the legendary Soyuz-2 family of launch vehicles, the statement says.

A source in the domestic space industry told TASS in late June that Roscosmos had approved a technical assignment for developing the conceptual design of a space rocket system with a new carrier rocket using liquefied natural gas (methane) and liquid oxygen as the propellant.

The contract for the design work is expected to be signed in coming months, the source said.