BAIKONUR, April 11. /TASS/. The Rocket and Space Center Progress continues talks on launching the Soyuz rocket from the Sea Launch floating space port but no specific arrangements have been reached so far, CEO of the company Dmitry Baranov told reporters.

"Negotiations underway are not highly intensive. This is a discussion so far, without any specific points.

The Sea Launch floating space port consists of the Odyssey spacecraft launch platform and the command ship. The program was effective until 2014, with 32 launches of the Zenit launch vehicle completed. Operations were paused in 2014 and the S7 Group acquired the complex in September 2016.

In spring 2020, the command ship and the launch platform berthed at the Slavyanka Shipyard in the Far East.

The Bion’s orbit 

The BION-M biological research satellite will not change its orbit from near-earth to high elliptical as this will be provided for the next spacecraft, Baranov told.

"The launch vehicle can technically change the Bion’s orbit from near-earth to high elliptical but this will require in-depth rework of spacecraft systems. Therefore, this idea has been abandoned so far in favor of the next Bion to be made with tasks for a higher orbit set out in the statement of work from the outset," the top manager said.

The next spacecraft of this series is still designed and it is early to speak about the launch time, Baranov added.

Bion is the series of domestic spacecraft for biological research. The first satellite of this series was put to the orbit in 2013.