MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. The launch of a new Angara light carrier rocket is scheduled for the first half of 2022, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said at the EAEU business forum ‘Space Integration’ on Friday.

"The launch of the light Angara will take place in the first half of next year," Rogozin said. The launch of a heavy Angara carrier is targeted for the end of December this year, he added.

Commander-in-Chief of Russia’s Aerospace Force Sergey Surovikin earlier reported to Defense Minister Army General Sergey Shoigu that work was currently underway to assemble an Angara-A5 rocket whose launch date would be determined on December 20.

The Angara is a family of next-generation Russian space rockets. It consists of light, medium and heavy carrier rockets with a lifting capacity of up to 37.5 tonnes. The new family of rockets uses environmentally-friendly propellant components. The first two launches of Angara heavy rockets took place from the Plesetsk spaceport on December 23, 2014, and on December 14, 2020.