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Foreign space agencies take interest in Soyuz-5 rocket

The space rocket will be in demand because the costs of orbiting payloads will be slashed considerably

© Alexei Savelyev/TASS

KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, August 22. /TASS/. Many countries, space agencies and commercial customers have displayed interest in Russia’s Soyuz-5 space rocket, the chief of the Roscosmos corporation, Igor Komarov, said at the military-technical forum Army-2017.

"There is interest in it and the interest is great. On the part of other space agencies, countries and commercial customers," he said.

Read also

Russia’s new Soyuz-5 rocket fit for tight competition on global space launch market

The space rocket will be in great demand because the costs of orbiting payloads will be slashed considerably.

"We believe we will be able to regain a considerable share of the market," he said.

Saying anything about specific contracts for these rockets is too early, he said.

"It will be possible to discuss contracts when Soyuz-5 has been made. It is a matter of several years. The market is vast with launch services ranging 2% to 4%.

About Soyuz-5

The federal space program for 2016-2025 envisages creation of a new generation medium class space rocket system (research and development project Feniks) in 2018-2025. The rocket will cost nearly 30 billion rubles ($508 mln). The project’s budget financing is to begin in 2018.

The first stage will consist of RD-171MV engines, and second stage, of RD-124M engines (developed at the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau and already used in the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket) instead of the RD-120 (of Ukrainian manufacture).

Read also

Russia’s new Soyuz-5 carrier rocket to fully replace Proton launchers by lift capacity

To speed up the new rocket’s flight tests the existing launch pad of the Zenit rocket at the Baikonur will be employed. Under the Baitrek project Kazakhstan will re-equip it for Russia’s new rocket. All rockets to be launched under the Baitrek project will be called Sunkar (Falcon). In Russia it is known as Soyuz-5.

The first launch of Soyuz-5 carrying the Federatsiya spacecraft without a crew from Baikonur is due in 2022, and in 2024 with a crew on board.

In the longer term Soyuz-5 will serve as the first stage of a new super-heavy rocket. Under the latest plans it is to blast off from Vostochny in 2028.

The Soyuz-5 space rocket project has caused a revision of the concept of manned launches that implied the development of a manned configuration of the Angara rocket - Angara-A5P. The construction of manned infrastructures at the Vostochny spaceport has been postponed.

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