MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russia’s Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation will develop a new compound at the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East for a super-heavy carrier rocket whose trials will start from 2028, the corporation said on its website on Friday.
"The Energiya Corporation has been designated as the chief developer of the space rocket compound for a super-heavy carrier rocket," the corporation said in a press release.
The project’s other contractors include the Progress Rocket and Space Center, the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure and others.
The decree on developing the new compound at the Vostochny spaceport was signed this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The concept of creating the new compound envisages maximally using the groundwork developed by today. Also, basic elements and technologies of the Soyuz-5 medium carrier rocket currently under development will be used in the work to create the super-heavy carrier rocket.
"The basic stages of work under the project have been defined. At the first stage (2018-2019), a conceptual project of the new compound for the super-heavy carrier rocket will be worked out, the conceptual design of the compound’s integral parts will be specified and a feasibility study will be prepared," the press release says.
The second stage scheduled for 2020-2028 stipulates carrying out R&D, experimental design, construction and assembly works," according to the Energiya corporation.
The flight tests of the super-heavy carrier rocket are expected to start from 2028. Under the technical assignment, the compound is designed to bring payloads of up to 90 tonnes to a low near-Earth orbit and no less than 20 tonnes to a near-Moon polar orbit.