The first Soyuz-5 (Irtysh) launch vehicle has been delivered to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This was reported by the press service of Roscosmos, RIA Novosti reported.
The space ministry said the rocket blocks have been moved to the assembly and test building, where the rocket will be prepared for the upcoming launch. The first rocket launch is expected to take place before the end of the year. Soyuz-5 is a promising Russian medium-lift launch vehicle, being developed to replace Proton and Zenit rockets.
It is designed to launch unmanned spacecraft into various orbits, as well as launch manned Federation spacecraft into low Earth orbit. The rocket will run on environmentally friendly fuel (kerosene and liquid oxygen) and have two stages.
According to the plan, the launch cost of 1 kg of payload will be 40% lower than that of the Soyuz-2 rocket. On October 11, it was reported that experts successfully conducted ground firing tests of the first stage of Soyuz-5.
