Date of 1st Space Launch From Vostochny Cosmodrome to Be Set After Testing

The date of the first launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, currently under construction, will be determined only after independent and complex tests have been completed, according to a source in the Russian space agency Roscosmos.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The date of the first space launch from Russia's Far East Vostochny Cosmodrome will be set once all tests are completed, a source in the Russian space agency Roscosmos said Thursday.

Earlier in the day, head of the Russian Progress research and manufacture space center Aleksandr Kirilin said that a Soyuz launch vehicle would be used in the launch from Vostochny on April 25, 2016.

"The date of the first launch [from] the Vostochny Cosmodrome, [currently] under construction, will be determined only after independent and complex tests have been completed," the source told reporters.

According to the source, autonomous tests are continuing at the Vostochny's launch pad and have been completed at the technical area of the Cosmodrome. Complex tests with the Soyuz spacecraft are scheduled to begin in January 2016.

The Vostochny Cosmodrome, located in Russia's Far Eastern Amur Region, is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is on lease to Russia until 2050.