Russia to Start Financing New Phoenix Carrier Rocket Development in 2018

Russia will begin financing the development of a new carrier rocket dubbed Phoenix in 2018, Deputy General Director of Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center Aleksandr Medvedev said Friday.

KOROLEV (Moscow region) (Sputnik) — Cargo capacity of the projected carrier rocket is expected to be within the range from nine up to 15 metric tons, he specified.

"The financing will start from 2018. All the [space industry] enterprises are working out their own variants [of the rocket]," Medvedev told reporters.

Phoenix is expected to be Russia's domestically produced rocket, which is planned to become the first stage of country's super-heavy rocket, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

Expenditures on developing the Phoenix carrier rocket are included in Russia’s federal space program for 2016-2025.