VOSTOCHNY (Russia) (Sputnik) – Russia's Center for Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, the operator of Russia's cosmodromes, will ensure the delivery of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket for the first 2017 launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on September 20, the center's CEO Ranohon Dzhuraeva said Wednesday.
"The first rocket will arrive on September 20, from September 5 to September 7 the vehicle will be tested in "the dry mode" [without fuel]. Soyuz-2 will undergo full pre-launch preparation, and launch into near-Earth space will take place at the end of November," Dzhuraeva told Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.
She added that a second carrier rocket scheduled for launch in December would arrive in the Amur Region in November.
"Last year, combat crews from Baikonur were attracted for the launch of the carrier rocket. The current operational crew is a mixed one, it is planned to involve the personnel of the Vostochny," Dzhuraeva added.
The construction of the Vostochny space center near the city of Tsiolkovsky in the Russia's Far Eastern Amur Region has been underway from 2012. It will become the first national cosmodrome for civil purposes and ensure independent access of Russia to outer space.
