ISS Crew to Be Launched From Russia's New Vostochny Cosmodrome After 2023

The first launch of a carrier rocket with the International Space Station's (ISS) crew will be carried out from Russia's new Vostochny Cosmodrome after 2023, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The first launch of a rocket carrier from the Vostochny Cosmodrome was initially scheduled for late 2015 before being postponed. The new rocket launch date has been set for April 25 2016.

The Vostochny Cosmodrome has been under construction in the Amur Region of Russia's Far East since mid-2012. Once Vostochny is completed, it will enable Russia to launch most missions from its own soil, reducing the country's reliance on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"At the beginning of 2021 we plan to launch tests of a manned spacecraft within the framework of the second phase of the Vostochny Cosmodrome construction and to carry out an unmanned launch in 2021. A manned launch with the crew of the ISS will be carried out in 2023," Igor Komarov said.

The ISS will remain operational until 2024, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said. He added that afterwards the ISS’s Russian segment could be transformed into the independent space station.