Russia has postponed the debut launch of the Russian Soyuz-5 rocket as part of the joint Baiterek space project with Kazakhstan.
Russia has postponed the debut launch of the Russian Soyuz-5 rocket as part of the joint Baiterek space project with Kazakhstan.
The launch was postponed to conduct additional checks of both onboard systems and ground equipment, Bloomberg writes, citing the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Baiterek is in the final stages, and additional tests are aimed at creating optimal conditions for a safe and successful first launch, Roscosmos said in a statement.
The Soyuz-5 rocket was scheduled to launch by the end of the year from the Baiterek complex, a new facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan that has served as Russia’s main space launch site for decades. The program is positioned as a competitor to Elon Musk’s SpaceX.
Recall that recently a Russian cosmonaut was banned from flying on a SpaceX ship due to espionage .
Development of the new missile has been years behind schedule due to sanctions first imposed after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and later expanded after the full-scale invasion.
Roscosmos said on Friday that the launch date for Soyuz-5 will be determined after all tests are completed and agreed upon by all program participants.
The Russian space program has also faced other problems. In late November, one of the launch pads at Baikonur was damaged during the launch of a rocket bound for the International Space Station. This temporarily prevented Russia from sending manned missions into space. Roscosmos said the launch pad is expected to be repaired by the end of February.
Russia currently uses domestic spaceports to launch spacecraft and equipment. On December 25, it launched a Soyuz 2.1a launch vehicle with a spacecraft from Plesetsk and plans to launch another Soyuz on December 28 from Vostok.
