The first Soyuz-5 rocket of Russia will be sent to the Baikonur spaceport in the third quarter of 2025, Dmitry Baranov, the CEO of the Samara-based Progress Rocket and Space Center, has said in an interview with Sputnik.
"We plan to install the rocket at the cosmodrome in the third quarter of this year. The first launch of the carrier rocket is planned for late 2025. We hope all ground infrastructure will be ready by that moment," Baranov said.
He added that manufacturing of the rocket's components for the first launch is underway. The first stage engine and part of the on-board equipment have already been delivered to the enterprise. In addition, the Soyuz-5 tanks and compartments are being manufactured. Most of the elements for assembly and welding of the tanks are already finished, Baranov said.
A new technology of friction stir welding is used in the production of the rocket's tanks, he said, adding that facilities designed specifically for this process allow to produce, among other things, specific types of welds, such as annular and curvilinear welds.
Three test launches are expected to take place until 2027. Thereafter, it is planned to carry out at least three launches per year between 2028 and 2039.
Moreover, Baranov revealed that Russia's Obzor-R radar satellite, capable of receiving digital data on the Earth's surface and objects on it in addition to making images from space, is at the final stage of manufacturing and is planned to be launched into orbit in the near future.
"The Obzor-R №1 spacecraft is at the final stage of manufacturing. It is planned to be launched in the near future," Baranov said.
The Russian executive added that the center has already started working on the second satellite.
"The characteristics of this type of machine will allow for all-weather and round-the-clock high-resolution observation of the Earth's surface with the advantages that radar technology gives us. It is not just an image, it is digital data on the surface properties and objects on it," the CEO said.
The Obzor-R №1 spacecraft has been said to join Russia's orbital constellation in 2024. The launch of another radar satellite, Kondor-FKA №2, is also expected. The first Kondor-FKA satellite was launched on May 27, 2023. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Trutnev has said the satellites will be used for radioglaciology, among other things.