Putin demanded that the process of developing a super-heavy rocket be sped up
Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that the process of developing a super-heavy rocket be sped up, as indicated by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin following a meeting on the development of the space industry. A new super-heavy class rocket may appear after 2025, he said.
In March 2017, Roskosmos reported on the development of the space industry, stating that flight tests of the super-heavy rocket are scheduled for 2035, according to TASS.
"The president set the task before Roscosmos to ensure the acceleration of this work through the development of all technologies that are provided by the designers," TASS quoted Rogozin as saying. The Deputy Prime Minister also said that the new rocket will be used to fly around the moon.
Rogozin first announced the work towards the creation of such a rocket in November 2016. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that such a rocket would allow Russia "to implement a lunar station."
It is assumed that the new Russian super-heavy rocket will consist of the first two stages of the Feniks (Soyuz-5) launch vehicle and the third stage of the Angara-A5B launch vehicle.
In April, RSC Energia began the development of the basic elements of the new rocket. The head of the corporation, Vladimir Solntsev, said that this work attracts not only budgetary funds but also private funds. However the rocket will not be commercial, the Ministry of Defense will own the rocket, Solntsev said.
At the same time, the corporation also promised to provide tourist services to fly around the Moon by 2021 or 2022. "I think that by 2021-2022 RSC Energia will be the first to introduce this service to the international market," Vladimir Solntsev, the Director-General of the corporation, said.