ASTANA. May 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The full-fledged development of the Ishim launch vehicle may start in June 2006, Director General/Designer General of the Moscow Combustion Engineering Institute Yury Solomonov said on Wednesday.
The Institute is Kazakhstan's main partner in the Ishim program.
"The full-fledged development of the Ishim launch vehicle may start this June. If it is the case, we plan to launch the first satellite with the help of the new launch vehicle in 2008," he told reporters in Akkola, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday.
Solomonov noted that the Ishim launch vehicle comprised two parts: an aircraft, based on one of the MiG-31 modifications, and a unique rocket. "The rocket features unrivalled capabilities. A draft design of the rocket has already been developed," he said.
"The system will secure a certain space launch market niche. It is designed to orbit small-size satellites with a weight of up to 160 kg to low near-Earth orbits at an altitude of up to 500 km," Solomonv said.
On separating from the carrier aircraft, the rocket orbits a spacecraft with the help of its own engine.