PLESETSK (Arkhangelsk region). May 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The Samara-based CSKB-Progress has produced the first two Soyuz-ST launch vehicles by contract with Arianespace. The rockets will be launched from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana, CSKB-Progress First Deputy Director General Sergei Tyulevin said at the Plesetsk spaceport on Thursday.
The launch of a modernized Soyuz-2, a product of CSKB-Progress, is due from Plesetsk during the early hours of Friday.
"The first two rockets have been produced, tested and placed in containers. They will be sent to the Guiana Space Center," he said.
The delivery is planned for this September.
"The Europeans have scheduled the first launch of a Soyuz rocket from Kourou for December 28," Tyulevin said.