MOSCOW. July 17 (Interfax) - The Russian state space corporation Roscosmos has denied reports that the first flight of the Federation spacecraft has been postponed.
"No postponement is currently under consideration. We are still following the schedules that were drawn up earlier," a Roscosmos spokesperson told Interfax.
The Federation's first unmanned spaceflight was scheduled for 2022, and an unmanned flight to the International Space Station for 2023.
A number of media outlets reported on Tuesday, however, that the first unmanned flight might be postponed until 2025.
The Federation is a reusable manned spacecraft built to replace the Soyuz manned spacecraft and Progress automatic cargo spacecraft. It was manufactured by the Energia Corporation. It was originally reported that the Federation would be sent into orbit using medium-class Soyuz-5 launch vehicles. Later reports said it would be launched using Angara rockets.
The Federation is designed to deliver people and cargo to earth orbits and to the moon. Its crew will comprise up to four people. The spacecraft's autonomous flights could last up to 30 days, and flights as part of an orbital station could last up to one year.