MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - The drafting of a blueprint of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle keeps up with the schedule and there is no risk of flight tests being postponed, Progress Space Rocket Center's General Director Dmitry Baranov said.
"Work on the rocket is well underway. The tight deadlines for completion of this design stage for the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle should not affect the deadlines for delivering the rocket to the operator and the beginning of test flights," Roscosmos quoted Baranov as saying in a statement.
The Progress Center hosted a meeting of the Chief Designers Council which in particular addressed the Soyuz-5 creation, in particular, the preparation of its draft design, Roscosmos said
"In 2020, new components were added to the launch vehicle: two types of nose cones with a diameter of 5.2 meters and 4.11 meters, the Fregat-SBU upper stage, and several other systems and equipment," the statement said.
The main designer of the Soyuz-5 medium-lift launch vehicle dubbed recently Irtysh is the Energia corporation. Unmanned test launches are slated for 2022-2023.
The rocket is expected to be used for sending into orbit a multiple-use spaceship which until recently was called Federatsiya. Its manned flight and docking with the International Space Station is planned in 2024. Thereafter, however, it will not be used for flying crews to the ISS.
On August 21, 2019, the aerospace committee of Kazakhstan's Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry told Interfax that the first Soyuz-5 launch from the Baiterek launch site was scheduled for late 2022.