MOSCOW. Oct 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia's Start-1 rocket will blast off in late 2005 putting an Israeli satellite into orbit, said Yury Solomonov, Moscow Heat Technology Institute director.
"According to our schedule, the first launch of the Start-1 rocket is scheduled for the end of 2005 or the beginning of 2006, at the latest," Solomonov told a news conference in Moscow on Friday.
The rocket will take off from the Svobodny launch pad in the Amur region, he said.
"Our information suggests that these rockets' launches will not do any harm to the environment," Solomonov said.
He admitted that his company is engaged in a tough competition on the international space launch market.
"We are in a difficult situation on the commercial launch market, because competition is very tough. Nevertheless, we have found a niche in this field, which is connected with launching Start-1 rockets," he said.