The General Director of RCC Progress (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation), Dmitry Baranov, after a successful launch of the Soyuz-2.1b with the Resurs-P remote sensing satellite, told reporters when to expect the new Russian Soyuz-5 rocket at Baikonur.
The vehicle will be shipped from the manufacturing plant in Samara on October 30, with the launch scheduled for the end of December 2025.
Soyuz-5 is a promising Russian medium-class launch vehicle with increased payload capacity. This two-stage launch vehicle will be able to launch spacecraft into sun-synchronous, highly elliptical, geotransitional, and geostationary orbits, including with the use of an upper stage.
In April 2024, the Russian government approved a draft agreement with Kazakhstan on the start of flight tests of the Baiterek space rocket complex with the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle in 2025. Later, it was announced about a possible postponement of the first rocket launch to 2026, but by the end of 2024, RCC Progress still believes that they will meet the initially planned deadlines.
The first prototype of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle is already in production, and its individual parts are also being manufactured. However, a decision on the preparation of serial production of both the components and the rocket itself as a whole can only be made by the state customer based on the results of successful flight design tests of the launch vehicle at the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
Earlier, Baranov noted that the Soyuz-5 has interested parties, and these are not only state but also private customers. In general, according to Baranov, "it is planned to promote this rocket on the international market of launch services" and the Russian side is ready to "increase the production of Soyuz-5 in accordance with the plans of commercial customers."
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