A private space company from Russia, Space Energy, plans to carry out the first launch of its own ultra-light-class suborbital rocket, Kamchatka-1, in the third quarter of 2026. This was announced by the organization’s chief designer, Georgy Emelin, during a briefing.
The mission’s main objective is to reach the Karman line. We will be able to speak about the specific launch date closer to that time, since it largely depends on logistics and approval procedures.
According to Emelin, the preliminary launch site selected is the Kapustin Yar state test range located in Astrakhan Region. The choice is driven not by the availability of ready-made infrastructure, since active Russian cosmodromes do not have launch complexes fully matching the technical parameters of the company’s development, but by the sufficient area of the site and the possibility of deploying its own launch position from scratch.
At present, the company’s specialists are at the stage of preparing the package of permit documentation to coordinate access to the test range and conduct launch operations.
The rocket’s technical characteristics are kept within compact dimensions: the vehicle is more than five meters long with a diameter of 37 centimeters. The launch mass of the solid-fuel single-stage rocket is 297 kilograms. Such parameters make it possible to classify Kamchatka-1 as an ultra-light launch vehicle intended for suborbital missions, including technology testing, microgravity experiments, and the testing of compact payloads.
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