Russia Will Conduct First Launch From New Spaceport in April

First Launch Honors
Credit: TASS

The world’s oldest space power will soon be inaugurating its newest space port.  After a long and troubled development which has frequently drawn the ire and intense scrutiny of Vladimir Putin, Russia is planning to conduct the first launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the nation’s far east in late April.

From TASS:

MOSCOW, March 30. /TASS/. The first launch from Russia’s new Vostochny cosmodrome in the Far Eastern Amur region will be carried out in late April, head of the Roscosmos State Space Corporation Igor Komarov told reporters on Wednesday.

A None to Happy Vladimir Putin Arrives For an October Inspection of Vostochny Spaceport
Credit: President’s office/TASS

“[The first launch] will be carried out in the last 10 days of April,” he said, adding that the results of the “dry rollout” of the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket that took place last week are currently being analyzed.

The so-called “dry rollout” is a set of checks and tests on the spaceport’s launch pad when the launch vehicle is not fueled. These works are carried out to check the launch methods and systems.

“We will be reaching full capacity in 2018… In 2018, we hope to reach at least 5 launches. In the future – 8-19 launches a day not only under the federal space program, but commercial launches as well,” he said.

The construction of the Vostochny space launch center in the Amur region began in 2012. The total area of the cosmodrome is 700 square km. It is destined to become the first national facility for civilian space launches, ensuring Russia’s full-scale access to space and reducing the dependence of the Russian space industry on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. The first liftoff from Vostochny was initially scheduled for late December last year but was rescheduled for 2016. Now it is tentatively planned for late April. The Mikhailo Lomonosov and Aist-2D satellites, as well as the nanosatellite SamSat-218 will be the first to be launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome with the help of Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket to transmit scientific experimental data to the Earth.