At the Vostochny Cosmodrome the Vostochny Space Center (TsENKI branch) and NPO Lavochkin (both parts of Roscosmos) specialists have transferred the Fregat upper stage from the fueling and neutralization facility to the integration and test building in accordance with the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket launch preparation schedule. The rocket with the Fregat upper stage will take 36 OneWeb spacecraft into orbit.
The upper stage designed and produced by NPO Lavochkin has been filled with propellants and put in testbed until the ascent unit assembling. The final operation is the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle general assembly. Russian space rocket industry specialists plan to begin this work on April 20, 2021.
This launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome will be the third fully commercial one, conducted by the Arianespace company for OneWeb. Glavkosmos (a Roscosmos subsidiary) is responsible for the works on OneWeb launches using the Soyuz-2 carrier rockets under the contracts with the Arianespace French company and the Starsem Russian-French company.
