May 18, 2018

The launch of the “Soyuz MS” spacecraft on the” Soyuz-2.1a” rocket is scheduled for August 2019.

The flight of the ship will pass in unmanned mode, which will allow several times to increase the payload due to the lack of a part of the instruments and units, necessary to support the work of the crew.

Currently, the unmanned version of the “Soyuz MS” spacecraft is at the stage of assembling the compartments.

Eugeny Mikrin, General Designer of RSC ”Energia”,underlined that the unmanned ship “Soyuz MS” is not a new modification of the manned spacecraft:

“From an ordinary serial ship, this variant of the”Soyuz MS” is distinguished by a modernized traffic and navigation system with the appropriate modification of on-board systems. Our task is to test
this system, and also to check the integration of the ship with the “Soyuz-2.1a” launch vehicle.

The results of the flight tests of the modernized system can be used in the production of a new cargo spacecraft “Soyuz GVK”, which RSC “Energia” is developing on the basis of the “Soyuz” spacecraft.

In the “Soyuz GVK” it will be a deeper modification of the onboard systems, another head fairing (without emergency rescue system). The cargo spacecraft can deliver 2 tons of cargo to orbit and
return 500 kg to the Earth, while in the separated compartment of the ship it will be possible to place another 1 ton of the cargo destined for utilization, which will burn in dense layers of the
atmosphere. To launch the ship, it is planned to use a rocket carrier of higher carrying capacity – “Soyuz-2.1b”.

Creation of the ship “Soyuz GVK” is planned to be completed in 2022.

More from this category:
October 21, 2013

The launch of a Russian Proton-M rocket carrying a US telecoms satellite has been postponed for a second time on the satellite operator’s request, the…

full story
July 15, 2018

The Baikonur cosmodrome is preparing for the launch of the “Soyuz MS-10” spacecraft. On July 13, the spacecraft was delivered to a vacuum chamber, where…

full story
August 13, 2013

A Japanese cargo freighter docked with the International Space Station on Friday, NASA said. Nicknamed Kounotori-2 (Japanese for “white stork”), the HTV-4 freighter docked with the station…

full story
November 24, 2014

On Monday Proton-M booster with Astra 2G space device was installed  on the launching pad of Baikonur spaceport, – Khrunichev Centre representative Alexander Shmygov reported….

full story
March 4, 2015

Today the Head of Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre Yuri Lonchakov celebrates his 50th Birthday. Yuri Lonchakov devoted many years of his life to space exploration. …

full story
January 23, 2014

Space Industry specialists go on preparing Progress M-22M cargo vehicle for the launch according to ISS provision program at Baikonur spaceport. On January 22 the…

full story
February 28, 2019

On February 28 at 00:37 (Moscow time) from the Guiana Space Center the first OneWeb-pilot spacecrafts were launched with a “Soyuz-ST-B” rocket with an upper…

full story
February 7, 2018

On February 5, 2018, NASA astronauts Andrew Morgan and Christina Koch and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi were introduced to GCTC authorities and specialists and started…

full story