New Russian light booster Soyuz-2.1V with Volga addon stage and Aist satellite made by students was installed onto the launching pad of Plesetsk spaceport, Russian Aerospace Defense troops press office representative Colonel Dmitry Zenin reported on Wednesday. Soyuz-2.1V will be launched on December 23.
Earlier State Commission on space complex and launch vehicles flight tests approved Soyuz roll-out and installation. The launch of the booster was scheduled for the beginning of 2013 but was postponed several times.
“On December 18 spaceport specialists successfully rolled out and installed Soyuz-2.1V booster with Volda addon stage onto #43 launchpad where operational crew will conduct a series of testing of booster and launching equipment systems and components” , – Zenin stated.
Colonel Zenin also pointed out that all the preparation events go on nominally.
Image credit – Roscosmos