Roscosmos recalled that the rocket is designed for a certain cost of the launch service, so it is also designed for foreign customers
MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. The satellites under the Sphere program are to become the first payload of the Amur methane launch vehicle with a return stage. This was reported to TASS by the Executive Director of Roscosmos for Advanced programs and Science Alexander Bloshenko.
"As you know, in parallel, Roscosmos is developing the Sphere program, so the first payload of the Amur launch vehicle will be the satellites of this group," said Bloshenko.
The executive director of Roscosmos recalled that the rocket is designed for a certain cost of launch services (minimum - $22 million), so it is also designed for foreign customers. "As soon as we defend the draft design, we will be ready to present the rocket to the general public in mock-ups, presentations and discuss some launch manifestos," he added.
In October last year, Roscosmos and the Progress RCC signed a contract to develop a preliminary design of a space rocket complex with the first Russian reusable methane-powered rocket, the Amur. The rocket will receive a returnable first stage and will be launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region. In February, the General Director of the Progress Rocket and Space Center (part of Roscosmos) Dmitry Baranov told reporters that the preliminary design of the Amur methane launch vehicle is planned to be completed in the third quarter of 2021.
The "Amur" with a reusable return stage will be able to launch up to 10.5 tons of payload into low Earth orbit, compared to 8.5 for the Soyuz-2 series of rockets.
