The state Corporation Roscosmos has postponed the development of a draft design of the Soyuz-6 launch vehicle with the RD-180 engine, which is supplied to the United States, until 2022. This was announced on Thursday, May 6, according to RIA Novosti.
In December 2020, it became known that Roscosmos plans to spend 166.2 million rubles to create a draft project of Soyuz-6 in the period from January to November 2021.
Now, according to the materials of public procurement, the development of the project is scheduled for the period from January to November 2022.
In September 2019, the general director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, announced that a new rocket, the Soyuz — 6, would be created in Russia. According to him, it will be able to put 9 tons of cargo into low-Earth orbit, 5.5 tons into a sun-synchronous orbit, and 2.3 tons into a geotransfer orbit. The launch of Soyuz-6 flight tests at the Baikonur cosmodrome is scheduled for 2025, and the rocket will also fly from the Vostochny cosmodrome.
The first stage of the Soyuz-6 will use the RD-180MV engine, a modification of the Russian RD-180 engine used on the first stage of the American Atlas V rocket.
At the same time, it was reported that the launch pad for the Soyuz-5 and Soyuz-6 launch vehicles in Russia will be built in 2025-2026.
