It will be ready for launch at the end of 2025
MOSCOW, January 27. /tass/. The possibility of using the new Fregat-SBU upper stage (RB) as part of the promising Amur methane launch vehicle is currently being considered by specialists. This was reported to TASS by the press service of the S. A. Lavochkin NGO (part of Roscosmos).
"The possibility of using the RB Fregat-SBU as part of a promising Amur launch vehicle, which will use liquefied gas as fuel, is being considered," the press service noted.
The Fregat-SBU upper stage is being created for the new Soyuz-5 launch vehicle. As previously reported to TASS in the press service of the S. A. Lavochkin NGO, it will be ready for launch at the end of 2025. The project is being developed because the fuel of the Frigate-SB, which formed the basis of the new booster, is not enough to realize the potential of the Soyuz-5. It will differ in the increased size of the discharged tank block, this will allow you to use twice as much fuel.
In October 2020, Roscosmos and Progress RCC signed a contract for the development of a preliminary design of a space rocket complex with the first Russian reusable rocket powered by methane "Amur". The rocket will receive a returnable first stage and will be launched from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur Region.
