Roscosmos To Build Cheap Soyuz-2M Rocket For Commercial Satellites Launch Service

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2019) Russian state space corporation Roscosmos is working on a cheaper version of the Soyuz rocket to cut launch costs for commercial satellites, Russian space travel operator Glavkosmos (GK) Launch Services CEO Alexander Serkin said.

Speaking at the World Satellite business Week in Paris, Serkin noted that the GK Launch Services, in partnership with Roscosmos, is working on ways to reduce the Soyuz rockets' costs, as reported by the spacenews.com media outlet.

According to the CEO, a modification of the Soyuz-2M rocket is being developed for this purpose on the basis of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle, but without the Frigate upper stage. The cost of launching the Soyuz-2M will be about $30 million, and it will be able to take 2-3 tonnes of payload into sun-synchronous orbit.

"The price has gone down in the past few years. It's a trend that will continue," Serkin said at the conference.

In October 2018, GK Launch Services announced that the cost of the commercial launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket with the Frigate upper stage was $48.5 million, and $35 million without it.

Glavcosmos is an entity belonging solely to the Roscosmos space corporation, aimed at marketing Russian space industry services and implementing cooperative space projects. Founded in 1985, the agency has signed more than 120 international contracts. Over 20 launches of small satellites were carried out since 2012. In 2017, the company is planning to launch over 100 small satellites under agreements with 15 Russian and foreign partners.