Russian Proton Rocket For Spektr-RG Launch To Be Sent To Baikonur Port In Feb - Developer

Russia's Proton-M heavy-lift rocket that will carry the Russian-German Spektr-RG astrophysics space observatory into space will be sent to the Baikonur cosodrome in early February, the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the carrier's manufacturer, said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2019) Russia's Proton-M heavy-lift rocket that will carry the Russian-German Spektr-RG astrophysics space observatory into space will be sent to the Baikonur cosodrome in early February, the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the carrier's manufacturer, said on Friday.

A space industry source told Sputnik on Friday that the Spektr-RG's launch, which was initially scheduled to take place in early April, may now only take place sometime after June 15.

"The transfer of launching equipment, which is the Proton-M carrier rocket, a nose cone and the Blok DM-03 upper stage, from the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center to the Baikonur cosmodrome is planned for February 7," the research center said in a statement.

Spektr-RG, which stands for Spektr-Roentgen-Gamma, comprises Russia's ART-XC telescope and gamma-ray burst detector, and the German eROSITA telescope. Together, they will spend 7.5 years scanning for galaxy clusters before focusing on select regions.