Spacesuit For Russia's Federatsiya Spacecraft Crew To Be Presented At MAKS-2019 - Designer

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th August, 2019) New advanced rescue spacesuit Sokol-M for the crew of Russia's new-generation Federatsiya (Federation) manned spacecraft will be presented at the MAKS-2019 International Aviation and Space Salon, the director general and chief designer of the Russian Zvezda Research, Development & Production Enterprise told Sputnik on Tuesday.

"Several innovations will be presented. For example, the new spacesuit for crew on board the prospective piloted spaceship Federatsiya. An inflated spacesuit will be placed into the Cheget chair which will be used on this spaceship. The chair's prototype was showcased at the previous airshow [in September 2018]," Sergey Pozdnyakov said.

According to him, Sokol-M will be in colors traditional for the Russian rescue spacesuits - blue and white - albeit the version in orange has also been considered, and might be rebranded later.

He added that the tests of the new spacesuit have not yet begun.

The Federatsiya spacecraft is set to replace the Soyuz, which is currently the only means to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). Federation's first unmanned test flight is scheduled for 2022, first unmanned flight to the ISS for 2023, and first manned flight for 2024. The spacecraft will be able to deliver up to four people and cargo to the Moon and space stations in low Earth orbits.

The annual MAKS-2019 air show will be held from August 27 to September 1 in Zhukovsky, the Moscow Region. For the first time, China will act as a co-organizer of the event. More than 20 countries have submitted applications to attend and an exhibition space has already been reserved for Belarus, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iran, Italy and Switzerland.