Article Posted on : - Oct 14, 2009

The Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan. A file photo.

MOSCOW (BNS): With the construction of its news space centre Vostochny set to start in 2011, Russia is also designing a new carrier rocket that would send heavier manned flights into space, the country’s federal space agency chief has said.

Work has started on the new launch vehicle and priority would be given to its reliability and safety, including crew evacuation at any stage of the flight, Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said on Tuesday.

The new rocket would be used as a platform for heavier carriers with payloads of 50-60 tons and super-heavy carriers with payloads of 130-150 tons, RIA Novosti quoted Perminov as saying.

Russia, at present, uses the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan to launch its space missions.

The country’s new space centre Vostochny will come up at the Far Eastern region. Its construction will start in 2011 and is likely to be completed by 2018.

Seven launch pads are to be built at the new space centre, including two for manned flights and two for space freighters, the report said.