Russia carried out the first launch of its new Soyuz-5 rocket on Thursday evening, the Roskosmos space agency announced, adding that the takeoff took place without incident from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, reports Reuters.
Russia successfully launched the Soyuz-5 rocket PHOTO CAPTURE
The rocket was launched on April 30 at 21:00 Moscow time, being presented by Roskosmos as a vehicle equipped with “the most powerful liquid fuel engine in the world”the official release states.
Soyuz-5 can carry payloads of up to 17 tons and is designed to significantly reduce launch costs. It would also be more efficient than previous designs at placing satellites into low Earth orbit.
Roskosmos director Dmitri Bakanov described the new rocket as “a new step in space exploration”, while stressing that the project will generate new jobs in both Russia and Kazakhstan. He previously stated that Soyuz-5 is the first launch vehicle developed by Russia after 2014.
