MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The last launches of the Rokot carrier rocket fitted with a Ukrainian-made control system will be carried out in 2019, then the vehicle will be decommissioned, a source in the space industry told Sputnik on Tuesday.
“In 2019, it is planned to carry out two launches of Rokot [launch vehicle] with Briz-KM upper stages from the Plesetsk cosmodrome, after which the rocket will be decommissioned,” the source said.
In the first launch scheduled for June-July, Rokot will bring three Gonets-M communication satellites to the orbit, according to the source. Then a Geo-IK geodesy satellite will be delivered to the orbit, he said, adding that the Geo-IK might yet be brought to the orbit before the Gonets-M satellites.
In August, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced that the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center was developing Rokot-2 carrier rocket with a Russian-made control system. The current model of Rokot carrier rocket is using a Ukrainian-made control system.
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Sourse: sputniknews.com
