Roscosmos designers to team up developing super-heavy carrier rocket

All design teams of the Russian state-run space corporation Roscosmos will have a hand in developing a super-heavy launch vehicle, Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Twitter on Saturday.

"Roscosmos’ all design teams will take part in developing a super-heavy class carrier rocket, which will help Russia to launch a program of exploration and colonization of the Moon," Rogozin wrote.

On Saturday, a technical design of the new booster and a schedule of organizational events were considered at the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, he added.

According to designers’ plans, the Russian super-heavy carrier rocket should be able to deliver over 70 tonnes of cargo into low near-Earth orbit at the first stage. It will be developed to provide for deep space flights, specifically, to the Moon and Mars.

The construction of the infrastructure for the new carrier rocket at the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled to begin in 2026 and its first launch will take place in 2028.

The concept of creating a super-heavy carrier rocket envisages maximally utilizing the accumulated potential. Also, basic elements and technologies of the Soyuz-5 medium-class rocket currently under development will be used to create the super-heavy launch vehicle.

According to Roscosmos’s estimates, the creation of the super-heavy carrier rocket and the construction of the corresponding infrastructure will cost 1.5 trillion rubles ($22.5 billion).

As was reported in early August, Roscosmos has launched preparations for drafting a federal target program for developing a super-heavy carrier rocket.