MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th June, 2021) Russia could launch 36 OneWeb satellites from the Vostochny spaceport in October, if there are delays with the launch of the "Luna-25" lunar mission, a space industry source told Sputnik.
"If the launch of 'Luna-25' is moved from October 2021 to May 2022, then on October 7 a Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket will be launched from Vostochny with 36 OneWeb satellites," the source said.
This information was confirmed by another source.
Earlier, a space industry source told Sputnik that the next launch of British OneWeb communications satellites using the Russian Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was planned for July 1, 2021. The first such launch this year was successfully performed in March. It was followed by more successful launches in April and May.
Earlier this week, Dmitry Rogozin, the chief of Russian space agency Roscosmos, said that the "Luna-25" spacecraft would be ready by the end of the year and that depending on technical readiness, the lander mission to the moon would either be launched in 2021 or at the beginning of 2022.
Earlier this month, Rogozin told Sputnik that the launch of "Luna-25," currently set for October, would be delayed due to the supply of equipment and testing of the station.
