Two Russian Soyuz-2.1 carrier rockets have been delivered to Saikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from where they are expected to be launched in December and February
BAIKONUR COSMODROME (KAZAKHSTAN) (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 19th October, 2018) Two Russian Soyuz-2.1 carrier rockets have been delivered to Saikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, from where they are expected to be launched in December and February, 2019, despite the recent incident with Souyz-FG launch vehicle, a source at the cosmodrome told Sputnik on Friday.
On October 11, Russian Soyuz-FG carrier rocket failed to take off properly from Baikonur and deliver the Soyuz MS-10 spacecraft carrying two crew members on board to the International Space Station (ISS). Just a few minutes after the liftoff, the booster's malfunction forced the crew to escape in a rescue capsule, which eventually allowed them to return on Earth safely.
"A train has arrived at Baikonur [Cosmodrome] from Samara, bringing two Soyuz carrier rockets to the spaceport: Soyuz-2.1b set to [launch] the Egyptian satellite EgyptSat-A on December 27, and Soyuz-2.1a that is scheduled to put the cargo spacecraft Progress MS-11 into the orbit on February 8, 2019," the source said.
Both Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-2.1 are built at the Progress Rocket Space Center in Samara.
The Soyuz-FG incident is currently investigated by the commission set up by Russian state space corporation Roscosmos. All manned Soyuz flights to the International Space Station have been suspended until the reasons for the malfunction have not been discovered. A source in the Russian space industry told Sputnik that the commission would draw its final conclusions on the causes of the incident on Saturday.
