MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th June, 2019) Specialists of Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos have started assembling a Soyuz-2.1a carrier vehicle that will for the first time be used to carry a manned spacecraft into orbit, the corporation announced on Friday.
"The assembly of the Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle, designed to put the Soyuz MS-14 [manned] spacecraft into the orbit has begun at Baikonur. Roscosmos specialists have completed the assembly of the second stage and conducted pneumatic tests of the blocks of the first stage," Roscosmos tweeted.
The Soyuz-2.1a rocket has been used to launch spacecraft into the orbit and to the International Space Station since 2004, but has never before carried cosmonauts.
The test launch of an unmanned Soyuz MS-14 is scheduled for August 22. �
