MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th January, 2020) Russia's space agency Roscosmos is going to launch the Express-AMU4 communications satellite using the Proton-M carrier rocket, instead of the new Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle, government procurement website data shows.
Roscosmos plans to order production of the Proton-M rocket for the launch of Express-AMU4 for 2.3 billion rubles ($37.4 million) this year with the completion date set for 2021.
Head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said in June of last year that an Angara-A5 carrier rocket could be launched in 2020 from the Plesetsk space center with an Express satellite. However, the full introduction of Angara launch vehicles has been facing some delays.
In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Angara-A5M rocket was expected to be launched for the first time in 2025, while the launch of the Angara-A5 rocket, which is expected to replace the Proton-M, was scheduled for 2021.
According to Rogozin, Russia plans to stop using Proton carrier rockets in 2025, and the rockets' production would be stopped in 2020 or 2021.
