1 Aug 2019 15:17

Russia carried out as many space launches in Jan-June 2019 as it did in whole of 2018 - Rogozin

MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) - Russia will carry out about 40 space launches in 2019, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"We carried out about as many launches in the first half of this year as we did over the whole of last year. Therefore, just as I reported to you this past winter, we plan to have about 40 launches. Of course, this depends on the preparedness of our partners with regard to payloads and spacecraft," Rogozin said.

At least four launches will be carried out from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2020, and the number will be increased in the future, he said.

Roscosmos has begun preparations for launching a new module to the International Space Station, Rogozin said. "That is, unlike our American and European partners, we plan to launch three modules in 2020, 2021, and 2022 and significantly expand the Russian segment," he said.