MOSCOW, May 1 (Reuters) – Russia has test launched its new Soyuz-5 rocket for the first time, the country’s space agency said late on Thursday, saying it had lifted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan without any issues.
The Soyuz-5, which Roscosmos, Russia’s space agency, describes as a launch vehicle equipped with the world’s most powerful liquid-fuelled engine, lifted off successfully at 2100 Moscow time (1800 GMT) on April 30, it said in a statement.
The new rocket is capable of carrying payloads of up to 17 metric tonnes, will significantly reduce launch costs, and is more effective than its predecessors at placing objects like satellites in near earth orbit, the agency said.
Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Roskosmos, said the rocket – which he hailed as a “new step in space exploration” – would create new jobs in Russia and Kazakhstan.
Bakanov has previously told President Vladimir Putin that the Soyuz-5 is the first new launch vehicle that Russia has developed since 2014.
(Reporting by Maxim RodionovEditing by Andrew Osborn)