A total of 7 launch vehicles of the Soyuz family will be built for the Russian Defense Ministry this year, Alexander Kirilin, the Director General of the Progress Missile and Space Center, said.
“The production plans in the framework of the State Defense Order for 2016 feature 7 Soyuz launch vehicles and two of the missiles are meant for the Rus research and development project”, he said.
The manufacturers have already handed over 3 vehicles to the customer to date.
“Four Soyuz-2.1b vehicles have different degrees of readiness”, Kirilin said. “They will be completed before November as specified by state contracts”.
Rus R&D project aims to upgrade the Soyuz launch vehicles, primarily to replace the analog systems with digital ones and to boost the efficiency of engines.
The Soyuz-2 family of launch vehicles includes Soyuz-2.1a, Soyuz-2.1b, Soyuz2.1v light vehicles, and the Soyuz-ST vehicles launched from the Kourou space center in French Guiana. (TASS/Business World Magazine)