OREANDA-NEWS  The first launch of the Angara-A5M heavy-class launch vehicle from the Vostochny cosmodrome will take place in 2027. This was announced by Yuri Borisov, Director General of the Roscosmos state Corporation, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reports.

He noted that the upgraded rocket will launch a promising spacecraft into orbit in unmanned mode. "Already, an upgraded Angara-A5M with a more powerful RD-191M main engine is being created by order of the Roscosmos State Corporation. By the way, we have recently completed fire tests and confirmed all the declared characteristics of this engine. He has a ten percent increased thrust," Borisov said.

In 2028, a manned spacecraft is planned to be launched from Vostochny on a heavy Angara-A5 rocket.

Earlier in April, Anatoly Petrukovich, director of the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, admitted that due to its payload capacity, Angara-A5 can be used for unmanned missions to the Moon, Venus and Mars.

In the same month, the general director of the Khrunichev Center, Alexey Brewhanko, announced that Angara-A5 would become one of the main products that would launch spacecraft from Vostochny.