Russia will show the design of a super-heavy space launch vehicle before the end of 2016, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said Wednesday.

By the end of the year Roscosmos will present our vision on creation of a carrier rocket of a super-heavy class, Igor Komarov told reporters.

In April 2015, the space agency abandoned plans to develop a super-heavy space launch vehicle after re-allocating funds.

Instead, Russia focused on modifying a heavy Angara-A5 rocket to lift super-heavy loads. The first launch of the Angara super-heavy carrier rocket is set to take place in 2021, according to Roscosmos.

Russia's New Phoenix Medium-Class Carrier Rocket to Be Ready Before2025
Russia's new medium-class carrier rocket, Phoenix, should be created before 2025, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said Wednesday.

"We intend to develop [Phoenix] before 2025. We see that both the market and life demand the speeding up of this project," Igor Komarov told reporters.

By the end of the year, the Russian Federal Space Agency will provide the government and the president with a report on the project, he added.

In late December 2015, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Russia had started work to create a super-heavy rocket with Phoenix as its first stage.

Expenditures on developing the Phoenix carrier rocket are included in Russia's federal space program for 2016-2025.

Russia to Conduct First Space Launch From Vostochny Cosmodrome in April
Russia will conduct the first space launch from its new Vostochny space center in country's Far East in April, the head of Roscosmos State Corporation said Wednesday.

The first launch was expected to take place in December 2015, but it had been postponed due to the delays in the construction process.

"The first launch from Vostochny will be conducted in the last ten days of April," Igor Komarov told reporters.

He added that the certain date would be chosen by country's authorities at the session of the government commission.

"In the long view, from eight to 10 launches are expected to be provided [from Vostochny] annually," Komarov said.

He added that the space center was expected to start operating at full capacity by 2018.

which has been under construction since 2012, is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is on lease to Russia until 2050.

Source: Sputnik News