Overview
- Soyuz-5, which lifted off Thursday from Baikonur at 9:00 p.m. Moscow time, completed a first suborbital test flight without reported issues.
- Roscosmos said the first and second stages performed as planned and a mock payload reentered over a preclosed zone in the Pacific Ocean.
- Built by Progress in Samara, the two-stage kerosene–liquid oxygen vehicle uses an RD-171MV first stage and an RD-0124MS second stage, with a stated 17-ton payload to low Earth orbit.
- The debut used the modernized Zenit Site 45/1 pad, and Kazakh aerospace chief Baubek Oralmagambetov said the success opens the door to future joint projects under Baiterek.
- Roscosmos says operating Soyuz-5 will lower per-mission costs, restoring a medium-lift option Russia sought after Zenit’s 2017 retirement and reduced access to Ukrainian-built hardware.