Moscow - Russia intends to launch 36 space rockets from Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes in 2012 in addition to the Space Launch program and the Russian-European 'Soyuz in Kourou' space project, a source in the space industry has told Interfax-AVN.
"Thirty-one launches will be made from Baikonur and five more from Plesetsk," the source said.
Out of the planned launches 15 will involve Proton-M launch vehicles, five – Soyuz-FG vehicles, five – Soyuz-U LVs, four – Soyuz-2.16, three – Rockot, two – Soyuz-2.1A, one – Zenit, and one – Soyuz-2.1v.
Q1 will see the launches of six Proton-M rockets, two – Soyuz-FG, one Soyuz-U, Soyuz-2.1a, Soyuz-2.1b and Rockot each.
The first launch of the light Soyuz-2.1v as well as launches of three Proton-M, one Soyuz FG, Soyuz-U, Soyuz-2.1a and Soyuz-2.1b each are slated for Q2.
Q3 will see three launches of Proton-M, two launches of Rockot and Soyuz-2.1b each and one launch of Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-U each.
The plans for Q4 imply three launches of Proton-M, two Soyuz-U, one Soyuz-FG and one Zenit.
In 2011 Russia broke the record of the decade with 35 launches of space vehicles, 32 of them from Baikonur, Plesetsk and Dombarovsky launch base and also two from Kourou and one under the Sea Launch program.
