Roskosmos signed the ₽1.5-billion contract on a superheavy missile for flights to the Moon

In the middle of December, 2020 Roskosmos signed with the Progress State Research and Production Space Centre the development contract of the carrier rocket of the superheavy class "Yenisei" for flights to  the Moon.

According to RIA Novosti with reference to materials on the website of state procurements, the contract worth 1.47 billion rubles assumes creation  of the project of a space missile system with the super-heavy carrier rocket and the upper stage to the middle of November, 2021.

Roskosmos signed the ₽1.5-billion contract on a superheavy missile for flights to the Moon

In the technical project  it is stated that the complex should include six oxygen-kerosene rocket blocks with RD-171MV engines. It is about the first missile stages "Union-5". Besides, Progress should deliver the central oxygen-kerosene rocket block with the RD-180MV engine — the first step of "Union-6". In it there has to be an oxygen-kerosene accelerating brake unit based on two liquid rocket engines 11D58M.

Earlier the head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin declared plans to send people to the Moon using several start-up of carrier rockets of the Angara family. He told that the release Yenisei will be postponed until creation of the new mid-flight engine. In November, 2020 Rogozin  said that Yenisei on the basis of existing solutions considers premature to start creation of a superheavy missile. The head of Roskosmos estimated project cost at 740 billion rubles.

In November, 2020 the president Russia Vladimir Putin demanded to explain the delay reasons with Roskosmos of an approval of the program for development of a missile system of a superheavy class.^[1]

In  December, 2019 the scientific and technical council of Roskosmos in general approved the outline sketch of a superheavy missile, however "there are several tens of notes" which have working character and will be finished in the course of creation of a technical appearance.

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