Director-General Igor Komarov said that Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos plans to launch twice as many rockets into space in 2017 as in the outgoing year.

Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos plans to launch twice as many rockets into space in 2017 as in the outgoing year, its Director-General Igor Komarov said Wednesday.

"The launch program for the next year comes with a considerable increase [in space launches]. Next year, we will effectively see the number of launches double," Komarov announced.

The first launches of 2017 are scheduled for January at Kazakhstan's Baikonur and Guiana space ports. The new Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia will enter the active phase of operation in February, with the Vostochny space port about to be completed.

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Russian Super-Heavy Carrier Rocket Project to Cost $24Bln - Roscosmos
Development of a new Russian super-heavy carrier rocket will cost $24 billion, Russia's Roscosmos state space corporation First Deputy Director General Alexander Ivanov said on Tuesday.

"The creation of a super heavy rocket with a launching pad will require 1.5 trillion rubles [$24 billion]," Ivanov said at a conference.

In August, head of Russia's Energia space corporation Director General Vladimir Solntsev announced that Roscosmos started work on designing a new super-heavy launch vehicle.

The new carrier rocket would allow Russia to launch a manned spaceflight to explore the deep space as part of the 2016-2025 federal space program.

Source: Sputnik News