Soyuz-5

Soyuz-5 development was driven by the end of launches of the Ukrainian-built Zenit following the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014. With the Zenit-3SLB gone, the decision not to develop Angara A3, and Angara A5 moving to Vostochny, the bi-national Baiterek project was left without a launch vehicle. RKTs Progress proposed Soyuz-5 in early 2016 to cover the commercial segment of under 5 t to geosynchronous transfer orbit, with the added prospect of enabling a super heavy launcher with an 80 t capability to low Earth orbit.

The proposal is led by RKTs Progress with support from Khrunichev and Makeyev; Energia handles the launch site and supplies the optional Blok DM-03 stage, while Roscosmos finances development through Project Feniks under the 2016–2025 Russian space master plan. KazCosmos participates within the Baiterek joint venture, and International Launch Services would market the vehicle internationally. Project cost is given as 61.2 billion rubles.

Modification of Site 45 only began in late 2021, and international sanctions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine slowed work further. In July 2022 Dmitry Rogozin, then head of Roscosmos, admitted a postponement of six months to a year. In March 2023 it emerged that the Baiterek joint venture had seized the facility after filing a claim of about 2 billion rubles against TsENKI, a Roscosmos subsidiary, because Roscosmos had failed to conduct an environmental impact assessment of the site. A debut originally expected in 2024 slipped to December 2025 and finally occurred on 30 April 2026 with a mass simulator on a suborbital trajectory.

With a gross mass of 484 t against Zenit's 430 t, Soyuz-5 can place 16 t into a 200 km circular orbit at 51.6° inclination from Baikonur, compared with roughly 12 t for Zenit. Fitted with Blok DM-03 it is expected to deliver 4.5 t to GTO and 2.3 t to geosynchronous orbit. Four test launches are planned before development is considered complete; the second, with a Fregat-SBU, is set for the second half of 2027. The first stage will also serve as the boosters — and even the core — of the Yenisei super heavy-lift vehicle, capable of 73 t to low Earth orbit.