The first launch of Russia’s Energiya-5 super-heavy carrier rocket is planned already for 2028 and the launch pad for it should be ready at the Vostochny spaceport in 2027, a source in the rocket and space industry told TASS on Thursday.

"According to new plans of [State Space Corporation] Roscosmos, the launch of a super-heavy rocket is scheduled for 2028 and the construction of the launch pad for it at the Vostochny cosmodrome is planned to be completed in 2027," the source said.

The launch pad for the super-heavy rocket will be built using the principles implemented for the Energiya carrier rocket at the Baikonur cosmodrome (site No. 250). This will be a universal site for the launches of both Soyuz-5 medium-class carrier rockets and the combinations of two, three and five such rockets (similar to the combination of the Angara rocket family with the use of one, three or five blocks for assembling rockets with a different lift capacity). Precisely the principle of combining five rockets laid the ground for a new super-heavy carrier rocket, he said.

Roscosmos has not commented on this information.