The number of launches of the Soyuz space rockets is going to be increased to 20-22 this year from 16 last year, the CEO of the rockets’ manufacturer, Progress Center, Dmitry Baranov told the media on Thursday.

"Last year was rather difficult for us. We carried out 16 launches. One of them ended in failure. This year we plan more launches, most likely 20 to 22," Baranov said.

This year’s launches are to be carried out from four sites, just as in 2018. On the schedule there are seven launches to the ISS, including the first launch of a Soyuz-2 rocket with a cargo spacecraft.

In February, a Soyuz-ST rocket will blast off from the Guiana Space Center to start a project for orbiting satellites of the OneWeb company.

At the moment several rockets manufactured in Samara are at the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana.

"We have five rockets there (at Kourou - TASS), another three are in stock here and two or three are in our order books, if I’m not wrong," Baranov said. "Our contracts portfolio is stable. Two to four launches a year are a standard. This year we carried out three launches. We have plans for at least another three, possibly four, from Kourou in 2019," Baranov said.

Earlier Roscosmos announced plans for 45 rocket launches in 2019.