A four-launch option of sending the crew to the Moon with the help of Angara rockets is cheaper than a flight with the use of two super-heavy rockets, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Wednesday.

"Our calculations show that this [the launch of four Angara rockets to the Moon] will be much cheaper," Rogozin said.

The Roscosmos chief said, however, this flight scheme would increase the burden and there was a risk of the mission’s disruption due to a large number of launches and dockings. He also specified that the four-launch scheme would be used, if there was no sufficient funding for the super-heavy carrier.

The Roscosmos head noted at the end of 2020 that the availability of two launch pads for the Angara carrier rocket (at the Vostochny and Plesetsk spaceports) from 2023 would make it possible to combine launches, assembling crewed spaceships in orbit. This would serve as the basic instrument for the start of lunar explorations, he said.

Russia plans to send the first human expedition to the Moon’s surface by 2030.