- calendar_today August 20, 2025
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Russia’s newest rocket, Soyuz-5, could fly for the first time before the end of the year. Dmitry Bakanov, director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, told state news agency TASS in an interview earlier this month that plans are underway for a December launch. Bakanov added that preparatory work for the flight has “practically” been completed, and that Soyuz-5 will be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
If all goes to plan, the flight will be the first test launch of a new rocket that’s been in development for over a decade. Roscosmos officials have spoken about their expectation that several trial flights will be conducted, but full operational service is not expected until at least 2028.
The Soyuz-5 (also known as Irtysh) is by no means a completely new concept, however. Instead, Roscosmos’ latest rocket is almost entirely built on legacy Zenit-2 technology, a launcher first designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Ukraine in the 1980s. Zenit rockets were produced in Ukraine with Russian RD-171 engines. They are a rare example of post-Soviet cooperation on aerospace technology. Russia and Ukraine, however, no longer speak of cooperation since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In December 2023, a Russian missile strike targeted the Ukrainian rocket plant that once assembled Zenit.
Soyuz-5 is essentially a much larger, indigenously produced Zenit. The redesign of the Russian workhorse has removed Ukraine as a partner, to the point that all core hardware and software are to be produced within Russia. In this regard, the move is a strategic win for Moscow, as it ends more than a decade of Russian dependence and the long-standing process of phasing out of its Proton-M launcher.
A Bridge To The Future
While Soyuz-5 is a new rocket, from a technical perspective, it can be classified as a medium-lift launch vehicle. According to TASS, the rocket is designed to deliver some 17 metric tons of payload to low-Earth orbit. This performance is a direct result of Soyuz-5 having larger propellant tanks than Zenit, and its size is due to a more powerful central engine.
The RD-171MV at the heart of the Soyuz-5 is the latest in an impressive line of engines. First developed for the Energia program of the 1980s, which powered the Soviet Union’s short-lived Buran shuttle, RD-171 is among the most powerful rocket engines on the planet. The RD-171MV in Soyuz-5 is a new version of the older engine, with the important distinction that it features no Ukrainian parts. Fueled by kerosene and liquid oxygen, RD-171MV is estimated to produce over three times the thrust of the Space Shuttle main engine (SSME) that powered NASA’s shuttles.
For all of its power, Soyuz-5 is an expendable rocket. In contrast, most of its competitors, most notably SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, are purpose-built for reusability. For this reason, many question whether Soyuz-5 is ever going to capture a significant share of the international launch market.
Nonetheless, it still has an important role for Roscosmos. With the Russian space agency’s budget squeezed by war expenses and international sanctions, developing a brand-new reusable rocket is a difficult proposition. The Amur rocket, also known as Soyuz-7, was to be Russia’s next-generation rocket built for reusability, featuring a reusable first stage and methane-fueled RD-274M engines. If successful, it would be priced to compete with SpaceX. Amur was to be built using domestic components. However, repeated delays have pushed its first flight to at least 2030.
For now, Soyuz-5 will serve as a bridge between past and future for Russia’s space program. While it may seem like a last gasp of Soviet-era hardware, for Moscow, it represents a means of moving forward—even if it is with technology from the recent past.
Whether Soyuz-5 will have much of a commercial impact is an open question. The global launch market has changed significantly in the last decade, with both SpaceX and Chinese providers offering cheaper and more flexible launch solutions. Russia will continue to use its Soyuz-2 rockets for crewed launches and its Angara family of rockets for heavier payloads. But neither has managed to gain a foothold internationally in the past. Whether the same can be said about Soyuz-5 remains to be seen.
However, the fact that Roscosmos has managed to get Soyuz-5 on the brink of launch under far from ideal conditions is an accomplishment. Should the launch in December be successful, it would mark a notable success for Roscosmos, which could point to Russia still being able to field new hardware for launch under sanctions and a reduced budget.
Soyuz-5 is unlikely to revolutionize rocket design. But for Russia, it will be a symbolically important one. It is both a step toward breaking Russian dependence on foreign technology and a bridge to the future, whatever that may bring. Whether that future comes with Amur or a yet-unannounced next generation of rockets remains to be seen.
