Russians to build 11 Proton rockets
September 20, 2019
By Chris Forrester
Russia’s TASS news site says that rocket manufacturer Khrunichev has built 4 of the popular Proton-M rockets and will build another 7 before shutting down the production line and switching to a new version.
Khrunichev’s Director General Alexei Varochko told TASS on September 17th: “According to the current plan, the Khrunichev Center is to manufacture 11 rockets, four of them are already in production, seven more will be ready in 2020-2021”.
Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on the sidelines of the Russian ‘Army Forum 2018’ event that the manufacturing of Proton-M rockets will cease in 2020-2021. The rockets will be in use until 2025. All subsequent launches will be carried out by the Angara family of rockets, because it is more environmentally friendly.”
The Proton rockets are popular with ‘Western’ clients and the launches are handled by International Launch Services.