Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket to be taken to launch pad on August 19

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM A state commission has given the green light to the start of flight trials of the Soyuz-MS spacecraft and the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket due to be launched on August 22, Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin said.

«Atthe Baikonur space center, a state commission gave the green light to the startof flight trials of the Soyuz-MS spacecraft and the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocketand of taking the space rocket to the launch pad on August 19,» Rogozinwrote on his Twitter page on Saturday.

It will bethe first time that a Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket will be used for sending amanned spacecraft to the orbit. Although there will be no humans on board thistime, the spacecraft will carry Russia’s Skybot F-850 android robot and cargoto the International Space Station (ISS). The launch is scheduled for themorning of August 22, the docking with the ISS is due to take place on August24, TASS reports.

The SkybotF-850 android robot (previously called FEDOR - Final Experimental DemonstrationObject Research) was developed by Android Technology Company and the AdvancedResearch Fund on a technical assignment from Russia’s Emergencies Ministry. Theandroid robot will join the Russian crew of the International Space Station tocontinue the tests of «the space-designated anthropomorphous system,»Rogozin said earlier.

The Robotis expected to stay in orbit for a week and a half, after which it will returnto Earth. In the future, the Skybot F-850 will travel to the Moon. Such flightswill be performed before manned missions to the Earth’s natural satellite.