Soyuz-5 Soyuz-5 Flight Test

Soyuz-5 also known as Irtysh is the new generation medium class launch vehicle developed by Russia in cooperation with Kazakhstan government to replace Zenit-2 and Proton Medium launch vehicles and to keep Baikonur cosmodrome operational when Vostochny cosmodrome will take on the role of the main Russian spaceport. It was previously known as project Sunkar/Fenix. The first stage of this launch vehicle will be used in the planned super-heavy Yenisey rocket capable of lifting 100 tons of payload to the low Earth orbit and is considered the first stage in achieving this goal. Live firing tests of the fully intergrated first stage of Soyuz-5 were completed in March 2025. The first test flight will probably not carry the payload but only the mass simulator.

A Roscosmos Soyuz-5 rocket will launch the Soyuz-5 Flight Test mission. The launch date is currently targeted for December 24, 2025 (UTC).