Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will make a working tour to the city of Mirny, Arkhangelsk Region, and visit the Plesetsk space launch center.

A government press service official said that at the cosmodrome proper, the Preier would inspect facilities designed for preparing and launching spacecraft.

The Head of Government will also hold a conference on the development of the space rocket system Angara and discuss readiness for the testing of the new multifunctional carrier rocket.

Vice-Premier Dmitry Rogozin, Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, Vladimir Bulavin, plenipotentiary presidential representative in the North-Western Federal District, representatives of Federal executive government bodies and space industry officials will take part in the conference.

The creation of the space rocket system Angara is one of priorities in the development of the cosmodrome Plestsk as part of a national system of launch services fully based on the use of exclusively Russia's research and industrial potential.

In November 2013, the fully functional mockup of the light-class carrier rocket Angara was put on the launch pad of the northern cosmodrome for the first time. The mockup constitutes a working rocket desigined for ground testing, not for launching. In particular, the mockup was used to drill the priming of the carrier rocket with fuel on the lauch pad.

Work to develop ground infrastructure facilities, prepare and launch the Angara is being done under the Federal purpose-oriented programme "The Development of Russian Cosmodromes in the 2006-2015 Period" while efforts to develop and manufacture space rockets are made under the State programme for Armament, and under the Federal Space Programme of Russia for 2006-2015.

The Angara is a new-generation carrier rocket based on a universal rocket module with oxygen-and-kerosene engines. The rocket family includes carrier rockets of light and heavy-duty classes within a range of payload lifting from 1.5 to 25 tonnes. Work on the Angara has been under way since 1995. The Khrunichev state space research and production center is the leading developer and manufacturer of the rockets of this family.

The first launch of the light-class carrier rocket Angara and the start of testing of the space rocket system are scheduled for the second quarter of 2014 from Plesetsk cosmodrome. In 2015 the rocket is to lift off from the cosmodrome Vostochny (eastern) which is under construction in Amur Region.

Source: Voice of Russia