by RoscosmosRU
Give Russia a cheaper medium rocket with cleaner propellants that carries up to about 17-18 t to low orbit, roughly double today's Soyuz-2.
First suborbital test flew Apr 30, 2026; second test set for the second half of 2027, third for 2028.
Updated 21 May 2026Checked 11 Oct0 updates this week
The RD-171MV feeds four combustion chambers from one turbopump, pushing about 7,250 kN, more than any other liquid engine flying.
The turbine runs on hot, oxygen-rich gas that then flows into the chambers, so no fuel is dumped overboard. Very efficient, but metallurgically hard.
A second stage with one RD-0124MS engine reaches orbit; Fregat or Blok DM upper stages can be added for higher orbits.
| Spec | Soyuz-5 |
|---|---|
| Payload to low orbit | 18 t (uncrewed)R (reported) |
| RD-171MV thrust | 7,257 kNR (reported) |
| RD-0124MS thrust | 588.6 kNR (reported) |
| Height | 61.9 mR (reported) |
| Diameter | 4.1 mR (reported) |
| Propellants | Kerosene / liquid oxygenR (reported) |
R reported by the company
| Spec | Soyuz-5 | Skyroot Aerospace Vikram-1 | LandSpace Zhuque-3 | ArianeGroup / Arianespace Ariane 6 | CASC (China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp.) Long March 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Height | 61.9 mR (reported) | 20 mR (reported) | 76.6 mR (reported) | 93 mR (reported) | 92.5 mR (reported) |
| Diameter | 4.1 mR (reported) | 1.7 mR (reported) | 4.5 mR (reported) | 5.4 mR (reported) | 5 mR (reported) |
R reported by the company
Roscosmos
Soyuz-5 rocket, Russian Orbital Station
Roscosmos is Russia's state space corporation, formed in 2015 from the 1992 Russian Space Agency. It owns the country's rocket and spacecraft makers, flies Soyuz crews to the ISS and is building the Soyuz-5 rocket and a national space station.
