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Russia developing Start-1M carrier rocket as derivative of Topol-M ICBM — source

Like the ICBM, the carrier rocket is intended for launches from a mobile launching platform

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. The Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology is developing the Start-1M light carrier rocket on the basis of the Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a source in the space rocket industry told TASS on Monday.

"The Start-1M launch vehicle is being developed at the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology on the basis of the Topol-M ICBM. Like the ICBM, the carrier rocket is intended for launches from a mobile launching platform," he said.

The Start-1M is being engineered without radical changes in its design. However, it will follow a different flight path compared to the trajectory of the Start-1 carrier rocket developed as a derivative of the Topol ICBM and will feature certain improvements, the source said.

TASS has no official confirmation of this information yet.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said on April 12 that the first converted Start-1M carrier rocket was set to blast off in 2026.

The Start-1 rocket as the predecessor of the Start-1M was engineered using the Topol ICBM as the basis. From 1993 to 2006, Russia carried out seven Start-1 launches: two from the Plesetsk spaceport in the country’s northwest and five from the eastern Svobodny cosmodrome (currently, Vostochny).

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