Soyuz-7

The Soyuz-7 (Russian: Союз-7) or Amur (Russian: Аму́р) is a partially-reusable, methane–fueled, orbital launch vehicle currently in the design concept stage of development by the Roscosmos State Corporation in Russia. The preliminary design process began in October 2020, with operational flights planned for no earlier than 2030. Amur is intended to replace the existing Soyuz-2 at a much lower per launch cost. JSC SRC Progress originally proposed this new family of Russian rockets in the mid-2010s to replace the legacy Soyuz in the early 2020s. JSC SRC Progress had been the manufacturer and custodian of the Soyuz family design for many decades. The new design concept was a part of Project Feniks (Russian: Феникс, lit. 'Fenix'). While all previous iterations of the Soyuz family had their roots firmly set on the R-7 ICBM legacy, the new rocket, designated Soyuz-7 in 2013, was to be a completely new design from the ground up. The proposed new design was to be based on a new propellant: LOX and liquid methane, use a new tank structure, new propulsion, and would do away with the famous Korolev Cross, and have thrust vector control in the main engine rather than using vernier engines. It was conceived in 2013 to be a scalable family with three versions covering the medium to heavy payload ranges. The project would help to assure access to space for Russia by acting as a backup launcher in the event of problems with the Angara rocket family. As conceived in the mid-2010s, the smallest version was to be a 270-tonne rocket, intended as a replacement of the Soyuz-2 rocket, with an expected payload to LEO of 9 t (9,000 kg). It will use a single RD-0164 engine on the first stage, and a RD-0169 engine on the second. The first engineering design...