Sea launch floating spaceport owned by S7 Group targets dozen launches in 5 years

Up to 90 launches could be made over five years, said Novosibirsk-based S7 Group co-owner Vladislav Filev.

The CEO of S7 Space Transport Systems Sopov said that the company might delay the resumption of launches for five years to develop a new rocket, if problems arose with the delivery of the Russian-Ukrainian carrier rockets Zenit.

'If Yuzhmash (the Ukrainian design bureau that makes Zenit carrier rockets) does not produce rockets, we'll take a pause for five years and will be developing another rocket together with Russian enterprises for our spaceport,' he said.

A new rocket should have a multiple first stage, Sopov said.

'We are not going to sell promises, we will only sell launches as the carrier rockets are ready'. Picture: Roskosmos

Sea Launch is an international commercial project using Russian-Ukrainian carrier rockets Zenit blasting off from the Odyssey floating platform. 

Launches were suspended in 2014. In late September, S7 Group (Siberia Airlines) signed a contract with Sea Launch Group for buying the Sea Launch project. 

The acquisition deal covered the Odyssey platform, the ground equipment in the port of Long Beach and also the Sea Launch trademark. 

'Demothballing of the complex and start of the launching operations are scheduled 18 months after the approval of the transaction - approximately at the end of 2018,' Filev said earlier.

'We expect to be able to make up to 70 launches in the next 15 years without any large investments into modernisation of the Sea Launch. 

'Our business strategy is in stark contrast to that of other companies - we are not going to sell promises, we will only sell launches as the carrier rockets are ready. 

'The rockets will come first, the customers will follow.'

The sea-based launch system enables rockets to be fired from the optimum position on Earth's surface.

This considerably increasing payload capacity and reduces launch costs compared with land-based systems.