Engineers and members of personnel at Baikonur are making headway to launch into space the digital Soyuz spacecraft carrying cosmonauts on board. According to the Russian space agency, scientists and engineers from the Yuzhniy Space Center and the Aerospace Corporation Energia are running tests on the Soyuz TMA-01M assembly.

The TMA-01M Soyuz craft is the first in the new digital series. In the words of Nikolai Bryukhanov, deputy general designer of the Energia Corporation, the plan in devising the new series of spaceships was to narrow the technology gap between old Soyuz vehicles and the model of a modern spaceship.

At the same time, the new Soyuz craft will not be significantly different from the original Soyuz TMA in its overall design and layout. The interface and controls will look familiar to the cosmonauts. Among the changes introduced is the replacement of monochrome monitors with color screens. Consoles will also have slight changes for the convenience of the space piloting crews.

The technical limitations for the older version of the Soyuz will still apply to the new Soyuz craft. The weight of the cosmonauts cannot exceed 95 kilograms and the height cannot be larger than 190 centimeters. Almost all of the devices and electronics used in the assembly of the new Soyuz are made in Russia.

The launch of the new Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft with the use of the Soyuz-FG carrying rocket is planned to take place on October 8, 2010. Alexander Kalery, who is considered to be one of the most experienced cosmonauts in the Russian space program, will pilot the new craft. The new Soyuz will bring the 25/26 expedition to the International Space Station.

Russia is currently pursuing the construction of a new space vehicle and a new spaceport. The new spaceship is due to take off from the Vostochny launch site in 2015, as per the orders of President Dmitry Medvedev.

The director of the Federal Space Agency’s manned flight program Alexei Krasnov noted that the new Russian space vehicle will not be just another modification of the Soyuz, which has been the workhorse of the Russian space program for half a century. Rather, the Russian spaceship will be a totally new craft that will be capable of bringing up to 6 crew members into Earth’s orbit. The craft’s occupancy for circum-lunar orbit flights would be 4 people.

According to the head of the Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov, Russia would be able to complete the project by 2015 – 2016. Russia intends to complete the project of designing the spacecraft without the assistance of other nations.

While the Federal Space Agency hosted a tender in 2006 for the new generation spacecraft that will replace the Soyuz, the Agency’s Commission did not name the winning designer. According to Alexei Krasnov, none of the proposed designs suggested at that time fulfilled the Space Agency’s requirements.

The tender included three bidders: the Energia Aerospace Corporation, the Khrunichev Aerospace Center, as well as the Molniya Research and Production Center. Energia’s proposed design, the Kliper was selected as the leading model that was exhibited in Russia and abroad.

The completion of the Vostochny spaceport will depend on the availability of funding. Additionally, launching the new spaceship will require the construction of a new vehicle to carry 20 tons of payload into orbit. At the same time, even while Russia makes preparations to construct a new launch site on its own territory, the country’s chief space officials do not intend to abandon the Baikonur spaceport. Russia plans to broaden its collaboration with the Republic of Kazakhstan within the framework of existing agreements.