MOSCOW, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - The airfield of the Plesetsk cosmodrome has been adapted to receive heavy planes. The order for commissioning the new air strip was inked on Wednesday by Vladimir Popovkin, Commander of the Space Troops, the press service says in the communique.
"If earlier spacecraft had to be brought in to the cosmodrome by rail, the future-bound Angara and Soyuz-2 space programmes intend carrying payloads by planes with a landing mass up to 220 tonnes - Il-76, Tu-134 and Tu-154", the press release reads.
Back in 2002 it was decided to remake the Plesetsk runway with the substantial development of the servicing-technical infrastructure and radio engineering supply, the communique notes.
"On October 18, after six months of overhaul, the first An-26 plane landed on the new runway of the Plesetsk cosmodrome. On October 21 the first heavy plane Tu-154 landed on the new runway", the communique reads.
