Russia will launch its first new space rocket since the Soviet era on Wednesday, Interfax news agency quoted a source at the launch site as saying.
The rocket's planned maiden flight was postponed last minute last month. The launch of the Angara-1.2PP rocket is seen as key to President Vladimir Putin's plan to reform Russia's once-pioneering space industry that has seen a series of costly and embarrassing failures in recent years.
Anatoly Zak, an expert on the Russian space program, wrote on his website, Russianspaceweb.com, that the launch is scheduled for 4:00 PM Moscow time and will not be televised, as Russian space officials considered June 27's last-minute launch abort on live television to have been highly embarrassing.
Material from The Moscow Times was used in this report.
