Launch of the Soyuz-2.1 A launch vehicle with the symbols of Chuvashia and the image of a native of the republic, a pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union Andriyan Grigoryevich Nikolaev took place at 02:27 Moscow time on June 30 from the Baikonur cosmodrome.
According to the authors, the design of the Chuvash ring carries the meaning of the legendary national three suns resurrected in the sky. As the head of the Chuvash Republic noted Oleg Nikolaev the launch of such a rocket was made possible thanks to the agreement on cooperation between the Chuvash Republic and the state corporation “Roscosmos” signed earlier on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The head of the region said that the idea arose during a visit by the general director of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin Of the Chuvash Republic. “During the conversation, we talked about space and cosmonauts, about the fact that Chuvashia is the birthplace of three cosmonauts,” Oleg Nikolaev noted. This inspired me to dedicate one of the rocket launches into space with the symbols of Chuvashia.
The Chuvash Republic is inextricably linked with space, many natives of the region have worked and are working at cosmodromes, organizations that have established close cooperation with enterprises of the rocket and space industry work in the republic, Oleg Nikolaev stressed.