Launch pad for Angara rockets put into operation at Vostochny Cosmodrome - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Dec 9 (Interfax) - A launch pad for Angara heavy-lift rockets has been put into operation at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, in Russia's Amur region, the Roscosmos State Corporation said in a statement on Tuesday.

"The area of the launch pad is just over 45,000 square meters. It is one of the world's most advanced and automated launch pads today," the statement said.

The corresponding permission was received by the Vostochny Cosmodrome administration on December 8, it said.

"In total, 70% of the facilities have already been put into operation as part of the construction of the Angara launch site. The remaining auxiliary facilities are expected to be commissioned before the end of March 2026," the statement quoted Vostochny Cosmodrome administration head Nikolai Novikov as saying.

According to Roscosmos, another 37 facilities have been commissioned as part of building the Angara launch site, including a command post, an oxygen and nitrogen production unit, an oxygen and nitrogen storage facility, a facility storing oxygen to fill the rocket's upper stage, personnel shelters, evacuation tunnels, a fueling deck, a platform for gathering samples, lightning rods, and light towers.

"All technological achievements of the past few decades were taken into account as the Angara launch site was designed and built. It was designed in a way that enables simultaneous construction, assembling and tests of processing equipment," Roscosmos said.

Angara is a family of Russian modular-type rockets with various lifting capacities. The rocket consists of universal modules powered by oxygen-kerosene engines. The family ranges from light- to heavy-lift rockets with a lifting capacity of 3.5 tonnes (Angara-1.2) to 38 tonnes (Angara-A5B) on low near-Earth orbits.

Angara is due to launch Russian space station modules from Vostochny. The launch of the first module is scheduled for 2027.