12 Feb 2020 13:37

Another Angara-A5 rocket to be sent to Plesetsk in spring

MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) - The Khrunichev Center is planning to send another new Angara-A5 launch vehicle to the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in spring, Khrunichev General Director Alexei Varochko said during a visit by members of the Russian Union of Veterans and the Club of Military Commanders to the enterprise.

"We're tasked with sending the vehicle to the cosmodrome in March or April. The train will return to Omsk from there; the vehicle will be put on the train and transported here," Varochko said.

After that, the train will return to the Polyot Plant in Omsk, which makes unique Angara rocket modules. The modules will be transported to the Khrunichev Center in Moscow for final assembly and testing of the rocket before the rocket is delivered to the cosmodrome, he said.

Angara is a family of modular rockets with oxygen-kerosene engines which come in four types ranging from light to heavy. The rocket's lift capacity varies from 1.5 tonnes (Angara 1.1) to 35 tonnes (Angara A7) delivered to low near-Earth orbits, in case of launches from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is the chief designer and manufacturer of Angara rockets.

In May 2019, it was reported that the Russian Defense Ministry would perform three launches of Angara A5 rockets and one Angara 1.2 launch between 2019 and 2021, but the launch due in 2019 was postponed till 2020. The Defense Ministry is the principal buyer of Angara rockets.

The second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome is under construction to prepare for Angara launches.