23 Oct 2014 11:18

Angara LV trial program includes ten test launches

MOSCOW. Oct 23 (Interfax-AVN) - The trial program of Russia's brand new launch vehicle Angara includes ten test launches, according to materials released by the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) information policy service at a press conference at the Interfax main office in Moscow.

"The Angara trial program stipulates ten launches, the first two using mockups and the others with real satellites," the materials read.

The maiden launch of the heavy-lift Angara-A5 has been tentatively planned for December of this year.

Roscosmos estimates the Angara-A5 launch cost at $95-105 million, which is about twice smaller than the cost of launches of U.S. and European rockets of the same class.