The maiden commercial launch of the new Russian Angara 1.2 light weight launch vehicle, which can lift more than 3 metric tons to Low Ea...
The maiden commercial launch of the new Russian Angara 1.2 light weight launch vehicle, which can lift more than 3 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO), will be in 2017.
The Angara 1.2 is the smallest of the Angara space launch system, a family of next-generation, environmentally friendly launchers now under development in Russia on the basis of the URM Common Core Booster (CCB), using LOX/kerosene engines.
The scalable Angara family of launchers will support virtually all spacecraft to all orbits, altitudes and inclinations for the low-, medium-, and heavy-lift spacecraft market.
The Angara product line includes small- to heavy-lift launchers featuring LEO payload capabilities of 3.8 MT to 37.5 MT (Angara A5V).
The Angara 1.2 was successfully flight demonstrated on July 9, 2014 from the Plesetsk launch site. Next flight of Angara 1.2 is planned for 2016 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
The first flight of Angara 5, the heavy-lift variant, was conducted on December 23, 2014. This vehicle will be available for GTO missions in the 2021 timeframe, following completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome launch site located in eastern Russia.
The Angara vehicles are manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center (Khrunichev), and will be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia.
In the meantime, the existing Proton launch vehicle, launched from Baikonur will continue to meet heavy lift requirements, with Angara 1.2 providing the low- and medium-lift requirements.
Proton, Russia’s premier heavy-lift vehicle has launched 404 missions to date and is in its 50th year of service.
A variant of the Angara Universal Rocket Module (URM) system was flown successfully as the first stage of KSLV (Korean Space Launch Vehicle) during its first three missions in 2009, 2010 and 2013
