Russia announced on Thursday that it successfully test-launched its Angara-A5 space rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East, putting a test cargo in low orbit as part of a new post-Soviet launch vehicle development program.
The test launch of Russia’s first post-Soviet space rocket, the Angara-A5, was intended to highlight Moscow’s aspirations to be a major space power, as well as the growing importance of Vostochny, located in the woods of Russia’s Far East.
However, two Angara rocket launches were aborted at the last minute on Tuesday and Wednesday due to a pressurizing system fault, followed by an issue with the engine launch control system.
To the relief of Russian space officials, they were third time lucky on Thursday, just hours before Russia marks Cosmonaut Day, which commemorates the day 63 years ago when the Soviet Union’s Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
The 54.5-metre (178.81-foot) three-stage rocket, with a mass of about 773 tonnes, can carry about 24.5 tonnes into space, according to Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.
The defense ministry is also involved in the project, which Moscow says uses only Russian components and less environmentally damaging fuel and will replace the Proton M as Russia’s heavy-lift rocket, which has been in operation since the mid-1960s.
Russia initiated the Angara project a few years after the Soviet Union’s dissolution in 1991 as a Russian-made launch vehicle that would provide access to space even without the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which Russia rents from Kazakhstan.
“The creation of the Angara space rocket complex (KRK) is a task of special national importance,” Russian space agency Roscosmos said.
“The commissioning of the Angara spacecraft will allow Russia to launch spacecraft of all types from its territory and provide our country with independent guaranteed access to space.”
The first Angara-A5 test flight took held in 2014, followed by another in 2020, both from Plesetsk, northern Russia. A partial test was conducted in 2021, which failed.
