The Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle was launched from the Vostochny Cosmodrome for the first time. reported In Roscosmos.
“The launch vehicle operated normally, the upper stage separated from the third stage of the rocket and is currently injecting the test payload into the specified orbit.” – stated in the state company.
Angara-A5 launched the Orion upper stage, which carried the Gagarinets small spacecraft created by Russian company Avant Space into low Earth orbit.
Ivan Moiseev, head of the Space Policy Institute, explained to socialbites.ca that it is too early to talk about the success of Gagarinets, we have to wait for the corresponding messages from Roscosmos.
The Kremlin congratulated rocket industry workers on the launch occasion. “We all join in the congratulations [в адрес] Our rocket scientists who launched the Angara. “We rejoice with them.” aforementioned Press spokesman for Russian President Dmitry Peskov.
No shows or fireworks
“It was a difficult three days,” Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said in a conversation with reporters. “This is not a television show or a fireworks show. “This is a routine job, a difficult job.”
According to Borisov, the launch began flight tests of the Amur missile system with Angara missiles at Vostochny.
“We have begun the beginning of flight design tests designed to identify all the shortcomings, all the nuances and ensure the reliability of future Angara pre-production launches,” said the general director of Roscosmos.
According to him, the missile has not yet “reached the required level of readiness.”
“This is the fourth launch of the heavyweight Angara in 10 years. The rocket has not yet reached the required level of readiness, this is a natural process. “This is a new spaceport, this is a completely new start, an automatic start,” he said.
According to Borisov, there is still a lot of work to be done with the Angara A5. “And it will have to launch a manned spacecraft in 2028,” the general director of Roscosmos recalled.
Ivan Moiseev, head of the Space Policy Institute, told socialbites.ca that manned spacecraft need their own infrastructure, their own security measures for personnel in order to remove cosmonauts “in case something happens”:
“There are a number of precautions that need to be taken before the rocket can launch a manned object. This is the “Eagle” ship, also known as the “Federation”, a new generation ship. This is a kind of analogue of modern ships that are currently being built [Илон] Musk or China. Musk is flying them, China is testing them. For now we have a mockup at Energia. However, it is quite possible that this will happen in 2028. The ship needs to be completed – this is the most difficult thing. Accordingly, the rocket needs to be modified according to this ship and the entire infrastructure needs to be built. Too much work”.
Launch delayed twice
Initially, the launch was planned for April 9, but it was canceled two minutes before launch: automation stopped the preparation process due to “malfunction in the pressurization system of the oxidizer tank of the central unit.”
10 April “Angara A5” did not fly again. This time due to “a malfunction in the engine start control system.”
“Such serial transfers are not rare, they do happen. This is somehow not even surprising, considering that here, in general, it is a new rocket and a new beginning. “An ordinary situation”, – commented Head of the Space Policy Institute “socialbites.ca” Ivan Moiseev.
at Roscosmos to guaranteeAngara-A5 is environmentally friendly and does not use toxic fuel components, unlike the Proton-M launch vehicle that Angara replaced.
The new launch vehicle was produced by the State Space Research and Production Center named after MV Khrunichev, the upper stage of Orion was produced by the Rocket and Space Corporation Energia named after SP Korolev (part of Roscosmos).
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Source: Gazeta
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