Space center named after Khrunichev started production of the first booster heavy class “Angara-A5” planned for 2021 launch from the cosmodrome “East”. This was reported by RIA “Novosti” with reference to the representative of the Directorate for the space communications center.
“Work has started with cooperation of manufacturing and supplying materials, semi-finished and purchased components for the Assembly of the carrier rocket “Angara-A5″,” – said the Agency interlocutor.
The contract to build the first three missiles “Angara-A5” was signed between “Roskosmos” and the Khrunichev Center in late 2015. The agreements include the development, manufacture and flight tests of media. Assembly of first Angara-A5 should be completed by may 2021, the second in 2024, and the third in 2025-m. the First launch scheduled in the period from August to December 2021.
As we learned in the last year, with the “East” in 2021 will be the start of the upgraded version of the rocket “Angara-А5М” rather than the usual “Angara-A5”. An upgraded version of carrier needs to obtain rocket engines with 10% greater thrust, the onboard systems on the basis of domestic components, as well as a number of design differences aimed at reducing the mass of the rocket and the cost of its production. The works on the modernization of the carrier rocket has started in the beginning of March this year.
Carrier rockets series “Angara” are environmentally friendly, as their engines run on kerosene and oxygen, without the use of highly toxic heptyl. The whole family is designed in a modular type and include four classes of rockets (from light to heavy “Angara-A1.2”, “Angara-A5”, “Angara-А5М” and “Angara-А5В”) with carrying capacity from 3.8 tons to 35 tons for launches from the cosmodrome “Plesetsk”, and in the future — with “East”.
Began construction of the first heavy carrier rocket series “Angara”
Nikolai Khizhnyak