First Angara Rocket on Pad for Friday Test Launch
Angara-1.2 launch vehicle on pad at Plesetsk. (Credit: Khrunichev)
PLESETSK, Russia, June 25, 2014 (Khrunichev PR) – Today the first integrated launch vehicle of the Angara-1.2 family was transferred to the launch complex at the MoD State Testing Cosmodrome (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Archangelsk Region. Angara-1.2ML (“Maiden Launch”) was installed on the launch pad.
The go-ahead for the roll-out was given by the State Commission for Flight Testing of Spacecraft Launch Systems at its meeting on Tuesday, June 24.
The launch of the light-lift Angara-1.2ML is scheduled for June 27 and begins the flight tests of launch vehicles belonging to the latest Russian space rocket complex, Angara.
The purpose of the Angara-1.2ML launch is injecting Stage 2 and a mass/dimensional dummy payload, the latter not to be separated, to a ballistic trajectory. The stack is subsequently expected to reach its targeted impact area in the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Angara Launch Vehicle Family
The Angara Space Launch System represents the next-generation modularized launch vehicles that will be built around two common rocket common core boosters (CCBs) using oxygen-kerosene engines URM 1 and URM 2, respectively.
The Angara product line includes lightweight to heavy-lift launchers featuring LEO payload capabilities of 3.8 MT to 35 MT (Angara A7).
The LOX/kerosene common core booster (CCB or URM) is a wholesome structure that includes an oxidizer tank, a fuel tank (both tanks being coupled by a spacer) and a propulsion bay.
Each CCB is fit with one RD 191 high-power liquid engine. This engine is being developed on the basis of (1) the four-chamber engine used earlier by the Energia launch vehicle and (2) the RD 170/171 engine still in operation on the Zenit LV.
One CCB (URM) is used by the light-weight Angara 1.2 LV. The maximum number of CCBs is seven (Angara А7).
A prototype of Angara’s first stage, URM-1, has been flight-tested on three occasions (2009, 2010, 2013) as part of Korea’s KSLV-1.
Angara 1.2 will use Breeze-KM as its upper stage. (This upper stage has been successfully tested in combination with Rockot, a conversion- program launcher.). Angara A5 will use Breeze-M or KVTK as its upper stage.
The high degree of modularity combined with the unique design solutions employed would allow any member of the Angara family to be launched from the same pad.
Editor’s Note: Finally, Khrunichev has a mission in which slamming the payload into the ground won’t count as a failure. C’mon guys, you certainly know how to do this. Don’t screw it up!
