{"id":10737,"date":"2021-12-31T22:39:56","date_gmt":"2021-12-31T14:39:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/test-launch-of-russias-heavy-lift-angara-rocket-marred-by-upper-stage-failure\/"},"modified":"2021-12-31T22:39:56","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T14:39:56","slug":"test-launch-of-russias-heavy-lift-angara-rocket-marred-by-upper-stage-failure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/test-launch-of-russias-heavy-lift-angara-rocket-marred-by-upper-stage-failure\/","title":{"rendered":"Test launch of Russia\u2019s heavy-lift Angara rocket marred by upper stage failure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An Angara A5 rocket lifts off Dec. 27 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The third test launch of Russia\u2019s heavy-lift Angara A5 rocket Dec. 27 was marred by an upper stage failure that stranded a dummy payload in a low orbit.<\/p>\n

The Angara A5 rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, located in Russia\u2019s Arkhangelsk region about 500 miles (800 kilometers) north of Moscow, at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) on Dec. 27, according to Russia\u2019s Ministry of Defense.<\/p>\n

Liftoff occurred at 10 p.m. Moscow time to begin the third test flight of Russia\u2019s heavy-lift Angara A5 rocket, following successful demonstration launches in 2014 and 2020.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s five RD-191 engines collectively generated more than 2 million pounds of thrust to power the Angara A5 off the launch pad at Plesetsk.<\/p>\n

Heading downrange east of Plesetsk, the rocket surpassed the speed of sound and jettisoned its four strap-on booster engines nearly three-and-a-half minutes into the flight. Then the rocket\u2019s core stage, which fired its RD-191 engine at a lower throttle setting in the early phase of flight, powered up to full throttle to continue climbing into space.<\/p>\n

The core stage switched off its engine and dropped away from the Angara\u2019s third stage nearly five-and-a-half minutes after liftoff. A kerosene-fueled RD-0124 engine ignited on the third stage and fired for nearly seven minutes.<\/p>\n

The Angara\u2019s payload fairing jettisoned early in the third stage burn, revealing the rocket\u2019s dummy payload after climbing into space.<\/p>\n

The rocket then deployed a Persei, or Perseus, upper stage to perform a series of engine burns to maneuver into an orbit near geostationary altitude more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n

A first burn was expected to accelerate the Persei stage into a parking orbit. That engine firing apparently concluded as planned.<\/p>\n

But the upper stage did not conduct the additional engine burns needed to climb into a higher orbit. U.S. military tracking data showed the Persei upper stage, with its satellite mock-up payload presumably still attached, in a low orbit between 110 miles and 124 miles (177-by-200 kilometers) in altitude, well short of the mission\u2019s target.<\/p>\n

The orbit\u2019s track was tilted at an angle of 63.4 degrees to the equator, according to radar tracking information obtained and published by the U.S. military.<\/p>\n

The Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the Angara A5 rocket\u2019s blastoff from Plesetsk, but Russian officials provided no additional updates on the progress of the Persei upper stage.<\/p>\n

The Persei stage is a modified version of the Block DM upper stage used on more than 200 Russian launches since 1974. The Angara A5 test flight Dec. 27 was the first use of the new Persei upper stage variant.<\/p>\n