{"id":16720,"date":"2014-12-23T19:19:32","date_gmt":"2014-12-23T11:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/russias-angara-5-rocket-launched-on-successful-maiden-flight\/"},"modified":"2014-12-23T19:19:32","modified_gmt":"2014-12-23T11:19:32","slug":"russias-angara-5-rocket-launched-on-successful-maiden-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/russias-angara-5-rocket-launched-on-successful-maiden-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia\u2019s Angara 5 rocket launched on successful maiden flight"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_2426\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2426\" style=\"width: 620px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2426\" src=\"http:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-23-at-1.00.46-PM.png\" alt=\"The first Angara 5 rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST; 8:57 a.m. local time) Tuesday. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence\" width=\"620\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-23-at-1.00.46-PM.png 900w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-23-at-1.00.46-PM-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/spaceflightnow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-23-at-1.00.46-PM-768x512.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2426\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The first Angara 5 rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST; 8:57 a.m. local time) Tuesday. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A new Russian rocket designed as a successor to the workhorse Proton booster lifted off Tuesday on a maiden test flight that could signify Russia\u2019s shift away from launching satellites at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n<p>The 180-foot-tall Angara 5 rocket ignited five kerosene-fueled RD-191 booster engines and lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome \u2014 a military-run spaceport 500 miles north of Moscow \u2014 at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST) Tuesday, according to&nbsp;the Russian Federal Space Agency.<\/p>\n<p>The RIA Novosti news agency reported the Angara 5 rocket\u2019s lower stages \u2014 comprising the new technologies to be tested on Tuesday\u2019s flight \u2014 performed as designed and released a Breeze M upper stage 12 minute after liftoff to begin a series of engine firings to put a dummy satellite into geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.<\/p>\n<p>The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the Angara booster worked as expected before deploying the Breeze M stage 12 minutes after liftoff.<\/p>\n<p>Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the launch via video conference, RIA Novosti reported.&nbsp;The launch was not broadcast live to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The rocket\u2019s Breeze M upper stage reached geostationary orbit about nine hours after liftoff, according to an update posted on the defense ministry\u2019s website. Russian officials declared the launch a success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a major achievement for our space rocket industry and for Russia in general,\u201d Putin said in remarks after viewing the launch.<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday\u2019s test flight comes after a smaller version of the Angara rocket launched in July on the program\u2019s first demonstration mission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are consistently implementing a large-scale state program \u2026 a program that actually starts a new stage in space exploration,\u201d Putin said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means that Russia now has a modern and environmentally friendly launch vehicle of a heavy-weight-class,\u201d said Oleg Ostapenko, head of Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.<\/p>\n<p>Weighing 773 metric tons (852 tons) when filled with kerosene, liquid oxygen and hypergolic propellants, the Angara 5 is the biggest Russian launcher to debut since the Energia rocket for the Soviet Union\u2019s Buran space shuttle flew in the late 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe most advanced technologies have been used in the heavyweight Angara A5 carrier rocket,\u201d Putin said. \u201cIt can be used to deliver existing and future space equipment of military, economic and research application to any orbit. Thus \u2026 they are designed for use in rocket attack early warning systems, in reconnaissance, navigation and communication, including relay-type communication. This will significantly boost Russia\u2019s security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The rocket\u2019s kerosene-fueled RD-191 engines, made by NPO Energomash of Khimki, Russia, generated roughly 2 million pounds of thrust at maximum throttle to drive the launcher into the sky. Engineers derived the single-chamber RD-191 engine from the four-nozzle RD-171 and dual-chamber RD-180 engines flying on the Zenit and Atlas 5 launchers.<\/p>\n<p>Russia tested a smaller version of the Angara rocket in July on a suborbital flight powered by a single RD-191 engine. Engineers designed the Angara 5 booster to use five RD-191 engine cores bolted together to put Russia\u2019s heaviest satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The five engines were supposed to fire in unison for more than three minutes, when four of the outboard boosters were expected to shut down and fall away from the launcher. The core RD-191 engine \u2014 operated at a partial thrust throttle setting in the first phase of the flight \u2014 was programmed to ramp up to full power and continue burning until it consumed all of its kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant supply.<\/p>\n<p>The animation below \u2014 released by the Russian Ministry of Defence \u2014 illustrates the Angara 5 rocket\u2019s initial launch sequence.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"678\" height=\"509\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TuzZ5mVljq8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A second stage RD-0124A engine and a Breeze M upper stage \u2014 borrowed from Russia\u2019s Soyuz 2-1b and Proton rockets \u2014 were to finish the job. The Angara 5\u2019s&nbsp;five-meter (16-foot) diameter payload shroud was also armed to jettison once the rocket flew out of the dense lower layers of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>The flight\u2019s Breeze M main engine was expected to ignite four times over several hours to reach the mission\u2019s targeted orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Russia\u2019s Itar-Tass news agency reported the test launch was aiming for a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.<\/p>\n<p>The end of the test flight was scheduled for 1457 GMT (9:57 a.m. EST) with a simulated separation of the mock-up payload, according to RIA Novosti.&nbsp;Such orbits are commonly used by military and commercial communications satellites.<\/p>\n<p>There was no separation of the dummy satellite \u2014 as designed \u2014 and the Breeze M stage conducted two more maneuvers to transfer to a \u201cgraveyard\u201d orbit away from operational satellite traffic, according a press release from Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the Angara program\u2019s prime contractor.<\/p>\n<p>The simulated satellite weighed about 2,040 kilograms \u2014 about 4,500 pounds \u2014 according to Khrunichev.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to thank everyone involved in today\u2019s launch: engineers, designers, test engineers and servicemen,\u201d Putin said. \u201cYou have tackled this challenge with a great sense of responsibility and your success has demonstrated that Russia remains one of the world\u2019s accepted leaders in space exploration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A successful maiden launch of the Angara 5 rocket Tuesday would spell the beginning of the end of Russia\u2019s use of the Proton rocket, a launcher that has been in service since 1965 putting heavy Russian military and commercial satellites in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>Russia has no plans for the immediate retirement of the Proton rocket, but officials have said they are eager to shift away from using the launcher, which has run into reliability woes and burns toxic propellant.<\/p>\n<p>Russian officials plan a series of Angara test flights before the rocket family is operational by 2020.<\/p>\n<p>The Angara rocket\u2019s entry into service would also help Russia\u2019s space program move away from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the historic base in Central Asia where the first artificial satellite and first crewman launched into orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The Angara 5 is Russia\u2019s most capable new launch vehicle in a generation, and its first test flight is the culmination of a 22-year development effort that cost approximately $2.9 billion, Itar-Tass reported.<\/p>\n<p>The Angara rocket family comes in several models to&nbsp;lift light, medium-class and heavy satellites into space.<\/p>\n<p>The Angara 5 can place up to 24.5 metric tons \u2014 about 54,000 pounds \u2014 into a 120-mile-high orbit. On missions with communications satellites heading for geostationary transfer orbit, an Angara 5 rocket can lift up to 5.4 metric tons, or about 11,900 pounds, according to Khrunichev.<\/p>\n<p>Khrunichev and its U.S.-based subsidiary International Launch Services plan to use the Angara 5 rocket to launch commercial communications satellites, eventually replacing the Proton rocket on the global market.<\/p>\n<p>The lightweight single-core Angara 1 launcher is tailored for missions to orbits a few hundred miles above Earth. Engineers could add or remove more Angara rocket cores to send up lighter or heavier satellites, depending on the specifics of each mission.<\/p>\n<p>The modular approach makes for a more flexible rocket, according to Khrunichev. Officials say all of the Angara variants can fly from the same launch pad.<\/p>\n<p>Khrunichev also touts the Angara rocket as an environmentally safe alternative to the Proton rocket, which burns hundreds of tons of toxic hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants on each launch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI would like to highlight that all the component parts of the Angara are made in Russia,\u201d Putin said. \u201cIt has been developed with the use of advanced technologies that fully meet modern standards, including environmental requirements. This significantly reduces its impact on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe commissioning of the Angara system will provide to Russia the capability to launch any type of spacecraft from its own territory, and will secure for our country an independent access to outer space,\u201d Khrunichev said in a statement on its website.<\/p>\n<p><b><i>Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first Angara 5 rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST; 8:57 a.m. local time) Tuesday. Credit: Russian Ministry of Defence A new Russian rocket designed as a successor to the workhorse Proton booster lifted off Tuesday on a maiden test flight that could signify Russia\u2019s shift away from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1939,4199,1968,1969,1893,1971],"class_list":["post-16720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-angara","tag-angara-5","tag-breeze-m","tag-khrunichev","tag-plesetsk-cosmodrome","tag-rd-191"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}