The launch of the Angara-A5 heavy-lift launch vehicle from Vostochny has been canceled again.
The first launch of Angara-A5 was scheduled for 12:00 Moscow time on April 9. Two minutes before the launch, a command to abort was issued. Later, the management of Roscosmos explained that the automation was triggered by a failure in the pressurization system of the oxidizer tank of the central block of the launch vehicle, and the launch was postponed to a backup date. Exactly one day later.
Now, less than a minute before the start, a command was given to cancel the launch. The heads of work were instructed to prepare for a twenty-four-hour hold.
Angara A-5 is the first Russian heavy rocket to launch from Vostochny. For the Angara family, a separate launch complex was built from scratch in five years.
Angara A-5 weighs 761 tons, the Orion upper stage weighs 22.1 tons, and the payload that can be put into near-Earth orbit thanks to this rocket is 24-24.5 tons. The maximum payload capacity of this rocket is 37.5 tons.
The heavy Angara A-5s, among other things, are tasked with transporting modules of the Russian Orbital Station into orbit and launching manned spacecraft to it. Roscosmos management plans to build about eight heavy Angara-A5 rockets plus a certain number of light Angara-1.2 rockets per year in the coming years.
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