In the family of Russian Angara launch vehicles, one of the rockets is intended for manned launches, its production will begin after the signing of the relevant agreement. This was announced in an interview with Pro Kosmos by Sergey Kuznetsov, General Designer of the Salyut Design Bureau named after V.M. Myasishchev (part of the Khrunichev Center of the Roscosmos State Corporation).
According to Kuznetsov, the Angara is constantly being improved, and the family will not be limited to improved, hydrogen, reusable rockets, since the modernization "allows you to maintain relevant indicators in the launch services market for a long time."
The production of Angara for manned launches will begin after the conclusion of the relevant agreement. Now we have taken part in the preliminary design to ensure, among other things, manned launches to the ROS station, the customer was RSC Energia, we presented our proposals. We are ready to implement this project. As for the features, first of all, the manned Angara differs in the presence of additional equipment related to the need to rescue the crew in case of possible emergency situations. In other respects, this machine structurally repeats the Angara-A5M and we expect that the manned version will be no less in demand than the cargo version.
At the same time, in order to launch a promising transport ship (PTK) with a crew on the Angara, according to established practice, there should be at least two or three launches of a modernized manned rocket before that.
Kuznetsov also noted in an interview that the Angara family of launch vehicles should last at least thirty years before it is replaced by a new generation.
Of course, now we cannot say with an accuracy of up to a year how long the life of Angara will be. But we believe that it will serve the interests of the Russian Federation no less than its predecessor, our legendary Proton. Therefore, at least until the 50s, we see Angara in service.
Parts and components for two Angara-A5M flight vehicles are already being prepared, the first launch of Angara-A5M is scheduled from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in 2027. It is not yet known whether any of these two rockets will fly with a payload in the form of modules for the ROS, or whether they will both have a different payload, this is "a matter of the near future". According to Kuznetsov, the rocket will be ready to start deploying the station from any module that will be needed at that time.
Read materials on the topic:
ILRS - to be: Vladimir Putin ratified the agreement on the Russian-Chinese lunar station
Russia has started production of " начинку" for the new Angara-A5M rocket
The Russian spacecraft "Orel" is preparing for production
The launch dates of the new Russian rocket "Soyuz-5" have become known
