Autonomous tests of the service complex for the first manned spacecraft of the Angara family of rockets are being completed at the Angara launch complex of the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
According to Roscosmos, after the April first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket, the cable-filling tower was retrofitted with a service complex for the manned spacecraft. It consists of a crew landing gallery, an airlock, and a clean compartment. The crew landing gallery is a connecting elevator for astronauts and the airlock.
The gallery is equipped with various sensors, fire alarms, and video surveillance cameras that ensure the safety of astronauts during boarding the manned spacecraft. The airlock is another part of the complex. Preliminary cleaning of the crew from viruses and dust takes place there. Next, the astronauts enter the airlock, where the remaining dust particles are removed under high pressure. The clean compartment is the third part of the complex, the area for crew boarding. It is also equipped with sensors and cameras, and a folding table for equipment.
Specialists have checked the operability of all systems, sensors, and units, and now the Angara launch complex is "in a state of high readiness for the first manned launch from Vostochny".
Earlier in mid-August, it became known that Russia has begun mass production of Angara carrier rockets. For the development of the Russian space program, at least eight of them need to be produced per year. By the end of the year, all Angara family rockets will receive new fairings.
They should become Russia's main space trucks instead of the environmentally and morally outdated Proton and Soyuz rockets — it is planned to update Russia's fleet of carrier rockets by 2028-2029. Also, Angara rockets will help build the Russian Orbital Station and launch manned spacecraft to it, and even engage in research on the Moon, Mars, and Venus.
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