Keep the shuttle flying: Fwd: Heavy Angara 5 launched from Plesetsk

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From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: December 23, 2014 at 6:46:47 PM CST
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Heavy Angara 5 launched from Plesetsk

The Successful Launch of a New Heavy-Weight Class LV - Angara-A5
23.12.2014 09:20
On Dec. 23 at 08-57 a.m. from the Plesetsck Cosmodrome the new type of a heavy-weight-class LV — Angara — was successfully launched. "It means, that Russia now has modern and environment friendly Launch Vehicle of a heavy-weight-class", - said mr. Ostapenko, the Head of the Russian Federal Space Agency.
The creation of the Angara rocket complex – is one of the priority-driven directions of development of the National System of Launch vehicles, which is based on Russian inventions. Angara rocket complex consist of light-, middle- and heavy – weight types of LV with the payload from 3,8 to 35 tones. The main Design-bureau of a new class of LV is a KHRUNICHEV STATE RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION SPACE CENTER. "I`d like to congratulate everyone, who was involved in this project — designers, engineers, workers, military. Thank you for your job"- said Oleg Ostapenko earlier this day.
All activities, up to the schedule of building of a ground infrastructure for lift off of Angara, are carrying out in accordance with the Federal Space Program, Strategy of Innovation Development of Russian Federation till 2020 and The Basic principles of State Policy in the Field of the Space exploration till 2030, which was approved by the Russian President on 19 of April 2013.
Press-service of Roscosmos

Heavy rocket Angara launched from Plesetsk
December 23, 9:09 UTC+3
The rocket was launched safely as planned (at 08:57am Moscow time), a space industry source said

© ITAR-TASS/Alexey Filippov/Archive
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The first test launch of a new Russian heavy-class rocket Angara-A5 has been carried out from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on Tuesday, a space industry source told TASS.
The rocket was launched safely as planned (at 08:57am Moscow time), the source said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin participated in the Angara rocket launch video conference.

New Russian heavy rocket launched successfully
December 23, 9:44 UTC+3
Twelve minutes after the liftoff, the orbital unit separated from the third stage
© stat.mil.ru
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. A new Russian heavy rocket was successfully test-launched from the Plesetsk space center on Tuesday as planned at 08:57am Moscow time.
The head unit has separated from the third stage of the Angara rocket, the Russian Defense Ministry press service confirmed. Twelve minutes after the liftoff, the orbital unit separated from the third stage, the press service said. The Briz-M upper stage will carry the orbital unit to the planned geostationary orbit.
ЭIndeed, this is a great and very important event for our rocket-and-space sphere, and for Russia in general," Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Russia places serious hopes on the Angara. After tests, Russia plans to launch space vehicles of all types from its territory and ensure independent guaranteed access to space. It is one of priority projects of the Russian space industry.
Various Angara rockets are developed from light to heavy class, capable to carry from 1.5 to 25 tons.
The light-class model was tested last summer. The rocket successfully reached the designated area within the Kura range on Kamchatka, 5,700 km from the launch site.
Angara-A5 is capable of carrying 3-24.5 tons and can replace the Proton carrier. The heavy Angara is not designed for manned flights.

Russia gets new environmentally friendly heavy-lift carrier rocket — Roscosmos head
December 23, 11:07 UTC+3
The Angara-A5 rocket was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on December 23 and successfully placed into orbit a dummy spacecraft, performing all the tasks of the first test launch
Head of Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Oleg Ostapenko
© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Metzel
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. Russia gas got the new heavy-lift Angara-A5 carrier rocket with environmentally friendly class of fuel, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Oleg Ostapenko told reporters on Tuesday.
"This means that Russia has got a new modern and environmentally friendly heavy-lift carrier rocket," he said. "I congratulate everyone who has been involved in this launch and the rocket creation — designers, engineers, workers and the military. Thank you for your selfless work," Ostapenko added.
The Angara-A5 rocket was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in north-west Russia at 08:57am, Moscow time on December 23 and successfully placed into orbit a dummy spacecraft, performing all the tasks of the first test launch. The Briz-M upper stage that separated from the rocket is yet to place the dummy spacecraft on a geostationary orbit with the altitude of 35,800 kilometers. The Angara is the first new family of space rockets developed by Russia since the USSR period and is an essential part of President Vladimir Putin's efforts to revive the national space industry. A lighter version of the rocket was launched successfully in July.
The Angara-A5 rocket can place spacecraft with the mass up to 24 tons into a low near-Earth orbit and up to 4 tons — into a geostationary orbit. Unlike many other rockets, the Angara-A5 uses non-toxic fuel components, namely oxygen and kerosene.

Angara guarantees geostationary orbit access to Russia from its territory — expert
December 23, 12:22 UTC+3
"Testing of such a powerful rocket is not a frequent event, the more so when everything passed successfully on the first try," rocket and space industry expert Andrey Ionin said
Russian President Vladimir Putin observing the launch of Angara-A5 heavy-lift carrier rocket
© Alexei Druzhinin/Russian presidential press service/TASS
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The successful test launch of the Angara-A5 heavy-lift carrier rocket secures for Russia the access to geostationary orbit from its own territory, rocket and space industry expert Andrey Ionin told TASS on Tuesday.
"Testing of such a powerful rocket is not a frequent event, the more so when everything passed successfully on the first try," he said.
"The rocket's purpose was very simple — to guarantee Russia's space access into a geostationary orbit from Russian territory, because Baikonur (cosmosdrome), although it is located in the territory of our partner country, is nevertheless abroad," the expert said. "Now the Angara capacity will be enough for placing any satellites into a geostationary orbit from Russia's territory."
Ionin also said the Angara-A5 is designed to replace the Proton rocket in the future, because by its capacity for the placement of payloads into a geostationary orbit it fully replaces this booster. "Sooner or later we will have to abandon the Proton. This is a good rocket, but with a major shortcoming — it is environmentally unfriendly, and the Angara is an environmentally friendly rocket," he said.
According to Ionin, halting the production of the Proton rockets and phasing them out is planned starting from the 2020s. Referring to the timeframe of the transfer to the Angara launches, the expert said that "the flight tests of heavy-lift rockets require about 10 launches as a rule." "When this number of launches is carried out, it would be possible to say that the rocket development is finished. I think, this will take 3 to 5 years," he said.
Russia's new heavy-lift Angara-A5 carrier rocket was successfully test launched from the Plesetsk spaceport in Northwest Russia at 08:75 am, Moscow time, Tuesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin observed the launch via a video linkup. This was the first test launch of the heavy Angara-A5.
The Angara family of space-launch vehicles is designed to provide lifting capabilities of between 2,000 and 40,500 kilograms into low Earth orbit. It has been in development since 1995.
Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) said that the new Angara rocket would give Russia an independent access to space, and a possibility to advance to a new technological development level. Angara will put heavy space vehicles into the geostationary orbit. All parts used for rocket development have been produced in Russia. Apart from the above, the rocket uses ecologically clean fuel, including oxygen and kerosene.

Angara best response to Western sanctions — deputy PM
December 23, 13:50 UTC+3
"We respond this way, and it means we respect ourselves and our country," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said
© ITAR-TASS/Anton Tushin
MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. The Angara launch is a proper response to the Western sanctions and confirmation of Russia's ability to make new achievements, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said.
It opens a way for Russia in space exploration, he said. "The heavy Angara A5 blasted off today. It will allow our country to firmly fix our position, it is clear for everybody, as a high-technological country, able to make new achievements in such a difficult and dangerous area as space exploration," Rogozin told a meeting on Tuesday, commenting on the successful launch of a new Russian rocket.
"A very important page is turned in the development of technologies. A new rocket is developed under new conditions," he said, adding: "It is great joy for all of us. In the difficult time it will be our best response to sanctions and to unprecedented external financial, economic and political pressure on our country," he said.
"We respond this way, and it means we respect ourselves and our country," he added.
Rogozin congratulated everyone who directly participated in the development and the first tests of the Angara. "It is not an affair of only the space industrial sector, but it is an affair of our great country," the vice-premier said.
© 2014 TASS

Putin: New Angara-A5 Rocket to Enhance Defense Capability of Russia
© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin

14:18 23.12.2014(updated 14:52 23.12.2014)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that new Angara-class rockets will be used to enhance defense capability of Russia and its security partners by putting military and dual-purpose satellites into orbit.

MOSCOW, December 23 (Sputnik) – Russia's new Angara-class rockets will be used to enhance defense capability of Russia and its security partners by putting military and dual-purpose satellites into orbit, the Russian president said Tuesday.
"This rocket is intended to put payloads measuring up to 24.5 metric tons to low-earth circular orbits," Vladimir Putin said during an extended meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
He added that the rocket's payload can include "missile attack warning systems, as well as [equipment for] reconnaissance, navigation, communication."
Putin: Russian Security Partners to Join Recently Created Defense Control Center
Moscow's partners in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a post-Soviet security bloc body roughly analogous to NATO, will join the newly established national defense command and control center in Moscow, the Russian president said Tuesday.
"Today the CSTO secretary general said that all CSTO countries would join the work of this defense command and control center. I'm sure it will also improve national systems of defense command and control and improve the coordination of our work," Vladimir Putin said at an extended meeting of CSTO, a six-member body roughly analogous to NATO.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry's website, the primary objectives of the newly established command center are to centralize command and control of the Russian Armed Forces, ensure daily management of the military, as well as to collect and process information about the current global political situation.

Russia's Heavy Angara Rocket Puts Satellite Into Medium Earth Orbit: Source
© Photo: Russian Defence Ministry's twitter

11:57 23.12.2014(updated 13:10 23.12.2014)
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Upper stage of Russia's heavy-class Angara-A5 rocket carrier has brought a satellite with a test payload into medium earth orbit.

MOSCOW, December 23 (Sputnik) — The Breeze-M upper stage of Russia's heavy-class Angara-A5 rocket carrier has brought a dummy satellite with a test payload into medium earth orbit, a source in the space industry told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Russia's newest ecologically friendly heavy-class Angara-A5 carrier rocket blasted off from the Plesetsk Space Complex in the country's northwestern Arkhangelsk region Tuesday morning.
"The first and second ignitions of the engines of the upper stage Breeze-M manufactured by the Khrunichev [State Research and Production Space] Center took place. The satellite dummy has been placed into the medium Earth orbit," the source said.
The Angara family of space-launch vehicles is designed to lift between 2,000 and 40,500 kilograms (4,400 — 89,300 pounds) into low Earth orbit. The Angara program is expected to complement Russia's Soyuz rocket, currently the only vehicle in the world capable of taking astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Angara rocket program has been in development since 1995. The first test of the Angara-1.2PP rocket took place July 9, 2014.

Russia's Environmentally Friendly Angara-A5 Rocket Blasts Off From Plesetsk
© Sputnik/ Alexei Druzhinin

09:00 23.12.2014(updated 15:22 23.12.2014)
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Russia's Angara-A5 launch vehicle has blasted off from the Plesetsk Space Complex in the country's northwest.

MOSCOW, December 23 (Sputnik) – Russia's newest heavy launch vehicle, the environmentally friendly Angara-A5 has taken off from the Plesetsk Space Complex in the country's northwest, a source in the space industry told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
Later, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed the successful launch in a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Defense Ministry said.
The Angara family of space launch vehicles is designed to propel cargo weighing between 2,000 and 40,500 kilograms (4,400 — 89,300 pounds) into low Earth orbit. It has been in development since 1995.
Russian Space Agency Roscosmos said that the new Angara rocket would give Russia independent access to space, and the possibility to advance to a new level of technological development. The Angara will have the ability to put satellites and other equipment into geostationary orbit. All of the parts which are used in the rocket's development have been produced in Russia, minimizing the country's reliance on partnerships with other space agencies. Additionally, environmentally-friendly fuel will be used in the rocket, including oxygen and kerosene.
The Angara-A5, the largest rocket ever launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, weighs 773 tons. The family of Angara rockets includes light-, medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles.
The Angara family of rockets are designed to complement Russia's Soyuz rocket, currently the only vehicle in the world capable of taking astronauts to the International Space Station. The Angara series will replace the Proton rocket family, which was previously used to put satellites, manned vehicles, and other equipment in low-Earth orbit.
Flight tests for the Angara series began on July 9, when the light-lift launch vehicle Angara-1.2PP was successfully launched after the date had been postponed several times due to additional testing.
The Angara-A5 will be launched from both the Plesetsk Cosmodrome and from the Vostochny launch pad in the Amur Region, which is currently under construction.
The first manned Angara-A5 flight is set for 2018; the rocket will take off from the Vostochny Cosmodrome.

© 2014 Sputnik All rights reserved.

First Angara 5 rocket blasts off from Russia
December 23, 2014 by Stephen Clark
The Angara 5 rocket on the launch pad before Tuesday's liftoff. Credit: Spetsstroy.ru
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's shift away from launching satellites at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The 180-foot-tall Angara 5 rocket ignited five kerosene-fueled RD-191 booster engines and lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome — a military-run spaceport 500 miles north of Moscow — at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST) Tuesday, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency.
The RIA Novosti news agency reported the Angara 5 rocket's lower stages — comprising the new technologies to be tested on Tuesday's flight — performed as designed and released a Breeze M upper stage to begin a series of engine firings to put a dummy satellite into geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.
The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the Angara booster worked as expected before deploying the Breeze M stage 12 minutes after liftoff.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the launch via video conference, RIA Novosti reported. The launch was not broadcast live to the public.
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's Buran space shuttle flew in the late 1980s.
The rocket's 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.
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's heaviest satellites into orbit.
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 — operated at a partial thrust throttle setting in the first phase of the flight — was programmed to ramp up to full power and continue burning until it consumed all of its kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant supply.
A second stage RD-0124A engine and a Breeze M upper stage — borrowed from Russia's Soyuz 2-1b and Proton rockets — were to finish the job. The Angara 5's 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.
The flight's Breeze M main engine was expected to ignite four times over several hours to reach the mission's targeted orbit.
Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported the test launch was aiming for a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator with a dummy satellite weighing about two tons.
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.
Such orbits are commonly used by military and commercial communications satellites.
A successful maiden launch of the Angara 5 rocket Tuesday would spell the beginning of the end of Russia's use of the Proton rocket, a launcher that has been in service since 1965 putting heavy Russian military and commercial satellites in orbit.
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.
The Angara rocket's entry into service would also help Russia's 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.
The Angara 5 is Russia's 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.
The Angara rocket family comes in several models to lift light, medium-class and heavy satellites into space.
The Angara 5 can place up to 24.5 metric tons — about 54,000 pounds — 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 the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, the Angara program's prime contractor.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"The 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," Khrunichev said in a statement on its website.

© 2014 Spaceflight Now Inc.