2024-04-10 00:50:23
The Russian carrier rocket “Angara A5” was scheduled to take off from the Vostochny cosmodrome for the first time today. It is unclear why the process was aborted.
A setback for Russia’s space program: A few minutes before launch, Russia’s space agency Roscosmos aborted the flight of its carrier rocket “Angara A5”. There is currently no exact reason for interrupting the start sequence.
Roscosmos boss Yuri Borisov said it was an automated termination. Apparently a sensor detected an inaccuracy in the fuel tank. This will be investigated in more detail. A new time window for a launch of the launch vehicle is scheduled to open tomorrow, Wednesday, April 10th.
The “Angara A5” was scheduled to take off from the Vostochny cosmodrome near the border with China on Tuesday afternoon. Roskosmos broadcast the launch attempt live on its YouTube channel.
It would have been the fourth launch of the “Angara A5”, which is still being tested. The first test flight took place in 2014, a second flight in 2020. A third test flight in December 2021 was unsuccessful due to an engine failure. The rocket did not reach its target orbit.
The last test flight of the “Angara A5” failed
All three previous missions launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwestern Russia. Today’s launch would have been the first from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which the country opened for commercial flights in 2016. The cosmodrome has better infrastructure for larger payloads than Plesetsk.
The “Angara A5” belongs to a family of launch vehicles with different payloads. The country’s great hope of not losing access to space rests on it. Russia also wants to use the rockets for military applications, for example to put observation satellites into orbit.
The launch of the “Angara A5” is a “very important event for the country,” said Roscosmos boss Borissov last month at a meeting with Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin, who wants more rocket launches for his country. According to Borissov, a successful test flight of the rocket will “strengthen ground-based space infrastructure.”
The almost 43 meter long “Angara A5” launch vehicle can carry payloads of more than 20 tons into orbit. It is intended to replace the Russian “Proton M” as a heavy-lift rocket, which has been in use since the mid-1960s and launches from the Baikonur cosmodrome.