Angara rocket
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The Angara rocket is a planned space-launch vehicle, designed to place heavy payloads into orbit. It is currently under development at the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Space Scientific Production Center. The rocket will be primarily launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Russia, thereby reducing Russia's dependency on Kazakhstan for the use of their Baikonur Cosmodrome where the current generation of Russian rockets is launched from (but the heavy Angara A5 will be launched from both Plesetsk and Baikonur). The Angara will also end the need to purchase Zenit rockets from Ukraine.
The Angara will provide a similar lifting capability to the Proton rocket, the heavy lift workhorse of the Soviet Union and now Russia. The rockets are designed to be modular, similar to the US EELV, and the family will offer a range of configurations capable of lifting between 2,000 and 24,500 kilograms to LEO.
The first launch of an Angara (probably the Angara A3 version) is expected to take place in 2006 or 2007 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
Angara specifications
| Version | Angara 1.1 | Angara 1.2 | Angara A3 | Angara A5 | Angara A5/KVRB
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First stage | 1xCRM, RD-191 | 1xCRM, RD-191 | 3xCRM, RD-191 | 5xCRM, RD-191 | 5xCRM, RD-191 |
| Second stage | Breeze-KM | Block I, RD-0124A | Block I, RD-0124A | Block I, RD-0124A | Block I, RD-0124A |
| Third stage (not used for LEO) | -- | –- | Breeze-M | Breeze-M | KVRB |
| Thrust (at ground) | 196 Mgf (1.92 MN) | 196 Mgf (1.92 MN) | 588 Mgf (5.77 MN) | 980 Mgf (9.61 MN) | 980 Mgf (9.61 MN) |
| Launch weight | 149 t | 171.5 t | 478 t | 773 t | 790 t |
| Height (maximal) | 34.9 m | 41.5 m | 45.8 m | 55.4 m | 64 m |
| Payload (LEO 200 km) | 2 t | 3.7 t | 14.6 t | 24.5 t | 24.5 t |
| Payload (GTO) | –- | –- | 2.4 t | 5.4 t | 6.6 t |
| Payload (GEO) | –- | –- | –- | 2.8 t | 4 t |
Comparable rockets: Delta IV - Atlas V - Ariane 5 - Chang Zheng 5 - Falcon 9
External links
- [Angara family page by the Khrunichev Center] (in Russian)
- [Angara page by ILS]
- [Angara page by ESA]
- [Energia family, including Angara launch vehicle], at Encyclopedia Astronautica
- [Angara family] at RussianSpaceWeb
- [Baikal booster stage] at RussianSpaceWeb
- [Angara specifications]
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