Russia’s Heavy-Lift Rocket Angara-A5 Encounters Technical Issue, Launch at Vostochny Spaceport Canceled Before Countdown.
Angara-A5 rocket on the launch pad at Vostochny Spaceport. (Photo: Roscosmos).
According to Reuters, the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) planned to conduct a test launch of the Angara-A5 rocket from the Vostochny Spaceport in the Amur region of Russia’s Far East on April 9.
However, a technical issue led to the cancellation of the launch. This was to be the first launch of the heavy-lift Angara-A5 rocket from the newly constructed launch pad at Vostochny.
RIA Novosti quoted Yury Borisov, Director of Roscosmos, stating that the decision to cancel was due to a malfunction detected in the pressurization system of the oxidizer tank inside the rocket.
This heavy-lift rocket is the first designed in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union and is expected to launch Russian space station modules and satellites into orbit.
This marks the fourth launch of the Angara-A5 rocket and comes nearly a decade after its inaugural test flight. All previous launches took place at the Plesetsk Spaceport, located in northern Russia.
In the future, an enhanced version known as Angara-A5M is planned, which will be capable of carrying larger payloads into orbit.
The launch of the Angara rocket is a significant milestone. Russia aims to use this rocket to launch modules for its own space station by 2027. Additionally, Angara-A5 will also transport crewed spacecraft to this station.
