Russia has successfully launched the next generation of the Angara missile

Russia has successfully launched its next-generation Angara rocket, as Moscow seeks to modernize its space fleet to once again establish itself as a leading orbital power. The Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement that the Angara A5 missile was launched on Monday evening from the Plesetsk Military Space Base (north).

“Come on, dear!” enthusiastically tweeted the president of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, adding that the launch was “a success.” This is the third test since 2014 of the Angara heavy rocket, a device developed as part of a program to replace outdated Proton launchers, whose technology dates back to the 1960s.

🚀🇷🇺 – The new Angara A5 bomber made its third and final qualifying flight a few minutes ago, calling it a ‘success’ Tweet embed. pic.twitter.com/6JzdyjsZ33

– Space News🚀 (ActuSpatiales) December 27, 2021

cleaner technology

The Angara River, whose name derives from the Siberian River, uses cleaner technology, because it is propelled by a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen, which is much less polluting than the toxic proton fuel. The program, whose idea dates back to the 1990s, however, was behind schedule and the schedule set by the Russian authorities at the time of the first test, in 2014, was not respected.

A source of great Soviet-era pride, Russia’s space sector has faltered since the fall of the Soviet Union through corruption scandals, budget cuts, serial delays, and embarrassing technical accidents. But the sector has sought in recent months to present a more triumphant face, notably showing its ambitions in space tourism, for example, with the recent sending of a Japanese billionaire into orbit.