Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

First launch of Russia’s heavy-class Angara 5 booster is set for December.
Credit: Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

Russian rocketeers are readying the Angara 5 heavy-lift booster for an end of December liftoff.

This will be the first launch of the heavy-class Angara 5 booster.

The creation of the Angara family of launch vehicles signals a growing capability to launch a variety of spacecraft from the territory of Russia.

Developer of the Angara launch system is the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The Angara-class rocket marks the first space launcher built in Russia from scratch after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Earlier this year, on July 9, the light-lift Angara-1.2ML – meaning “Maiden Launch” – departed from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Archangelsk Region.

That booster made a long-distance, suborbital lob of roughly 21 minutes, tossing hardware into a targeted impact area of the Kura Range on the Kamchatka peninsula – over 3,500 miles (5,700 kilometers) away from the launch site.

The Angara 5 has been rolled out to the launch pad at Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

According to a Khrunichev Press Release, cosmodrome specialists will conduct a comprehensive series of tests, including electrical testing of systems and components, in preparation for first launch of the heavy class Angara 5 next month.

To view a video of Angara 5 preparation for roll out to the pad, go to:

http://tvzvezda.ru/news/forces/content/201411102356-kagv.htm