(Left) Image credit: Roscosmos/Inside Outer Space screengrab
Space technicians are readying the first test flight of Russia’s Angara A5 launch vehicle from the Vostochny.
This flight development test from the Amur space rocket complex signals the projected start of future operations of the heavy-lift rocket system from this cosmodrome.
According to Roscosmos, liftoff of the Angara-A5 with an Orion upper stage and a mass simulator payload from Cosmodrome Site 1A is targeted for an April 6 to April 10 time period.
Cosmodrome chaos
Angara, developed by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, is slated to replace the venerable Russian Proton booster. The Orion belongs to the DM family of upper stages.
Over the years, development of the Vostochny launch site has been besieged by escalating cost, corruption and embezzlement issues, along with worker pay delays.
The Vostochny Cosmodrome is situated above the 51st parallel north in the Amur Oblast, in the Russian Far East, built to help reduce Russia’s dependency on the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Vostochny also launches Soyuz boosters, doing so on February 19, boosting into orbit an Iranian satellite and 18 Russian satellites.