ANGARA A5 - SCI & TECH

News: Russia’s Angara A5 rocket blasts off into space after two aborted launches

 

What's in the news?

       Russia test-launched its Angara-A5 space rocket for the first time from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Far East, successfully putting a test load in low orbit as part of an effort to develop a new post-Soviet launch vehicle.

 

Key takeaways:

       The 42.7-metre Angara launch vehicle, capable of carrying payloads bigger than 20 tonnes into orbit, is being developed to replace Russia's Proton M as Russia's heavy-lift rocket.

 

Angara A5:

       It is a Russian heavy lift launch vehicle weighing 773 tonnes at lift-off, Angara A5 has a payload capacity of 24.5 tonnes to a 200 km (120 mi) x 60° orbit.

       Angara A5 is able to deliver 5.4 tonnes to GTO with Briz-M, or 7.5 tonnes to the same orbit with KVTK.

       The Angara A5 is said to be much more environmentally friendly compared with Proton M.

 

India’s LVM 3:

       LVM-3 or Launch Vehicle Mark-III, is a three-stage medium-lift launch vehicle developed by ISRO and earlier known as the GSLV Mark III.

       It is the most powerful rocket in the space agency.

 

Lift-off Mass - 640 tonnes.

 

Payload Capacity:

       Upto 8,000 kilograms to a low-Earth orbit.

       Upto 4,000 kilograms of payload to a geostationary transfer orbit

       Its cryogenic upper stage is powered by CE-20 (India’s largest cryogenics engine).

       The core stage is powered by two L110 liquid-stage Vikas rockets.