Angara (rocket)

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The Angara launch vehicle family

Models of the Angara 2/3/5 and 5P at the MAKS 2009

Angara ( Russian Ангара , named after the river of the same name in Russia) is the name of a family of launchers that is currently being developed in Russia by the space company GKNPZ Khrunichev .

Similar to the American Delta IV and Atlas V missiles, it should have a modular structure and thus be available in differently strong versions: Light Angara 1, medium-weight Angara A3 and heavy Angara A5. The versions differ in the number of standardized boosters , also called Universal Rocket Modules (URM) ( Russian: Универсальный Ракетный Модуль (УРМ / URM )), with such a booster being the first stage in the light Angara 1. The rockets are marketed by the Russian-American company International Launch Services , which also markets the Proton rocket.

commitment

The heavy Angara A5 will gradually replace the Proton, and it will also give the Russian military access to space independent of Kazakhstan by launching heavy military satellites from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. Launch systems for the Proton rockets only exist at the Baikonur Cosmodrome , which is on Kazakh soil.

At the end of 2004, Khrunichev was commissioned by South Korea to develop the first stage of the KSLV-I launcher, which is to be based on the URM. The first launch of a KSLV-I took place in August 2009. Although the launch was only a partial success, the first stage of the rocket worked flawlessly.

The first flight of an Angara-1 was initially planned for 2002, but had to be postponed for financial reasons. Finally, the first launch with a prototype of Angara version 1.2 took place on July 9, 2014 at 3:00 p.m. local time in Plesetsk. A dummy satellite was transported to Kamchatka on a suborbital orbit . The flight lasted 21 minutes. The maiden flight of the heavy Angara A5, which is to replace the Proton, took place on December 23, 2014. A second start is announced for 2020.

For the time being, the Angara will only be used from Plesezk, which is not suitable for launching geostationary satellites due to its northern location . Angara launches should be possible from 2021 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome to the south .

technology

The first stage of the Angara, the URM, is powered by the RD-191 engine (thrust: 2086 kN, specific impulse 3306 Ns / kg) and burns the kerosene type RP-1 and liquid oxygen (LOX). The engine is derived from the RD-171, the main engine of the Zenit launcher, but uses only one combustion chamber instead of four combustion chambers. The RD-171 is considered to be the world's most powerful rocket engine ever built, the American Atlas III and Atlas V rockets also use an RD-171 variant with two combustion chambers called the RD-180. This will reduce the thrust of the URM and it can be used as a light launch vehicle. The medium-weight Angara A3 uses three of these boosters, two of which are arranged laterally around the central booster, and thus achieves roughly the performance of a Zenit rocket. The heavy Angara A5 uses five boosters (one central and four lateral) and thus has the payload capacity of a Proton rocket. The URM has a diameter of 2.9 m, is 25.1 m long and has a curb weight of 9.75 t.

The second tier of the Angara has a diameter of 3.6 m and a length of 6.9 m. It is powered by the RD-0124A engine, which is also used in the third stage of the Soyuz 2.1b rocket. The level is called Blok I (I stands for 'i'). The engine is a completely new development and, like the RD-191, burns a mixture of RP-1 and liquid oxygen. The second stage of the lightest version Angara 1.1 is the Bris-KM stage used in the Rockot rocket ; all other versions use the new stage with the RD-0124A engine.

As the upper stage of the Angara A3 and Angara A5, the Bris-M known from the Proton rocket is initially used. The high-energy KVRB stage, which burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen (LH2 / LOX), is available as an upgrade option . The KVRB is based on the 12KRB stage supplied by Russia to India for their GSLV rocket.

During the development of the Angara, care was taken to ensure that the existing launch sites of the Zenit rockets can be used with only minor changes. The first launch in Plesezk is to take place from a launch site that was formerly designed for the Zenit, but which was never completed. At the moment we are working on the construction of the launch site. In addition, in cooperation with Kazakhstan , a launch site for the Angara is to be created in Baikonur ( Baiterek project , Russian Байтерек ), but only the heavy Angara A5 is to be launched from there.

Baikal booster

A mock-up in Le Bourget

In 2001 Khrunichev caused a sensation at the aerospace trade fair in Le Bourget with the model of the Baikal booster ( Russian Байкал ). The Baikal project aims to develop a reusable booster for the Angara missile. Baikal is to replace the first stage of the rocket in the future, but will also be powered by the RD-191 engine and also have smaller wings and an aircraft engine. This means that Baikal can independently return to a nearby airfield after being disconnected from the missile. Several bundled Baikal boosters can also be used with the Angara A3 and Angara A5.

In addition to cost savings, another development goal is no longer having to keep a large impact zone free for the falling first step. In other states, the rocket stages are dropped into the sea, which is geographically difficult for the continental state of Russia. Its missile launch stations are inland. After the two wings have been unfolded, the rocket will initially go into a gliding flight and later fly with two jet engines. The range during the return phase should be 384 km, the flight speed, 490 km / h, the landing speed 280 km / h, the necessary exit on the runway 1200 meters.

The company NPO Molnija acts as the developer for the Baikal booster .

Versions

Planning from 2002

The data of the Angara versions is in 2002. Information on the payload capacity is provided for take-offs from Plesetsk, in Baikonur the payload capacity is slightly higher.

version	Angara 1.1	Angara 1.2	Angara A3	Angara A5	Angara A5 / KVRB	Angara A7P	Angara A7V
First stage	1 × URM, RD-191		3 × URM, RD-191	5 × URM, RD-191		7 × URM, RD-191
Second step	Bris KM	Block I, RD-0124A
Upper school	-	-	Bris-M		KVRB	?	?
Thrust (on the ground)	196 t		588 t	980 t		1372 t
Takeoff mass	149 t	171.5 t	478 t	773 t	790 t	1125 t	1184 t
Height (maximum)	34.9 m	41.5 m	45.8 m	55.4 m	64 m	?	?
Payload ( LEO 200 km)	2 t	3.7 t	14.6 t	24.5 t		36.0 t	40.5 t
Payload ( GTO )	-	-	2.4 t	5.4 t	6.6 t
Payload ( GEO )	-	-	-	2.8 t	4 t	7.5 t

There are plans for an Angara A7 heavy transport rocket, which has seven bundled URMs and can bring a payload of 41 t into low-earth orbit.

Planning from 2019

More recent plans only envisage the Angara 1.2, the A5, the somewhat stronger A5M and - instead of the A7 - the A5B. The latter is said to be able to carry 37.5 t in low earth orbit and 8 t in geostationary orbit. The first test flights with the A5B are planned for 2027–2028 . Consideration is also given to making the rocket's booster and main stage reusable.

Start list

Status: February 13, 2020

Previous starts

Serial No.	Date ( UTC )	Type	Launch site	payload	Type of payload	Payload in kg 1	Orbit 2	Remarks
1	July 9, 2014 12:00	Angara 1.2PP	Plesetsk 35/1	-	Re-entry capsule	?	suborbital	Success , test flight, first flight of the Angara 1.2PP.
2	23 Dec 2014 5:57 am	Angara A5 / Briz-M		GVM	Payload simulator	?	GSO	Success , test flight, first flight of the Angara A5.

Planned launches

Date ( UTC )	Type	Launch site	payload	Type of payload	Payload in kg 1	Orbit 2	Remarks
2020	Angara A5 / Briz-M	Plesetsk 35/1	?
2020	Angara A5 / Perseus		?				First flight of the Perseus upper stage
2021	Angara 1.2		Gonets-M	3  communication satellites		LEO
End of 2021	Angara 1.2		Kompsat 6	Earth observation satellite	1750	SSO
2022	Angara 1.2		Gonets-M	3  communication satellites		LEO

¹Take-off mass of the payload including carried fuel ( wet mass ).

²Runway height at which the payload was or is to be suspended; not necessarily the target orbit of the payload.

Web links

Commons : Angara (rocket)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Angara family page by Khrunichev Center (Russian)
• Angara launch vehicle (English)
• Baikal (English)
• Page about the Baikal booster with a sketch by the developer NPO Molniya (Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Anatoly Zak: Building Angara . accessed on September 21, 2019.
2. ^ Successful first flight from Angara: Russia tests environmentally friendly missile. RIA Novosti, July 9, 2014, accessed July 10, 2014 . 
3. ↑ SPIEGEL ONLINE: New rocket for Russia: Angara-A5 for heavy loads masters test flight , accessed on December 24, 2014
4. ↑ ITAR-TASS: Старт тяжелой "Ангары" с космодрома Плесецк запланирован на 23 декабря. December 18, 2014, accessed December 18, 2014 (Russian). 
5. ^ William Graham and Chris Bergin: Vostochny begins work on a second launch pad set to host Angara rockets . Nasaspaceflight.com, September 3, 2019.
6. ↑ The "Angara" space rocket complex is being built on the Plesetsk cosmodrome. RIA Novosti, May 16, 2006, accessed October 20, 2010 . 
7. ↑ http://www.khrunichev.com/main.php?id=45 Retrieved on August 29, 2014.
8. ^ Page of the developer NPO Molniya about the Baikal booster ( memento from January 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on August 29, 2014.
9. ↑ Angara Mission Planner from ILS (not available online at ILS since 2006)
10. ↑ ^{a b} The Angara 7 Rocket. Russianspaceweb.com, November 12, 2011, accessed September 2, 2013 . 
11. ↑ Eric Berger: How Russia (yes, Russia) plans to land cosmonauts on the Moon by 2030. In: Ars Technica. May 28, 2019, accessed May 31, 2019 . 
12. ↑ Angara-A5V super-heavy carrier rocket. In: globalsecurity.org. Accessed May 31, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Angara missile: Russia can also produce a reusable version. In: Sputnik News. August 8, 2018, accessed September 23, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Новый пуск "Ангары-А5" планируется на второй-третий квартал 2020 года . TASS, February 12, 2020 (Russian).
15. ↑ Anatoly Zak: Second mission of the Angara-5 rocket. russianspaceweb.com, accessed September 6, 2019 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Источник рассказал, когда на "Ангаре" полетят первые гражданские спутники. In: RIA Novosti. December 20, 2018, Retrieved April 2, 2019 (Russian). 
17. ↑ В Роскосмосе рассказали, когда полетит "Ангара" с новым разгонным блоком. In: RIA Novisti. May 1, 2019, accessed May 3, 2019 . 
18. ↑ Первый коммерческий запуск ракеты "Ангара" перенесли на конец 2021 года. TASS, February 12, 2020, accessed February 12, 2020 (Russian).