On April 11th, local time, the Russian Space Agency announced that the Angara-A5 heavy lift rocket lifted off from the 1A launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Amur Oblast. The third stage of the Angara-A5 heavy lift rocket is expected to separate from the booster carrying the experimental payload approximately 12 minutes and 26 seconds after liftoff.
The launch marked the successful maiden flight of the "Angara-A5" heavy-lift launch vehicle from the Eastern Spaceport. Prior to this, all launches of the "Angara" series rockets, including the "Angara-A5," were conducted at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region of northwest Russia.
The "Angara" series is Russia's first family of launch vehicles developed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It comprises three classes: light, medium, and heavy, capable of delivering payloads ranging from 2 to 40 metric tons to low Earth orbit and up to approximately 7 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit. The "Angara-A5" represents a new generation of large launch vehicles developed by Russia, intended to replace the "Proton-M" rocket and carry out Russia's manned spaceflight missions. Currently, Russia is developing upgraded versions of the "Angara-A5," including the A5M and A5V variants. The crewed version based on the improved A5M is slated to undertake Russia's manned lunar missions.
