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Russia to switch to Angara carrier rocket launches with satellites, says Roscosmos chief

According to Dmitry Rogozin, Angara rockets are now at the spaceport and will be launched as the operational need arises

Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin

© Sergei Savostyanov/TASS

MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia’s new Angara carrier rocket will no longer launch mock-up spacecraft and will instead orbit satellites, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin told reporters after his speech at the New Horizons educational marathon on Thursday.

"We will no longer launch mass-dimensional mock-ups. As soon as satellites are ready, there will be launches," the Roscosmos chief said.

Angara rockets are now at the spaceport and will be launched as the operational need arises, Rogozin said.

The Angara is a family of next-generation Russian space rockets. It consists of light, medium and heavy carrier rockets with a lifting capacity of up to 37.5 tonnes. The new family of rockets uses environmentally-friendly propellant components. The first three launches of Angara heavy rockets took place from the Plesetsk spaceport on December 23, 2014, December 14, 2020, and December 27, 2021. The launch of a light Angara rocket took place on July 9, 2014 (the suborbital test flight) and on April 29, 2022 (the orbital flight).

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