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Russia’s Soyuz-5 carrier rocket to use booster developed for Angara-A5 launch vehicle

The booster underwent ground-based experimental tests

© Russia's Defense Ministry press service/TASS

MOSCOW, February 18. /TASS/. Russia will use a new upper stage developed for the Angara-A5 heavy carrier rocket also for the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle to deliver payloads into orbit, a source in the domestic space industry told TASS on Tuesday.

"The upper stage for the Angara will also be used for the Soyuz-5," the source said.

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Russia to launch new Angara carrier rocket in 2020

Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation is developing the new upper stage on the basis of DM boosters for the Angara-A5 launch vehicle. In 2017, the DM-SL and DM-SLB upper stages developed under the Sea Launch and Land Launch programs were considered as options for their operation together with the Soyuz-5 rocket.

As Energia CEO Nikolai Sevastyanov earlier told TASS, the first upper stage created for the Angara-A5 rocket was delivered to the Plesetsk spaceport in northern Russia in November. The booster underwent ground-based experimental tests, he added.

As was reported in 2015, the Energia Space Rocket Corporation was developing a new upper stage on the basis of DM boosters for the Angara-A5 launch vehicle. DM boosters are intended to deliver satellites from the support orbit to the target near-Earth orbit, and also to departure trajectories. Last year, DM boosters orbited Spektr-RG and Elektro-L space vehicles.

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