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Angara Launch Vehicle

The Angara rocket, currently under development by the Khrunichev Space Research and Production center, is designed to put heavy payloads into orbit. It is intended mainly for launch from the Plesetsk center to reduce Moscow's dependence on Kazakhstan's Baikonur, the main launch facility for the current generation of Russian rockets. The new line of rockets will be available in a range of configurations capable of lifting between (A1.2) 1.7 to (A3) 3.7 and (A7) 26 -28.5 metric tons into low-earth orbit depending on which launch site is utilized. There was also a manned version of the Angara-5 being considered as of 2009.

A competition to develop a successor to the Proton launch vehicle was underway during most of 1993-1994. The primary contenders were the proposed Energiya-M launch vehicle, already under development for several years, and a new design named Angara. With the cancellation of the Buran space shuttle program and the deferment of government sponsored super-heavy LEO and GEO spacecraft, the original 100-metric-ton-class Energiya launch vehicle program was halted, and efforts to develop the Energlya-M launch vehicle were redoubled.

Energiya-M would employ two standard Energiya strap-on boosters with one 11D520 (RD-170) engine each and a shorter central stage with only one 11 D122 (RD-0120) engine. Upper stages and payloads would be stacked above the central stage within a large shroud. The Energiya-M could orbit LEO payloads of up to 35 metric tons or, using one of three upper stages, could provide GEO capabilities of 3.0, 4.5, or 7.0 metric tons, respectively (References 287-294).

RKK Energiya's Energiya-M ultimately lost to Khrunichev's Angara launch vehicle. The odd-looking Angara, which could begin operations between 2000 and 2005, will have a LEO payload capacity of 26 metric tons, slightly more than the forthcoming Proton-KM. More importantly, Angara will consist of a liquid oxygen/kerosene first stage and a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen second stage, thereby avoiding the environmental concerns of Proton's hypergolic propellants. Angara's unusual configuration will also allow it to use the Zenit launch facilities now under construction at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. No plans have been made to fly Angara from Baikonur, but eventually the launch vehicle could take advantage of the lower latitude (compared to Plesetsk) complexes at Svobodnyy. With an additional liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen upperstage, Angara could place 4.5-metric-ton payloads into GEO, even from Plesetsk. Later, Angara's first stage may be made reusable (References 295-300).

In mid-1999 The American aerospace corporation Lockheed Martin entered into an agreement with the Russian Khrunichev Space Research-And-Production Center, providing investments of $68 million for the development by Russia of the new family of Angara rockets for commercial launches. The "Angara" family of rockets will include light, medium and heavy models.

By the end of 1999 the "Angara" carrier-rocket had evolved into three types of rockets in the "Angara" family. The first one is a light rocket with a payload capacity of up to 1.7 tons, a rocket meant for putting into orbit small telecommunications satellites. The second rocket is capable of taking off with twice payload that is 4 tons. And the third rocket with a payload of 20 tons is expected to replace the "Proton" carrier that's normally launched from the Baikonour cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The most high-power "Angara" missile will have higher carrying capacity than the "Proton" -- it will be able to deliver to a geostationary orbit a payload of 6 tons, and to lower orbits - payloads up to 30 tons. This marked the first time a Western company had agreed to pay for the right to promote in the international market Russian space launchers, which currently exist only in the designers' drawings. The first "Angara" light booster launching was scheduled for the end of 2001, and as many as 20 more are scheduled by 2005. That schedule due to the lack of funding in previous years and again in 2009 has greatly delayed it's flight introduction and it is thus not expected to fly until late 2011-2012 and even that is in doubt as of November 2009. The launch facility due to booster design changes has forced revisions in design of the support facilities of those critical infrastructure elements on the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.

The Angara family is a new generation of launchers now under development at KhSC on the basis of a common core booster (CCB) using oxygen/kerosene engines. The design of this module takes account of the manufacturing hardware and tooling available at, and the state-of-the-art processes well mastered by, KhSC. The Angara family includes different types of launchers ranging from the lightweight to the heavy class. The performance and operational properties of these launch vehicles is intended to make them competitive with top world space-industry brands. The high degree of modularity combined with the advanced manufacturing processes used is intended to ensure the cost of payload injection to a wide range of orbits to be low if compared to similar launchers in the world. The launch base to be used by the Angara family is Plesetsk, Russia. The unique design solutions employed would allow any member of the Angara family to be launched from the same pad.

The Angara space launch complex is being pursued in accordance with Presidential Decree (1995), On the Development of Angara Space Launch Complex that endorsed pr oposals to this effect from the MoD, Russian Space Agency and State Committee for Defense Industries. As part of the Angara program, Khrunichev is implementing a strategy of expeditious development of a common core booster powered by LOX/kerosene engines to serve as the basis for a number of advanced environment-friendly launchers of small-, medium- and heavy-lift classes.

Underpinning the Angara project is the idea to secure Russia 's assured access to space from the Russian launch base at Plesetsk and guarantee that Russia will be able to engage in space activities regardless of any trends in military-political and economic relations with other countries. The LOX/kerosene common core booster (CCB) is a wholesome structure that includes an oxidizer tank, a fuel tank (both tanks being coupled by a spacer) and a propulsion bay. Each CCB is fit with one RD 191M high-power liquid engine.

By August 2008 Russia's Design Bureau for Transport Machinery had completed the construction of a launch pad for a new-generation carrier rocket at the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia. At that time the first test launch of a lighter version of the Angara was planned to be conducted in 2010.

References

• 287. Technical materials distributed by Energiya NPO, Moscow, 1991.
• 288. "Soviets Developing Smaller Version of Energia Heavy-Lift Booster", Aviation Week and Space Technology, 24 December 1990, p. 79.
• 289. "Energia-M Launcher, Desined to Carry Smaller Payloads Than Standard Version", Aviation Week and Space Technology, 10 June 1991, p. 48.
• 290. Yu. Semenov, presentation to the 42nd Congress of the International Astronautical Federation, October 1991.
• 291. A.N. Shorin and V.V. Liberman, "Energia-M: One of the Family of Modern Launchers", Proceedings of the European Forum on Space Transportation Systems, ESA SP-362, March 1994, pp. 71-76.
• 292. V. Filin, "The Energiya-M Booster Rocket: Prospects of Using It For Dumping of Radioactive Waste in Outer Space", Aviation and Space News, No. 1, pp. 31-34.
• 293. Energia-M, technical brochure distributed by Energiya Scientific Production Association, undated.
• 294. "Russia Abandons Plans for Energia-M Launcher", Space News, 29 November - 5 December 1993, p.2
• 295. Angara Launch Vehicle, technical brochure distributed by Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, 1995.
• 296. ITAR-TASS News Agency, Moscow, 16 March 1994.
• 297. Moskovskava Pravda, 31 March 1994, p. 5.
• 298. Interfax News Agency, Moscow, 18 August, 29 August, and 13 October 1994.
• 299. Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 20 August 1994, p. 2.
• 300. A. Malyutin, Kommersant Daily, 2 September 1994, p. 9.
• Adapted from: Europe and Asia in Space 1993-1994, Nicholas Johnson and David Rodvold [Kaman Sciences / Air Force Phillips Laboratory]