Moscow. April 24th. INTERFAX-AVN - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the progress of construction and modernization of infrastructure facilities at the Plesetsk state test cosmodrome (Arkhangelsk Region), the military department reported on Wednesday.
Shoigu said that the creation of infrastructure has been completed at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which provides launches of Angara launch vehicles of heavy and light classes with upper stages for launching spacecraft into all types of orbit in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry, the ministry said.
"Six launches of these missiles have already been successfully carried out. This year, it is planned to carry out three more launches of launch vehicles of this class," Shoigu was quoted as saying by the Russian Defense Ministry.
"With the completion of the modernization of the second launch complex of Soyuz launch vehicles, the capabilities of the cosmodrome to ensure spacecraft launches will double. Work is underway to modernize the Rokot light-class rocket and space complex, the test of which is scheduled to begin in December this year," Shoigu said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Shoigu checked the complex of preparation for the launch of universal rocket modules of the Angara space rocket complex, as well as assembly halls for heavy and light class space rockets.
In a video published on Wednesday by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, at least two Angara launch vehicles are being assembled in the assembly and test building of the Plesetsk cosmodrome - light (Angara-1.2) and heavy (Angara-A5) class.
"Army General Sergei Shoigu heard a report by the Commander of the space forces - Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel General Alexander Golovko, on the commissioning of a new universal technical complex designed to prepare spacecraft for military and socio-economic purposes, Briz-M upper stages and space warheads for launch vehicles of the family "Angara," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Shoigu was informed that the spacecraft training complex is equipped with fully domestic standard basic sets of mechanical and technological equipment, fire extinguishing systems, communications, oxygen monitoring, pneumatic and electrical tests, the report said.
At the Plesetsk cosmodrome, Shoigu held a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, relevant military authorities and the Plesetsk cosmodrome.
Angara is a family of Russian modular launch vehicles of various payload capacities, created on the basis of universal rocket modules with oxygen-kerosene engines. The family includes launch vehicles from light to heavy classes in the payload range from 3.5 tons (Angara-1.2) to 38 tons (Angara-A5B) in low Earth orbit.
The Angara family of missiles should replace the Proton-M launch vehicles. The Proton rocket has been in operation since the mid-1960s. Since 2001, the payload has been launched into orbit by an upgraded version of the Proton-M rocket.
The previous launch of the light Angara from the Plesetsk cosmodrome was carried out in 2022.
On April 11, the first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle took place from the Vostochny cosmodrome. She launched the Orion upper stage with a test payload into orbit. The rocket was launched on the third attempt - on April 9 and 10, the launches were canceled by automation.
On April 17, Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov announced that the next launch of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle from the Vostochny cosmodrome will take place in 2027. According to him, this will be the first launch of the upgraded Angara-A5M heavy rocket with an unmanned version of the ship.
It was officially reported that the Rokot light-class rocket and space complex is currently being upgraded to the Rokot-M version. The Salyut Design Bureau stated that the imported element base was being replaced with a domestic one.