“On Monday, December 27, at 22:00 (Moscow time), a test launch of an Angara-A5 heavy-class carrier rocket with an overall-mass payload layout was carried out from the launch pad No. 35 of the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk Region by the combat crew of the Aerospace Forces,” the military department reported.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation noted that all pre-launch operations and the launch of the Angara-A5 space rocket took place in normal mode.
Ground-based means of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces controlled the launch and flight of the launch vehicle.
“Angara-A5” was taken for escort by ground means of the Russian Aerospace Forces. “The Angara-A5 space rocket launched at 22:00 (Moscow time) from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk Region at the estimated time of 22:03 (Moscow time) was accepted for ground support by the Main Test Space Center named after G. S. Titov of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces,” the military department reported.
The orbital block consisting of the Perseus upper stage and the overall-mass payload layout separated from the third stage of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle.
“12 minutes after launch, the orbital unit consisting of the Perseus upper stage and an inseparable overall-mass payload layout separated from the third stage of the Angara-A5 launch vehicle,” the Ministry of Defense reported. Further launching of the orbital unit into the target geostationary orbit will be carried out using the Perseus upper stage according to a typical nine-hour three-pulse scheme with four inclusions of the main engine of the upper stage.
“At the estimated time, in the radio visibility zone of the ground-based automated control complex of the Space Forces of the Aerospace Forces in the established areas of the Komi Republic, the Tomsk Region and the waters of the Philippine Sea, the separation of the I, II and III stages and the discharge of the head fairing of the Angara-A5 RCN took place,” the military department added.
About the launch vehicle