Roskosmos again postponed the second Angara-A5 launch in the past six years from the site in Plesetsk.
“Yes, December. The launch vehicle is ready”, – wrote the CEO of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin on Twitter, commenting on the question of a netizen that the launch of Angara-A5 is scheduled for December 11.
In November, the chief designer of the Angara complex Dmitry Petrov reported that heavy carriers of the first and second flight tests do not differ structurally from each other. In October Rogozin said that the first flight test of this carrier conducted in December 2014 “did not confirm the stated requirements of the customer”, because “the mass output was lower than necessary”.
Back in August, the manager, during a report to Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov at the Army-2020 forum, promised that this missile would launch in November.
In July, former CEO, ex-designer of the Khrunichev Center Vladimir Nesterov explained high cost of “Angara-A5”. “Wages, electricity, gas, heat, overhead costs, transportation services need to be written somewhere. And when a three-time manufacturing cycle is hung on one product, naturally, its price triples,” said the former head.
In the financial report of the Khrunichev Center for 2019 it was reported that the cost of production “Angara-A5” is seven billion rubles, which is three times more expensive than the “Proton-M” rocket, which it will replace.
The Khrunichev Center is considered the most problematic and unprofitable enterprise of Roscosmos. One of the company’s failed projects is the development of the Angara family of launch vehicles, which in the heavy version should replace the Proton-M. The creation of rockets has been going on for more than a quarter of a century and has required more than three billion dollars. In light and heavy versions, the carrier flew twice (in July and December 2014). Currently, the debts of the Khrunichev Center exceed 80 billion rubles, which is comparable to the annual budget of the state corporation.