Commercial Customers Express Interest In Angara Rocket - Manufacturer

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Russia's Khrunichev Research and Production Space Center has been receiving proposals from commercial customers interested in using the recently launched Angara carrier rocket, the general director of the Khrunichev center, Alexei Varochko, told Sputnik.

"I can tell you without details that after the launch [on December 14, 2020] several customers came to us, who are ready to work together," Varochko said, without giving specifics.

At the same time, the general director of the Salyut design bureau (part of the Khrunichev center), Sergey Kuznetsov, said that the customers are interested in Angara-1.2 light carrier rocket.

"We have launched the Angara heavy rocket, and they immediately came to us to order a light one," he said.

The Angara family of environmentally friendly carrier rockets was developed by the Moscow-based state-run Khrunichev space center. The center designed a range of space carrier vehicles from the light-lift Angara 1.2 to the super-heavy Angara A5. The first Angara-A5 was launched in December 2014 from Plesetsk, delivering a dummy satellite to the geostationary orbit. According to the center, the maximum payload of the Angara is 24 tonnes, while the rocket's launch weight is 760 tonnes.

As for today, besides Angara rockets intended for test flights, there are at least seven domestic orders for the heavy Angara rocket and one order by a South Korean customer for the light version.