[SatNews] International Launch Services (ILS) is now actively marketing the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle.
The Angara 1.2 vehicle will be available for launches in 2017 and they will be conducted from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia. Augmented with the heavy-lift Proton vehicle, ILS now has capability to launch the entire range of satellite masses with both vehicles serving the market.
ILS possesses the exclusive rights to market the Angara vehicle to commercial customers. The Angara family of launchers will support virtually all spacecraft to all orbits, altitudes and inclinations for the low-, medium-, and heavy-lift spacecraft market. Based on a modular design and state of the art technology, the Angara family of vehicles has a high performing payload mass to lift-off mass ratio, when fully fuelled. The Proton and Angara vehicles are manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Space Production Center (Khrunichev), the majority owner of ILS. The Angara 1.2 launch vehicle can lift 3 metric tons to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and was successfully flight demonstrated on July 9, 2014, from the Plesetsk launch site.
The first flight of Angara 5, the heavy-lift variant, was conducted on December 23, 2014. This vehicle will be available for GTO missions in the 2021 timeframe, following completion of the Vostochny Cosmodrome launch site located in eastern Russia. In the meantime, the existing Proton launch vehicle from Baikonur will continue to meet heavy lift requirements, with Angara 1.2 providing the low- and medium-lift requirements. Proton, Russia’s premier heavy-lift vehicle has launched 404 missions to date and is in its 50th year of service.
Executive Comments
General Director of Khrunichev, Andrey Kalinovskiy, said, “The Angara system is scalable to meet various performance requirements, and the use of common technology will reap production efficiencies in the factory. This translates to cost savings for customers. We look forward to passing along the benefits of Angara to satellite operators who require a high- performance option with effective lifting capacity for their low to medium class spacecraft”.
“We are committed to meeting the needs and requirements of the international satellite market with flexibility, quality and schedule assurance. Now, with Angara available for the small- and medium-lift segment, combined with our continued offering of Proton for the heavy-lift requirements, we are able to serve the entire spectrum of satellites to all orbits and inclinations. We are excited about these new offerings. Angara 1.2 has significantly higher performance than Vega and other small launchers, at a more affordable price tag,” said Phil Slack, ILS President.
