The first launch of the Angara-A5 rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome was canceled for the second time in a row, RIA Novosti reports.
It was supposed to be the first launch of the Angara from the East: before that, the launch vehicles of this family launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.
“The command was issued: “abort the launch,” said a commentator on the launch pad.
The launch was postponed again for at least a day.
“Work managers should prepare for parking in 24 hours,” the site announced.
According to Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov, the second cancellation of the Angara launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome occurred due to a malfunction of the engine start control system.
“A new technical problem has been identified, related, let’s say, according to the results of a preliminary analysis of telemetry, this is a malfunction in the engine start control system. Most likely, this is a software error,” he said.
Borisov also added that there were no irreversible processes requiring the dismantling of the rocket, so it is highly likely that after analyzing all the nuances and concluding the state commission, the launch attempt will be repeated on April 11 at the same time.
Recall that initially, the first-ever launch of Angara from Vostochny was scheduled for 12.00 Moscow time on April 9, however, automation gave the command “abort launch” two minutes before the appointed time. This was due to a malfunction of the pressurization system of the oxidizer tank of the central block of the rocket. Therefore, the start was rescheduled for a reserve date — April 10.
For reference: The Angara family of missiles has been created in Russia since 1992. There is one launch pad at the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region, from which three Angara-A1 launches took place.2″ light class (the first in 2014) and three launches of the Angara-A5 heavy class.
The launch infrastructure for Angara on Vostochny has been under construction since 2018. It is assumed that in the future, the modernized Angara-A5M will be launched from here, which will be used to send modules of the Russian orbital Station into orbit and launch manned spacecraft to it. It is also expected that the Angara-A5B will have an increased payload capacity (37.5 tons into low Earth orbit) with an oxygen-hydrogen third stage.
