Date of News Item: July 16, 2015
THE ANGARA 1.2 LAUNCH VEHICLE ENTERS THE COMMERCIAL MARKET
With Proton, the Entire Range of Spacecraft Masses are Addressed
International Launch Services (ILS), a global launch services provider for commercial satellite operators, is now actively marketing the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle. The Angara 1.2 vehicle will be available for launch in 2017. Launches 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.
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,” says Phil Slack, ILS President.
Notes to Editors:
• The Angara family of vehicles will support the Russian Federal government as well as global commercial customers.
• The future launch site for Angara is the Vostochny Cosmodrome, located on the east coast of Russia, scheduled for initial Angara launch capability in 2021.
• The next Angara 5 flight is planned for 2016 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Angara 5 will be available for GTO launches from the Vostochny launch site in the 2021 timeframe.
• A variant of the Angara Universal Rocket Module (URM) system was flown successfully as the first stage of KSLV (Korean Space Launch Vehicle) during its first three missions in 2009, 2010 and 2013.
About ILS and Khrunichev
ILS provides launch services for global satellite operators and offers a complete array of services and support, from contract signing through mission management and on-orbit delivery. ILS has exclusive rights to market the Proton and Angara vehicles to commercial satellite operators worldwide and is a U.S. company headquartered in Reston, VA., near Washington, D.C. To date, ILS has launched 89 commercial missions. For more information, visit www.ilslaunch.com.
Khrunichev, which holds the majority interest in ILS, is one of the cornerstones of the Russian space industry. Khrunichev manufactures the Proton system and the Angara family of vehicles. The Proton vehicle launches from facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and has a heritage of more than 400 missions since 1965. Khrunichev includes, among its branches, a number of key manufacturers of launch vehicle and spacecraft components in Moscow and in other cities of the Russian Federation. For more information, visit www.khrunichev.com.