MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) — The test launch of Russia’s new "environmentally friendly" Angara rocket was postponed due to the loss of pressure in one of the valves within the fuel flow system, a source in the Russian space industry told RIA Novosti Monday.
"The automatic launch cancellation, according to preliminary data, occurred about 15 seconds ahead of the start. The reason is purely technical: a poorly sealed drainage pressurization valve within the oxidizer manifold. To resolve the issue, the fuel will be drained, the carrier rocket will be taken off the launch pad and moved to a maintenance area," the source informed RIA Novosti.
The first launch of the light-class Angara-1.2PP rocket, manned by a Russian Aerospace Defense Forces crew from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia’s Arkhangelsk Region, was initially intended to get the second stage of the rocket carrier to a projected ballistic trajectory, with a planned landing on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
For Russian Federation strategic security reasons, the universal Angara module rocket was designed and manufactured by Russian enterprises within Russia. Missile launches endorsed by the Defense Ministry and the Russian Space Agency are to be carried out from Plesetsk, and prospectively from the new Vostochny cosmodrome.
The maiden launch failed for technical reasons, and was first postponed to, June 28, the backup date, and then again due to the need to conduct a thorough investigation into the causes of launch cancellation.
