MOSCOW, July 15 (RIA Novosti) – An advanced Russian Angara rocket by definition could not be used as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the First Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, Alexander Ivanov said Monday.
“Angara is nothing other than a space carrier. Due to its specific features, it cannot be used as ICBM. The dynamics of the launch and flight of Angara are completely different: if you have seen how Rokot, which was remodeled from a war rocket, takes off, you have seen the momentary launch. Angara has a steady lift without g-loads,” Ivanov said.
The Angara family of rockets, in development since 1995, is planned to be built in light, semi-heavy and heavy versions to lift a variety of payloads between two and 40 metric tons into low earth orbit. Last Wednesday, the first long-awaited suborbital test flight of Angara, powered by engines using so-called «green» fuels, was successfully completed from the Plesetsk space center. Its maiden launch, initially scheduled for June 25, was initially delayed until June 27, and later postponed until June 28. Back then the launch attempt was aborted automatically 19 seconds before the launch.
Angara is the first new carrier rocket developed by Russia since the fall of the Soviet Union. It is designed to complement the Russian venerable Soyuz rocket, currently the only vehicle in the world capable of launching astronauts to the International Space Station.
