Proton rocket to be phased out after 2020 – head of the Russian Federal Space Agency

The Proton carrier rocket after 2020 will be phased out after the Angara rocket is launched and scores statistics, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Vladimir Popovkin said at a press conference on Friday. “In all three tests that have been conducted, the light-class Angara carrier rocket worked normally,” he stated.

Angara is a new generation of launch vehicles on the basis of a universal rocket module with oxygen-kerosene engines. The family includes carriers from light to heavy-duty classes with payloads ranging from 1.5 to 25 tonnes. The work on the Angara rocket creation is conducted since 1995. The leading designer and manufacturer of rockets of this family is the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Centre.

In late January, the Korean-Russian rocket KSLV-1 was successfully launched, the first stage of which is the prototype of the light-class Angara stage. According to the plans earlier voiced by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the Angara launch may be carried out in 2015 from the Vostochny cosmodrome that is currently under construction.

Credit: ITAR-TASS