Russia has launched a prototype of the new generation Angara missile

He passed the test. Russia has successfully launched the next generation of the Angara rocket, as Moscow seeks to modernize its space fleet to once again establish itself as a leading orbital power. The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, said in a statement that the Angara A5 missile was launched on the evening of Monday, December 27, from the Plesetsk Military Space Base (north). “Come on, dear!” , Roscosmos enthusiast Dmitri Rogozine took to Twitter, adding that the launch was a “success.”

This is the third test launch since 2014 of the Angara Heavy rocket, a machine developed as part of a program to replace aging proton launchers, whose technology dates back to the 1960s. The Siberian River, in its name, uses a cleaner technology, since it’s propelled by a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen, much less polluting than the toxic fuel used for protons.

The programme, whose idea dates back to the 1990s, however, was behind schedule and the schedule set by the Russian authorities at the time of the first test, in 2014, was not respected. A source of great Soviet-era pride, the Russian space sector has been bogged down by scandals since the fall of the Soviet Union. Corruption, budget cuts, serial delays, and embarrassing technical accidents.

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But the sector has sought in recent months to present a more triumphant face, notably showing its ambitions in space tourism, for example, with the recent sending of a Japanese billionaire into orbit.