spacetoday.net: First Angara launch a success

Posted: Thu, Jul 10, 2014, 8:28 AM ET (1228 GMT)
Angara-1.2PP first launch (Russian MoD)

Russian officials said Wednesday that the first launch of its long-awaited Angara rocket, on a suborbital test flight, was a success. The Angara-1.2PP rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia at 8:00 am EDT (1200 GMT, 4 pm Moscow time) Wednesday. The two-stage rocket flew a suborbital trajectory, hitting its target on a test range in the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia about 25 minutes after liftoff. Russian officials said the launch, which was not broadcast live, was a success. A previous launch attempt June 27 was scrubbed in the final minutes of the countdown because of a leaking valve. The launch was a major milestone for the long-delayed Angara program, which will feature a modular series of vehicles using cryogenic propellants.