Angara A5

The second Angara developed was the Angara A5 heavy lift launch vehicle, which consists of one URM-1 core and four URM-1 boosters, a 3.6m URM-2 second stage, and an upper stage, either the Briz-M or the KVTK.[18] Weighing 773 tonnes at lift-off, Angara A5 has a payload capacity of 24.5 tonnes to a 200 km (120 mi) x 60° orbit. Angara A5 is able to deliver 5.4 tonnes to GTO with Briz-M, or 7.5 tonnes to the same orbit with KVTK.

In the Angara A5, the four URM-1s used as boosters operate at full thrust for approximately 214 seconds, then separate. The URM-1 forming the vehicle’s core is operated at full thrust for lift off, then throttled down to 30% to conserve propellant. The core is throttled back up after the boosters have separated and continues burning for another 110 seconds.

The first Angara A5 test flight was launched on 23 December 2014. The second test flight was launched on 14 December 2020 from Plesetsk. A third test flight was launched on 27 December 2021, also from Plesetsk. However, the test of Persei upper stage failed and the payload did not make it from LEO to GEO.