Friday, April 12, 2024

More About Angara A5...

In this Day of Cosmonautics. 

Sure, it is not April 12, 1961 when Yuri Gagarin trail blazed humanity into space, but Angara A5's success is important nonetheless--Angara A5 is a heavy class rocket which can throw 24.5 tons payloads at LEO (Low Earth Orbit), up to 32 tons with KVTK, and 5.5 tons to a GTO  (Geostationary Transfer Orbit). That's a lot but this is just a stepping stone towards super-heavy Yenisei and Don which will be able to deliver 140 tons to LEO. So, do you sense gigantic ramifications of all that? Well, here is example from today:

МОСКВА, 11 апр - РИА Новости. Президент России Владимир Путин поручил кабмину с "Роскосмосом" и "Росатомом" принять решения о выделении с 2024 года средств на проект по развитию космической ядерной энергетики. Средства должны быть выделены в рамках федерального проекта "Развитие космической ядерной энергетики России". Особое внимание следует уделить развитию разработок в сфере космической ядерной энергетики. Доклад необходимо представить до 15 июня, ответственный — премьер-министр Михаил Мишустин.

Translation: MOSCOW, April 11 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the Cabinet of Ministers with Roscosmos and Rosatom to make decisions on allocating funds for a project to develop space nuclear energy starting in 2024. The funds should be allocated within the framework of the federal project “Development of Space Nuclear Energy in Russia.” Particular attention should be paid to the development of developments in the field of space nuclear energy. The report must be submitted by June 15, and the responsible party is Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

You see, Angara A5 is more than just new Russian space station, it is a nuclear powered vehicles such as Zevs (Zeus) which will take humanity to Mars and beyond. Now, that Russia has a heavy vehicle independent from launch-sites in Kazakhstan things will (already) accelerate dramatically. That is why Angara A5's success is so important, to put it mildly--it pushes a whole of Russia's space program into high gear. I hope everybody understand also military applications of all that. Angara is capable to deliver a large number of satellites to orbit in one go. Speaking of which, evidently Russia tested another military vehicle today using mobile intercontinental missile complex from the range at Kapustin Yar (in Russian). Some new iterations of Avangard, I guess. You didn't think that Russia would confine Avangards and their versions to silo-based missiles complexes only, right?

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