MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The Angara prototype will be built in late 2012, Khrunichev Salyut Design Bureau Head Yuri Bakhvalov told Interfax-AVN.
"The rocket will be built at the end of this year and brought to Plesetsk four to five months ahead of the launch," he said.
He recalled that the maiden launch of the light Angara had been planned in Plesetsk, Arkhangelsk region, for the second quarter of 2013. The heavy Angara will blast off Plesetsk in late 2013.
There will be light, medium and heavy Angara rockets. The light rocket will have one universal module, the medium will have three, and the heavy will have five.
"We are considering the construction of a super-heavy rocket of seven modules," Bakhvalov said.
Angara uses environmentally friendly fuel, such as oxygen and kerosene, he said.
Angara rockets will bring Earth monitoring satellites to solar synchronous orbits and telecom satellites to geostationary orbits.
"They will be a part of scientific missions: delivering spacecraft to interplanetary flight trajectories," he said.
Bakhvalov said it would be too early to stop using Proton-M rockets, which ran on toxic fuel.
"Proton-M launches will continue in Baikonur for a rather long time simultaneously with Angara," he said.