ARKHANGELSK. May 21 (Interfax) - The second launch of a heavy Angara-A5 rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome will most likely be rescheduled for 2019, a source at the cosmodrome told Interfax.
"A heavy-class Angara-A5 rocket was to be launched for the second time in spring 2018. However, the launch will most likely be postponed until 2019, because the delivery vehicle is not ready and there is no useful load of such a scale," the source said.
Roscosmos said the construction of a launch site for the launch of Angara rockets at the Vostochny Cosmodrome is on schedule. Flight tests are scheduled to begin in 2021.
"Roscosmos is working on the creation of the Amur facility at the Vostochny Cosmodrome to begin the flight tests of Angara rockets, which are scheduled for 2021. All the work is on schedule," the state corporation's press service said, adding that "all launches of Angara rockets from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome are being conducted under a Defense Ministry program."
Angara rockets are environmentally friendly, as their engines use kerosene and oxygen without the extremely toxic heptyl. The family, which has a module type, comprises rockets of four classes (from light to heavy) with cargo-carrying capacity of between 3.8 and 35 tonnes for launches from Plesetsk and, in the future, the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
The first flight took place on December 23, 2014.