Due to an issue with the engine launch control system, Russia had to abort the test launch of its Angara-A5 space rocket on Wednesday. This was the second time in two days that the rocket’s blast-off was postponed until the last minute.
Russia’s post-Soviet space aspirations and the increasing influence of the Vostochny Cosmodrome—a spaceport nestled in the Amur region of eastern Russia—were intended to be highlighted by the launch of the Angara.
However, there was no evidence of ignition when the countdown clock for the planned launch from Vostochny at 0900 GMT reached zero. A few seconds later, an announcement stating that an order to abort had been made was played over the loudspeakers.
An attempted launch the previous day had also been aborted over a technical problem with the pressurising system of the oxidiser tank.
Russia’s space chief Yuri Borisov said a third launch attempt would be scheduled for Thursday. He played down the significance of the aborted launches, saying the purpose of test flights was to identify problems, which he said were not unusual at this stage of development.
“A new technical problem has emerged, related, according to the results of a preliminary analysis of telemetry, to a malfunction in the engine start control system,” Borisov said.
“Most likely, this is a software error, which will certainly be found today,” said. He said Tuesday’s launch had been aborted due to a faulty valve.
President Vladimir Putin has grand ambitions for Russia’s space program, including planned construction of a new Russian space station by 2027, and has described the Angara project as having huge significance for national security.
The Angara launch vehicle is capable of carrying payloads bigger than 20 tonnes into orbit.
This was due to be its first launch from Vostochny, Russia’s only post-Soviet spacecraft launch site. Due to its location closer to the equator, Angara-A5 can deliver a heavier payload to orbit if launched from there rather than from Plesetsk, a Soviet-era facility where Russia has previously carried out three successful Angara test launches.
The setback follows the failure of a Russian moon mission last August, its first in 47 years, when the spacecraft crashed into the moon.
