Angara-1.2

Angara-1.2
	The design of the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle
Function	Launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Khrunichev
Country of origin	Russia
Size
Height	42.2 m (138 ft)
Diameter	2.9 m (9 ft 6 in)
Mass	~171,500 kg (378,100 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to LEO 200km
Mass	3,500 kg (7,700 lb)
Payload to SSO
Mass	2,400 kg (5,300 lb)
Payload to LEO 1500km
Mass	1,600 kg (3,500 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Angara
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Plesetsk, Site 35
Total launches	3
Success(es)	3
Failure(s)	0
First flight	9 July 2014
Last flight	15 October 2022
First stage – URM-1
Powered by	1 RD-191
Maximum thrust	1,920 kN (430,000 lbf) (Sea level)
Specific impulse	310.7 s (3.047 km/s) (Sea level)
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage – URM-2
Powered by	1 RD-0124A
Maximum thrust	294.3 kN (66,200 lbf)
Specific impulse	359 s (3.52 km/s)
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

"Angara-1.2" is a Russian two-stage small-lift launch vehicle designed to launch a payload of up to 3.5 tons into low Earth orbit and up to 2.4 tons into a sun—synchronous orbit. The height of the "Angara-1.2" is about 41.5 m, the launch mass of the rocket is about 171 tons. It is part of the Angara family of launch vehicles.

Description

The Angara-1.2 rocket has two stages running on cryogenic fuel, the fuel is kerosene of the RG-1 naphthyl brand, and the oxidizer is liquid oxygen.^[2] Since the second stage does not have the possibility of re-activation to form the final orbit of the spacecraft being launched, it includes a detachable orbital launch unit "AM" (aggregate module) operating on high-boiling fuel Dinitrogen tetroxide + UDMH "heptyl".^[3]^[4]

First Stage

The first stage of the Angara-1.2 is a universal rocket module, similar to those used on the first and second stages of the Angara-A5 heavy carrier.^[5] The module is a complete structure consisting of oxidizer and fuel tanks and an engine compartment, has a diameter of 2.9 m and a length of 25.1 m.^[6] The URM-1 is equipped with a closed-circuit liquid rocket engine RD-191, created at NPO Energomash based on the RD-170 engine used on the first stages of Zenit and Energia launch vehicles and working on a kerosene-oxygen fuel pair.^[7]^[8]

In the configuration of the first stage of "Angara-1.2", the URM-1 additionally includes: a block of controllable gas nozzles operating on gas extracted after the RD-191 turbopump engine unit; aerodynamic rudders for roll control; an intermediate compartment for connection to the second stage.^[9]

Second Stage

In the first test launch, Angara-1.2PP used a non-standard rocket configuration, with the URM-2 unit of the Angara-A5 carrier with a diameter of 3.6 m as the second stage and without an aggregate module. The flight followed a suborbital trajectory with an inseparable payload layout.^[9]

In the standard configuration, the second stage of the Angara-1.2 differs from the URM-2 module,^[10] it carries a smaller fuel reserve and has the same diameter as the URM-1 — 2.9 m. Like the URM-2 module for Angara-A5, the second stage of Angara-1.2 runs on an oxygen-kerosene fuel pair and uses the RD-0124A closed circuit engine created at KBHA based on the RD-0124 engine used on the Soyuz-2 launch vehicles and having a record value of specific impulse for "kerosene" engines.^[11]^[12] The RD-0124A engine has a number of design differences from the RD-0124 and an extended operating time.^[13]

Aggregate module

To form the target orbit of the spacecraft on the Angara-1.2 a detachable aggregate module is used, operating on a high-boiling fuel pair Dinitrogen tetroxide + UDMH or its foreign equivalent MON+MMH. The aggregate module is equipped with low-thrust engines developed at NIIMash (Sverdlovsk region)^[14] — four 11D458 with a thrust of 40 kgf and fourteen orientation and stabilization engines 17D58E with a thrust of 1.3 kgf each.^[3]

Fairing

The head fairing of the Angara-1.2 consists of two flaps, its shell has a three-layer cellular structure. An aggregate module, a payload adapter and a spacecraft are placed under the fairing. The fairing has a diameter of 2.9 meters and a total length of 9.2 m. A total volume of about 25 m³ can be used to place the payload under the fairing.

Launch Sites

Launches of launch vehicles of the Angara family are carried out from site 35 of the Plesetsk cosmodrome. It is planned to create a launch complex at the Vostochny cosmodrome.^[6]

Production

The Angara family rockets are manufactured by the Polyot production association, the Omsk branch of the Khrunichev, the parent company is engaged in the production of the aggregate module for Angara-1.2. Serial production of the Angara family of rockets was planned to begin in 2023,^[15] and in September 2022 it was announced that the start of serial production would be postponed to 2024.^[16]

Launches

Video of the first test flight

Launches of the Angara 1.2 launch vehicle are carried out from the Site 35 at the Plesetsk cosmodrome. The first flight of the Angara-1.2 launch vehicle in its standard configuration took place on April 29, 2022.^[17] In total, 3 rocket launches were carried out in the Angara-1.2 modification, all of them were successful.