First launch of Angara-A5 heavy-class rocket from Vostochny Cosmodrome aborted

The first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy launch vehicle from the newly built launch complex at the Vostochny Cosmodrome was aborted two minutes before lift off.

The rocket with the Orion upper stage and test payload was supposed to take off for the first time from Vostochny on Tuesday, April 9, at 12:00. The launch was postponed.

The launch of the Angara rocket was postponed till Wednesday, April 10, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borisov said.

"Two minutes before the possible start, automatic systems shut down the start process due to a failure of the pressurisation system of the oxidiser tank of the central unit. In this situation, fuel is drained," Yuri Borisov said.

The head of the Space Policy Institute Ivan Moiseev said that such situations may happen frequently. He called the situation a common occurrence.

On April 8, the state commission authorised the first launch of the Angara-A5 heavy rocket from the Vostochny cosmodrome. The launches of the heavy Angara-A5 were carried out three times — in December 2014, December 2020 and December 2021. All three launches were carried out by the Russian Ministry of Defence from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.