Russia Launches First Orbital Flight of Angara 1.2

Angara 1.2 at the Pad | Credit: Roscosmos

On Friday, April 29 at 3:55pm EDT (19:55 UTC), the Russian Aerospace Forces launched an unknown payload atop an Angara 1.2 rocket from Site 35/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. This was the first orbital flight of Angara 1.2, which had a suborbital test flight in 2014. The payload was designated Cosmos 255. Angara 1.2 and Angara A5 are Russia's new rockets planned to replace the Proton rockets, which have been used since the 1960's. Angara A5 is planned to have two flights this year and then one flight in late 2023, an uncrewed flight of the Oriol spacecraft, planned to take cosmonauts to the Moon. This was the 45th orbital launch attempt of 2022.