Angara-5 rocket with KVTK upper stage

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Angara-5

Angara-5V

First test launch of Angara-5

Angara-5/KVTK launch vehicle

In one of the major steps to upgrade the Angara-A5 rocket, its original Briz-M upper stage would be replaced with a KVTK space tug also known as Article 371KK82 or 372RB01. For the first time since the mighty Energia rocket flew its final mission in 1988, a new Russian booster propelled by hydrogen will take to the sky onboard the Angara-5 rocket.

Previous chapter: Angara-5

KVTK

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From the outset of the Angara project in mid-1990s, it was assumed that the rocket would be equipped with a hydrogen-propelled upper stage. In addition to delivering much heavier payloads, it would be loaded with environmentally safe liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, unlike the previous Briz-M stage, burning toxic propellants.

The latest design of the hydrogen upper stage for the Angara-5 became known as KVTK, a Russian abbreviation for the "Heavy-Class Hydrogen Oxygen stage." The introduction of the Angara-5/KVTK variant was expected to enable the rocket to carry most commercial and military payloads, first of all communications satellites, to the geostationary orbit.

When equipped with the KVTK upper stage, Angara-5 was also expected to feature a unique payload fairing with a diameter of 5.1 meters and designated 14S735. It was designed to accommodate single and dual payloads installed one above another with the help of a special adapter.

At the beginning of the development in the second half of 2000s, the first launch of the Angara-5/KVTK variant was expected as early as 2014. As of 2012, the Angara-5/KVTK was promised to fly as early as 2017 from its original launch pad in Plesetsk. However by 2015, the rocket variant was not expected to launch before 2021 from its future launch pad in Vostochny and by 2017, the first launch slipped to 2024 and by 2019 to 2027, with development funding apparently still on hold.

Known specifications of the Angara-5/KVTK variant:

Liftoff mass	764 tons
Payload to geostationary orbit from Plesetsk	4.5 tons
Payload to geostationary orbit from Vostochny	5.0 tons
Payload to geostationary transfer orbit from Plesetsk	7.5 tons
Payload to geostationary transfer orbit from Vostochny	8.5 tons
Total length of the vehicle	52.59 meters
Total width of the vehicle	7.96 meters
Payload fairing diameter	5.1 meters
Payload fairing length	20.235 meters

The article, illustrations and photography by Anatoly Zak; Last update: April 11, 2024

Page editor: Alain Chabot; Last edit: June 14, 2015

An Angara-5/KVRB concept circa 1998 with an original version of the hydrogen-powered upper stage (known as KVRB). Credit: GKNPTs Khrunichev

evolution

Evolution of the Angara-5/KVRB design at the end of the 1990s -- beginning of 2000s. Note the differences in payload fairing and the use of a movable nozzle extension on one of the versions of the KVRB stage. Credit: GKNPTs Khrunichev

KVTK

launch

A circa 2014 artist rendering of the Angara-5/KVTK variant with a 14S735 payload fairing at liftoff. Credit: Roskosmos