Russia on Monday successfully test-launched its heavy lift Angara A5 space rocket for the second time, the country’s military and space officials said. The rocket lifted off Monday morning from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northwest Russia.
“It flies, damn it!” Dmitry Rogozin, head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, tweeted after the launch. Angara A5 is designed to replace the Proton M heavy lift rocket, but its development and manufacturing has been plagued by delays and technical problems.