Russia has launched its largest rocket since the Soviet Union fell apart 30 years ago, demonstrating the country's militarization of space.
Angara A-5 is a space rocket that weighs 761 tons and is 210 feet tall. On Tuesday, December 28, it launched with a simulated payload from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in northern Russia. As officials increased their warnings about Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin celebrated the launch. The rocket can launch military satellites into orbit, where analysts believe future conflicts will be won or lost, according to experts.
In 1957, Russia's space program launched the first satellite, and in 1961, it launched the first man into space. However, since the Soviet Union's disintegration in 1991, it has been beset by corruption and technical difficulties, lagging behind the United States and China in space research.
After its first flight in 2014, this was the new rocket's third launch.
'Roscosmos congratulates the Russian military-space forces and the entire space sector,' the agency said in a statement, describing the launch as a'success.'
President Vladimir Putin is optimistic that the new launchers would help Russia's space sector recover.
The Angara rockets, named after a Siberian river that flows out of Lake Baikal, are the first new launcher family produced after the Soviet Union fell apart.
They are intended to replace the Proton rockets, which were first launched in the 1960s and have been plagued by malfunctions in recent years.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the agency, expressed his delight on Telegram, writing, 'Come on, baby!'
