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Russia’s Angara-A5 carrier rocket with satellites blasts off from Plesetsk spaceport​

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/. The Russian Space Forces launched an Angara-A5 carrier rocket with satellites from the Plesetsk spaceport in Russia’s northwest, the Defense Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"On June 19, 2025, an Angara-A5 carrier rocket with satellites on its board was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome [in the Arkhangelsk Region]," the statement reads.

Angara is a family of Russian launch vehicles ranging from light-to heavy-lift classes. Their propellants — kerosene and liquid oxygen — are environmentally friendly, unlike fuel used by the Proton-M rocket which the Angara launch vehicles are set to replace in the near future.

It is expected that, beyond the basic heavy-lift launch vehicle Angara-A5 (with a launch mass of approximately 773 tons and a payload capacity of up to 24.5 tons to low Earth orbit), modifications such as the Angara-A5M — with increased payload capacity — and the Angara-A5V, which will feature returnable first and second stages and a third stage powered by hydrogen, will be developed.

Rockets from this family are planned to be used for launching satellites into low Earth orbit (for example, the Spektr-UF orbital observatory), deploying modules for the planned Russian Orbital Station (ROS), and delivering crews to the orbital outpost.
 
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Just. Wow. As we went over Mexico [on the ISS] and the U.S. this morning, [Nichole “Vapor” Ayers] caught this sprite.

Sprites are TLEs or Transient Luminous Events, that happen above the clouds and are triggered by intense electrical activity in the thunderstorms below. We have a great view above the clouds, so scientists can use these types of pictures to better understand the formation, characteristics, and relationship of TLEs to thunderstorms.
 
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