From: tl@none.invalid   
      
   JF Mezei   wrote:   
   >On 2021-07-21 17:29, Jeff Findley wrote:   
   >> Proton is sure to keep flying.  Russia won't retire Proton until it   
   >> isn't "needed" anymore.  And only Russia knows what that means.   
   >   
   >What I read in Wikipedia is that it is being replaced by Angara, and not   
   >quirte sure on status of Angara (I think they've had a test flight or   
   >two, not sure if operational).   
      
   I think the kind term for Angara has been "development hell".   
      
   They needed 6 YEARS between "Orbital test flight No.1" (2014) and   
   "Orbital test flight No.2" (2020).   
      
   Supposedly they have an operational launches planned for second half   
   of 2021 but I'm not quite sure if that qualifies as an operational   
   launch - it has a payload but there's been test flights with that   
   before, it's unclear how important that paypload is to them.   
      
   I think it's more likely this will slide into 2022 which will make it   
   30 year between the development started and first operational flight.   
      
   And I'm not ruling out 2023, 2024 or even 2025, we just don't know   
   enough of what is going on (and what their funding situation actually   
   looks like).   
      
   It would have been a good rocket for them if it had operational 10   
   years ago, or even if the second test flight was also in 2014 but the   
   market has moved considerably since then.   
      
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