Fresh attempt to launch Russian rocket

Russia will again attempt to launch its first post Soviet-era rocket into space following an aborted blast-off on June 27.

Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a launch of a Russian rocket

Russia will again attempt to launch its first post Soviet-era rocket following an aborted blast-off. (AAP)

Russia will on Wednesday attempt to launch its newest rocket after an embarrassing last-minute glitch forced authorities to abort the initial test.

"A new attempt to launch the Angara rocket will take place on July 9," the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, citing a source close to the state commission deciding on the issue.

Designed to succeed Proton and other Soviet-era launchers, the Angara is billed as the first rocket to have been completely built after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It was scheduled to blast off from Plesetsk in northern Russia on June 27 when officials reported a sudden automatic launch abort, footage of which was broadcast on national television.

President Vladimir Putin was overseeing the planned launch via live link-up.

The mishap was the latest blow to the Russian government's plans to overhaul a space program famed for having sent the first man into space in 1961 and launching the first Sputnik satellite four years earlier.

In May a Proton launcher carrying an advanced communication satellite fell back to earth just minutes after lift-off.

Last July, an unmanned Proton carrier rocket exploded on takeoff at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, releasing hundreds of tonnes of toxic fuel in spectacular images caught on live television.


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