Classic Soviet plane Antonov An-12 returns to Brazil to pick up rocket

The classic Soviet plane Antonov An-12 returns to Brazil this Saturday (19) to transport a rocket produced in São José dos Campos, in the interior of São Paulo, by the IAE (Institute of Aeronautics and Space).

The model, manufactured by Ukrainian Motor Sich, is a four-engine turboprop, and began to be made in the late 1950s, operating in the USSR and nearby countries.

It gained several nicknames due to the large smoke emitted by its Ivchenko AI-20 engines, in addition to its characteristic noise. The model is still operated by several small civilian operators and some air forces, including Russia.

​An-12 is at Recife Airport, after flying from Cabinda, Angola, to Pernambuco, via Abuja, Nigeria, and Dakar, Senegal.

The forecast is that he would arrive in São José in the early afternoon of this Saturday. Local photographers recorded the model landing in Recife.

The institute, based in São José dos Campos and submitted to the Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), develops the Satellite Launch Vehicle and the satellites themselves, having some similar functions to NASA’s JPL.​

At the institute, the suborbital rocket VSB-30 (Booster Sounding Vehicle – 30) is manufactured, jointly developed with the Germans from the DLR, and capable of carrying up to 400 kg of payload as satellites up to a maximum altitude of 270 km.

The first launch was in 2004 and to date 30 have been made. Most have been made on the Esrange (European Spaceresearch RANGE), built by the European Space Agency and owned by the Swedish Space Corporation, as it is located in the city of Kiruna.

And the next release will be soon, again in Sweden. And for that, Motor Sich was again contracted to take five engines that make up the VSB30, according to Aeroin.

Among these operators is Motor Sich Airlines, an airline belonging to the homonymous engine manufacturer, which produces the engines for the An-12’s “bigger brothers”, the giants An-124 Ruslan and An-225 Myria, the largest commercial aircraft in the world. world.