MOSCOW, Russia and BERN, Switzerland – February 6, 2013 (Sea Launch PR)

In a statement, the General Designer and the President of RSC Energia, Vitaly Lopota said:

“We profoundly regret about the last week’s loss of the Intelsat 27 spacecraft. Many people worked hard to build the spacecraft, the launch vehicle and support the launch campaign. As we have been working in the space industry for over 65 years we continuously strive for perfection and reliability in everything that we attempt, but sometimes we fall short. The ocean-based launch system, Zenit launch vehicle and upper stage Block DM are a trusted means of payload delivery which combines the best in rocket-building technology and processes of recent decades. The launch failure is being investigated and analyzed. Its findings will be announced in the near future.”

Lopota stated, “In conjunction with the participants of this program and various interested parties from the business community, we are in the process of creating a strategy that will ensure the long-term viability of the Sea Launch system as well as provide for evolutionary improvements to its performance. We remain confident that the Sea Launch program will continue to remain a key launch service provider to the world’s spacecraft operator community for years to come.”  Lopota continued “I urge all current and potential customers of Sea Launch to be patient, recognizing the strategic importance of launch vehicle diversity to their own business. We can assure you that Sea Launch will continue to launch our customer’s spacecraft on schedule, reliably and with a high level of injection accuracy.”

JOINT PRESS RELEASE
By Sea Launch AG, RSC Energia, NPO Energomash, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash

Remaining on a firm course to continue operations of the Sea Launch system

February 6, 2013 - Following the unsuccessful launch of the Intelsat 27 spacecraft on February 1, 2013, participants in and partners of the Sea Launch program are showing their sincere regret to Intelsat about the loss of their spacecraft and are taking all necessary measures to investigate the incident, develop and implement measures directed at increasing the reliability of the launch system.

Investigation of the incident is occurring under the control of the Russian and Ukrainian government. Several failure review boards have been formed including a Russian-Ukrainian committee, as well as committees created at Roscosmos, Sea Launch AG, RSC Energia, Energomash, Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash in addition to other companies that participate in the launch operations. The committees are aiming to determine the root cause of the incident, develop corrective actions and return to flight as soon as possible.

The foundation of development and operation of the Sea Launch system is dependent upon the cooperation of companies and enterprises from several different countries aimed at utilizing and developing innovative technologies used in aerospace to provide launch services. Sea Launch is a reliable modern launch system that has been providing services to the leading satellite operators of the world for over 12 years. Participants and partners of the Sea Launch program affirm their commitment to the program and are determined to ensure a quick return to flight. All interested customers will continue to be engaged in ongoing projects with Sea Launch and development of its prospects.

Buran shuttle and Energia rocket.

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

With America (or, at least its esteemed Congress, gentlemen engineers all) determined to build the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS) regardless of the cost to the national treasury or the damage done to far more pressing priorities (like getting our astronauts back into orbit on U.S. vehicles), the Russians have begun dusting off old proposals for super boosters of their own.

In this case, the Russian need to emulate the Americans is somewhat less blatant than the follow-the-leader cloning process that resulted Soviet Union’s ill-fated, single flight Buran space shuttle of the 1980′s. However, it does involves much of the same launch vehicle hardware, which should set off plenty of alarm bells right there.

Yes, the Soviet Empire may have died and, with it, the mighty space program that had once sent shudders of fear through the West. But, the individual initiatives of that era continue to live on, although in somewhat altered states and, unfortunately, possessing many of the same problems.

The two launch vehicle concepts under consideration, being promoted by Khrunichev and rival RSC Energia, are called Yenisei-5 and Sodruzhestvo, respectively. The vehicles are designed to send Russia’s six-person Soyuz spacecraft, the awkwardly named Prospective Piloted Transport System (PPTS), and other payloads on missions to the moon, Mars and deep space. PPTS is, in fact, a response to America’s Orion spacecraft and deep-space exploration plans.

Anatoly Zak over at RussianSpaceWeb.com has excellent summaries of both proposals. The information below is drawn from his accounts.

Khrunichev’s Yenisei-5 (named after the Siberian river) is the largest and most powerful of the two boosters. It would be capable of launching 125 metric tons of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO) and 49 metric tons to the moon with a single launch.

Yenisei-5 is basically a resuscitated Energia rocket that was used to launch Buran with a couple of major changes. The payload is on the top instead of the side, which streamlines things quite a bit. While the original Energia core used four RD-120 engines powered by kerosene, Yenisei-5 would have three RD-120s that would use much more powerful liquid hydrogen. Four liquid strap-on boosters derived from the Zenit rocket and powered by RD-170 engines would be attached to the first-stage core.

Yenisei-5 would give Russia a booster roughly equal to the American SLS, which will put 130 metric tons into LEO in its final configuration. Yenisei-5 also would cost many tons of rubles and take quite a long time to complete, according to Zak.

The implementation of such a program would require huge investments. According to many Russian rocket propulsion experts, the RD-0120 engine would have to be developed essentially from scratch, as most of its critical infrastructure is no longer existing. The rocket would also need a monumental new launch facility. Serious logistical challenges to transporting large-diameter core stage or its components from the factory to the launch site [at Vostochny in the Far East] would have to be addressed. Since traditional Russian method of transporting rockets by rail would not be an option, a large transport aircraft and associated facilities would have to be developed. Still, proponents of hydrogen propulsion argue that Russia, as any other space-faring nation, would have no alternative to the ultimate rocket fuel.

Energia’s Sodruzhestvo (Alliance) rocket is a bit less ambitious than Khrunichev’s launch vehicle and could be ready a lot sooner. The rocket would be capable of placing 64 metric tons of cargo into LEO in 2020 and operate from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The payload is just below the 70 metric ton capability of NASA’s initial version of SLS.

The Sodruzhestvo rocket would consist of a central core derived from the Ukrainian-built Zenit rocket surrounded by a cluster of four first-stage boosters also derived from the Zenit. The Zenit’s second stage would serve as the third stage of the new Sodruzhestvo launch vehicle.

From rather vague reports in the Russian media, it could be concluded that the launch vehicle was to use refurbished launch pads at Site 250 and Site 110 in Baikonur, which were originally intended for the Energia-Buran reusable system. Ironically, for almost a decade, Site 250 had already been “booked” for the Russian-Kazakh venture aiming to bring the Angara launch vehicle to Baikonur, however the project stalled by delays in the development of the rocket and by disagreements between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Apparently, in case of Kazakhstan’s non-participation, the Russian version of the Sodruzhestvo rocket would require the construction of a new launch complex in Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East. However in this case, the implementation of the project would take considerably longer.

The combination of existing Zenit boosters, the revived launch pads, and the smaller nature of the Sodruzhestvo rocket means the vehicle would cost far less to develop and could fly in 2020, about eight years before Yenisei-5. An intermediate version of the rocket — using two Zenit strap-on first-stage boosters and a less powerful upper stage — could deliver 36 metric tons of cargo into LEO.

The politics of the project are complicated, however. The meaning of the Russian name of the rocket (alliance) is meant to symbolize the cooperation between Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan — three nations united under the same government until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The irony is that Russia has spent much of the past two decades trying to free itself on reliance on Baikonur in Kazakhstan and the rockets and space components manufactured in Ukraine. The debut of the home-grown Angara rocket later this year and the opening of Vostochny in the Russian Far East around 2015 are the last two major steps to completing this goal.

Perhaps because of this fact, Sodruzhestvo appears to have little support from the Russian government. The Kazakh and Ukrainian governments have also expressed little interest in the project, according to Zak.

Relations between Russia and Kazakhstan are strained over space cooperation. As Zak mentioned, the two sides fell out over the construction of the Baiketel launch complex at Baikonur, which was to have hosted flights of Russia’s new Angara rocket. That joint project was recently canceled.

With Russian most (but not all) of its launches to Vostochny later in the decade, Kazakhstan is eager to renegotiate Russia’s long-term lease of Baikonur, which totals $113 million per year and runs to 2050. The outcome of those discussions is difficult to predict.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia have been in negotiations over the continued operations of Dnepr rockets, which are Soviet-era ICBMs that the two sides convert into small satellite launchers. Russia has said that continuing the launches is too costly. In a recent interview, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin indicated the joint program could continue with greater investment from Ukraine. It’s not clear what impact such a move would have on Ukraine’s small space budget.

While the Sodruzhestvo project has garnered little enthusiasm, Yenisei-5 appears to have more support within Russia, with the booster being included in the nation’s long-range space strategy for possible launch from Vostochny by 2028.

From a political standpoint, Yenisei-5 is an attractive program in that it would be produced and launched domestically and keep thousands of grateful aerospace workers employed for the next 15 years just designing, building and testing it even before any hardware flew. A Russian government that wants to maintain high employment and high government spending would naturally embrace such a program.

Whether Russia has sufficient funding and trained aerospace workers to support the program over such a long period of time is an interesting question. And the end result — a massive rocket that won’t fly for 15 years based on technologies first conceived nearly a half century earlier — could end up being hopelessly out of date and hideously expensive to operate by the time it flies, years after its American counterpart.

Of course, those concerns haven’t stopped the U.S. Congress from ordering NASA to build a heavy-lift vehicle derived from even older technology. And that just goes to show that a follow-the-leader policy only makes sense if the leader has a sound plan. Or at least you can significantly improve upon said plan. The history of Energia and Buran don’t provide very much hope in that regard.

OKA-T spacecraft (Credit: RSC Energia)

MOSCOW (Energia PR) — S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia embarked on the activities under the project of spacecraft OKA-T serviced on the International Space Station (ISS). Works are underway on development effort “OKA-T-ISS” in the Preliminary Design stage in accordance with the Federal Space Agency contract. Works completion date for the Preliminary Design stage is November 2013.

Spacecraft (SC) OKA-T is intended to conduct scientific research in low near-earth orbit using the advantages of free-flying SC. These advantages lie in the fact that a lower-level microgravity is ensured as compared with orbital stations, as well as an opportunity to create zones of open space with a high vacuum.

Conduct of OKA-T-based scientific experiments is scheduled in the cycles of its free flight, between the periods of SC staying docked to the station.

In the docked operation phase of flight, crew performs maintenance operations for OKA-T, including servicing of experimental equipment, as well as repair/maintenance operations for its onboard systems; carries out preparation of SC and its experimental equipment for the next cycle of free flight.

In order to satisfy the conditions required for free flight, special measures are foreseen to build OKA-T onboard systems (motion control, power supply) and reduce vibrations caused by onboard devices, as well as create zones of high vacuum via special protective shield and airlock which makes it possible to move experimental equipment with samples in this zone and, subsequently, to remove the equipment with samples from it.

During recent public talks, Scaled Composites Founder Burt Rutan has bemoaned the lack of recent rocket development in the United States. After the initial burst of creativity in the 1950′s and 1960′s, decades went by with very few new rockets being developed. He has also pointed to Scaled Composites’ SpaceShipTwo, SpaceX’s Dragon and Stratolaunch Systems air-launch project (which he worked on for 20 years) as the only serious developments in the field at present.

My first thought was: Burt’s wrong. There’s a lot more going on than just that. Including developments just down the flight line in Mojave that he somehow fails to mention. And my second thought was: well, just how wrong is Burt, exactly?

A lot, it turns out.

Going through the voluminous Parabolic Arc archives, I discovered that we’re in the midst of a renaissance in rocketry and spacecraft development in the United States. The list of project under active development or already flying includes heavy-lift rockets, deep-space exploration craft, orbital taxis, private space stations, suborbital tourism and research vehicles, and dedicated nano-sat launchers.

Not all of these programs will succeed, of course, but if enough of them do, then the U.S. will once again have a vibrant and competitive launch industry. And the nation will have multiple options for sending humans to space, where there will be multiple destinations for them to visit.

The tables below show all the new projects that are either in active development or have reached flight in recent years.  If I’ve missed any, please let me know and I’ll add them to the tables.

UPDATES: Revised on Jan. 4 to include the X-37A spacecraft (Boeing/U.S. Air Force) and the P-18D suborbital launch vehicle (Garvey Spaceflight Corporation). Also updated information on the GOLauncher 1 (suborbital) and GOLauncher 2 (orbital) launch vehicles. Thanks to readers for the recommendations and additional information.

Revised on Jan. 5 to include commercial deep space programs now being planned.

Revised on Jan. 6 to include SpaceX Grasshopper.

HUMAN SPACECRAFT — ORBITAL AND BEYOND

NEW HUMAN SPACECRAFT
	Spacecraft & Booster	Builder(s) & Supporting Agency	Passengers/ Occupants	First Crewed Flight
	CST-100 – Atlas V	Boeing & ULA/NASA	7	2015 or 2016
	Dragon – Falcon 9	SpaceX/NASA	7	2015
	Dream Chaser – Atlas V	Sierra Nevada Corporation & ULA/NASA	7	2016
	Orion – Space Launch System	Lockheed Martin, Boeing & ATK/NASA	4	2021
	Orbital Vehicle — Atlas V (Later Blue Origin Reusable Rocket)	Blue Origin & ULA/NASA	7	Unknown
	BA330 Space Station	Bigelow Aerospace (with Boeing and SpaceX crew partnerships)	6	2016 or 2017

HUMAN SUBORBITAL

NEW HUMAN SUBORBITAL SPACECRAFT
	Spacecraft	Builder	Passengers & Crew	First Crewed Flight
	SpaceShipTwo	Scaled Composites	8	2013
	Lynx	XCOR Aerospace	2	2013
	Hyperion	Armadillo Aerospace & Space Adventures	2	Unknown
	New Shepard	Blue Origin	4	Unknown

ORBITAL SPACECRAFT — ROBOTIC

NEW ROBOTIC SPACECRAFT
	Spacecraft & Booster	Builder & Supporting Agency	Payload to ISS	First Flight
	Dragon – Falcon 9	SpaceX/NASA	6,000 kg (13,228 lbs) up-mass; 3,000 kg (6,614 lbs) down-mass	2010
	Cygnus – Antares	Orbital Sciences Corporation/NASA	2,000 kg Standard 2,700 kg Enhanced	2013
	X-37B – Atlas V	Boeing & ULA/U.S. Air Force	Unknown	2010

LAUNCH VEHICLES

NEW LAUNCH VEHICLES — ORBITAL
	Booster	Builder(s) & Supporting Agency	Payload to LEO or SSO	Payload to GTO	First Flight(s)
Heavy Lift
	Space Launch System	Lockheed Martin, Boeing & ATK/NASA	70 MT & 130 MT		2017/2021
	Falcon Heavy	SpaceX	53 MT	12 MT (26,460 lbs.)	2013 or 2014
Medium Lift
	Falcon 9	SpaceX/NASA	13,150 kg (29,000 lbs.)	4,850 kg (10,692 lbs.)	2010
	Antares	Orbital Sciences Corporation/ NASA	5,000 kg (11,000 lbs.)		2013
	Stratolaunch	Scaled Composites, Dynetics & Orbital Sciences Corp.	6,100 kg (13,500 lbs.)		2016
	Athena Ic, IIc	ATK & Lockheed Martin	up to 1,712 kg (3,775 lbs.)		Unknown
Small, Nano and Micro Satellite Launchers
	Super Strypi (a.k.a., SPARK)	Aerojet, Sandia National Laboratories & University of Hawaii/DOD Office of Operationally Responsive Space	250 kg (550 lbs.)	N/A	2013
	LauncherOne	Virgin Galactic	225 kg (500 lbs.)	N/A	2016
	ALASA	Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Virgin Galactic, Northrop Grumman, Ventions LLC & Space Information Laboratories LLC/DARPA	45.4 kg 100 lbs.)	N/A	Unknown
	SWORDS	U.S. Army	25 kg (55 lbs.)	N/A	2013
	GOLauncher 2	Generation Orbit Launch Services & Space Propulsion Group	5 to 30 kg (11 to 66 lbs.)	N/A	2018
	Minimum Cost Launch System	Whittinghill Aerospace	Nanosats	N/A	Unknown
	Lynx	XCOR Aerospace	Microsats	N/A	2015 or 2016

SUBORBITAL LAUNCH VEHICLES

SUBORBITAL LAUNCH VEHICLES — NO CREW
	Booster	Builder(s)	Payloads	First Flight(s)
	STIG-A, STIG-B, STIG-III, STIG-V, STIG-VII	Armadillo Aerospace	Various	Various
	Xombie, Xogdor	Masten Space Systems	Various	Various
	P-18D	Garvey Spacecraft Corporation	CubeSats, Nanosats	2011
	Minimum Cost Launch Vehicle	Whittinghill Aerospace	Various	Unknown
	GOLauncher 1	Generation Orbit Launch Services & Space Propulsion Group	Up to 100 kg (220 lbs.)	2015
	Grasshopper	SpaceX	Test Vehicle	2012

BEYOND EARTH ORBIT

Commercial Lunar and Deep Space Programs
	Companies	Goal	Technology	Schedule
	Astrobotic, Team FREDNET, Team Jurban, Moon Express, Omega Envoy, Penn State Lunar Lion Team, Team Phoenicia, Team Stellar	Win $30 Million Google Lunar X Prize	Lunar landers and rovers	Prize expires Dec. 31, 2015
	Planetary Resources	Asteroid mining	Arkyd-100, Arkyd-200, Arkyd-300	2013 or 2014 (first launches)
	Space Adventures & Energia	Space tourism flight around the moon	Modified Soyuz transport	NLT January 2017
	Golden Spike Company	Human landings on moon	Lunar transportation architecture	2020

Russian space rocket corporation Energia head Vitaly Lopota on Wednesday rejected as a “non-market” measure the idea of establishing an engine holding company in the domestic space industry.

“This proposal would completely eliminate the competitive environment in the country,” Lopota said….

Russian Space Agency Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin had previously said Russia planned to create a single holding company for booster rocket production to integrate the country’s leading space vehicle producers Khrunichev and TsSKB Progress, and also an engine-building sub-holding company to include engine makers Energomash, the Khimavtomatiki design bureau, the Voronezh mechanical works, Proton PM and other firms.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered the government in summer to work out a plan to improve Russia’s space industry organizations, after a string of mishaps that he said have compromised Russia’s image as a leading space power.

Read the full story.

PALO ALTO, California and BERN, Switzerland– Dec. 19, 2012 (Sea Launch-SS/L PR) – Space Systems/Loral (SSL) and Sea Launch AG (Sea Launch) today announced that the Independent Oversight Board (IOB) formed to investigate the solar array deployment anomaly on a satellite launched in the spring of 2012 has successfully reached a unanimous conclusion.

The IOB, which was comprised of three highly regarded industry experts, worked with a comprehensive team of engineers from both SSL and Sea Launch to conduct an exhaustive investigation of data from the launch vehicle, the spacecraft, and interactions between the two.  Extensive data provided by Sea Launch were instrumental in achieving the findings which led to the investigation’s positive conclusion.

The IOB concluded that the anomaly occurred before the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle, during the ascent phase of the launch, and originated in one of the satellite’s two solar array wings due to a rare combination of factors in the panel fabrication.  While the satellite is performing on orbit, the anomaly resulted in structural and electrical damage to one solar array wing, which reduced the amount of power available for payload operation.

After rigorous investigation, the launch vehicle was exonerated from causing or contributing to the anomaly and there were no unexpected interactions between the spacecraft and the launch vehicle. Both SSL and Energia Logistics Ltd. (ELUS), on behalf of Sea Launch, concurred with the IOB findings.

“SSL and Sea Launch worked together to form the independent review board to ensure that the cause of the anomaly was identified without any bias, preconception or prejudice,” said John Wormington, chairman of the IOB.  “Both companies were extremely cooperative in providing the data and analyses that we required, and worked well together in solving this very elusive problem. We have very high confidence in the conclusion.”

“I’d like to thank the highly qualified oversight board for conducting this extensive and thorough investigation,” said John Celli, president of SSL. “It was imperative to both ourselves and Sea Launch that we fully understand the cause of the anomaly, and we can now clearly say that interactions between the satellite and launch vehicle were not contributing factors.  SSL is already taking actions to assure mission success for all upcoming launches.”

“The findings of the IOB have validated that the launch vehicle did not cause or contribute to the observed anomaly,” said Kjell Karlsen, President of Sea Launch AG. “I wish to thank our partners for their dedicated support of the investigation, and contributions of in-depth knowledge and understanding of the launch vehicle design, spacecraft launch environments and integration analyses.” Karlsen continued, “Sea Launch is pleased to have had the opportunity to assist SSL in finding a definitive cause of the anomaly and looks forward to performing many more launches of SSL satellites.”

About Sea Launch AG

Sea Launch AG, headquartered in Bern, Switzerland, provides launch solutions to the industry’s satellite operator community based on the Zenit launch system. These services include the provision of all–inclusive launch services incorporating schedule assurance, financing, risk management; insurance and creative contracting solutions to meet the changing demands of the commercial launch market. Sea Launch AG owns and manages the primary technology, patent and other intellectual property and tangible assets of the company. These include the launch platform Odyssey and the Sea Launch Commander vessels located in the Home Port facility in Long Beach, California, and the unique know–how associated with launching satellites from an ocean–based launch platform located directly on the equator.  The Sea Launch system offers the most direct and cost-effective route to geostationary orbit for commercial communications satellites, providing diversity of supply, affordability and flexibility for the industry’s satellite operators. For more information, please visit the Sea Launch website at www.sea-launch.com

About SSL

SSL has a long history of delivering reliable satellites and spacecraft systems for commercial and government customers around the world. As the world’s leading provider of commercial satellites, the company works closely with satellite operators to provide spacecraft for a broad range of services including television and radio distribution, digital audio radio, broadband Internet, and mobile communications. Billions of people around the world depend on SSL satellites every day. For more information, visit www.ssloral.com.

Multifunctional Laboratory Module (Credit: Khrunichev)

MOSCOW (Khunichev/Roscosmos PR) — Khrunichev has completed the fabrication and assembly of the flight product multifunctional Laboratory Module (MLM) for the International Space Station (ISS).

During the night of December 6-7, the module was sent to the RSC Energia for further electrical testing of the on-board systems.

The MLM provides the following functions for the Russian segment of the ISS:

• Provide docking ports for transport ships and research units (transport manned spacecraft “Soyuz-TMA” and cargo spacecraft “Progress M” and their modifications) and research modules in automatic mode or in manual docking;
• Transit fuel THC “Progress” in the tanks of the SM and FGB;
• Management of ISS via bank with its engine;
• Provision of storage capacity;
• Maintain partial life-support functions;
• Organize the European arm and its functioning;
• Placement and operation of scientific equipment.

Khrunichev is responsible for MLM’s hull, propulsion, thermal control system and fire detection and suppression system. Khrunichev will launch the module aboard its Proton rocket.

Roscosmos and the Skolkovo Fund will work together on developing advanced space and telecommunications technologies as part of the space agency’s long-range development plan that extends out to 2030 and beyond, Russian media report.

Under the partnership, the two organizations will define priorities for the development of innovative space technologies. Skolkovo will also work to bring together Roscosmos with other organizations and companies on programs of mutual interest.

Skolkovo is an effort by Russia to develop its own version of Silicon Valley outside of Moscow. The plans include building a very large technology city where Russian government agencies, businesses and foreign partners will work togeth to innovate and develop advanced technologies. Skolkovo is being spearheaded by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who was inspired after a visit to Silicon Valley in California.

Skolkovo has five clusters, including one that focuses on space and telecommunications technologies. Signing agreements with the new tech city is probably a requirement for Russia’s major space companies and organizations. Skolkovo already has agreements with Energia, Energomash and other companies.

A number of multi-national companies have signed up to cooperate with Skolkovo, including SAP, Cisco and IBM. The Virgin Group is to work with Skolkovo on commercial space activities.

The  president of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (SkTech) is Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) professor Edward Crawley. The prominent Russian speaking space expert has been charged with turning SkTech into a Western-style university that will combine theoretical and applied research with a focus on commercialization.

The Angara rocket family. (Credit: Allocer)

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

Russia’s new Angara rocket family, which began development after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, will finally fly next year after two decades of effort. Providing, of course, that work is completed in time on the rocket’s launch facility and other ground infrastructure at Plesetsk.

That’s the word from Vladimir Nesterov, the Director General of the Khrunichev company that is building Angara. He discussed the status of the new rocket in a recent interview with the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

Angara is a new modular family of environmentally friendly boosters designed to replace a number of existing rockets, some of which are built outside of Russia. There are four Angara variants ranging from small to heavy lift.

Below is an excerpt from the Nesterov interview. Following that is some additional information about the Angara rocket family.

How is the project to create launcher “Angara”? When will the first launch of this rocket?

Everything has been progressing in line with the master schedule without any engineering problems. The maiden flights of the Angara 1.2 ПП [PP in English] light-lift launcher and the Angara 5 heavy-lift booster are scheduled for 2013. The light-lift launch vehicle is due to be available for shipment to the Plesetsk launch base in December this year. Angara 5 is to be about 60 percent ready before the end of this year and should be delivered to Plesetsk in the early second quarter of 2013 so that we can launch it in the fourth quarter.

The light-lift Angara will be the first to fly in order to ensure a successful launch of the heavy-lift Angara and in particular to verify the performance of Stages 1 and 2 of Angara 5. For the first of the two launches we made a special booster. After the launch of the heavy-lift Angara, light-lift Angaras will resume their flights though in a slightly modified configuration. More specifically, the Stage 2 diameter will be different.

Component-level tests of the launch vehicle components (i.e., the propellant tanks, the dry compartments, the main engines, the guidance and navigation system, and the telemetry system) have virtually been completed. These components are 99 percent ready. The tests of the RD 191 main engine to be installed on the URM 1 common core module have been completed, so this engine is available for serial production.

As far as the availability of the hardware required to support launches goes we believe that we will meet the due dates specified in the Presidential Edict.

However, since recently we have been feeling seriously concerned about a timely construction readiness of the ground structures. There appear signs of slips (compared to the existing schedule) in the commissioning of the ground infrastructure facilities, especially of the multipurpose launch complex.

The first stage of Angara has already flown twice in a modified form. The Angara common core module outfitted with a less powerful version of the RD-191 engine forms the first stage of South Korea’s Naro-1 launch vehicle. That rocket flew — and failed — twice. On the maiden flight, the first stage performed as planned but the payload fairing failed to separate. The second vehicle failed earlier in flight, and Korean and Russian investigators were not able to agree on whether the Angara-derived first stage or the South Korean-supplied second stage was at fault.

The length of time required to develop the Angara seems to result from several factors. One is the economic chaos of the 1990′s, when funding for the space program dried up. The other aspect is that Angara is supposed to replace several existing launch vehicles, some of which are built in former Soviet republics.  However, the existing rockets are already proven and working well, so there hasn’t been any real rush to replace them. And there doesn’t seem to be a lot of concern over Russia having its supply of boosters suddenly being cut off.

Another problem could relate to the notoriously inefficient and corrupt defense and space sectors. Russian officials estimate that 1 in 5 rubles spent on defense is lost through fraud and theft. Last year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appointed Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin to clean up the problems in defense and space. The move came after an embarrassing series of launch failures by Roscosmos.

The ground infrastructure seems to have been a major problem for the Angara project. This has been true for the launch facilities at both Plesetsk and Baikonur, the latter having been the subject of much wrangling between the Russian and Kazakh governments. Officials from Roscosmos and Kazkosmos have been discussing how to move ahead with the launch complex and appear to have made some progress recently. But, it’s not clear whether they have reached a formal agreement.

Angara Overview

Below are the stats for the four variants of the Angara rocket with additional information below the table. All of the material below is taken from the Khrunichev website. The table mentions the Angara A7, which I do not believe is currently in active development.

Angara Family Performance Data

As part of the Angara program, Khrunichev is implementing a strategy of expeditious development of a common core booster powered by LOX/kerosene engines to serve as the basis for a number of advanced environment-friendly launchers of small-, medium- and heavy-lift classes.

Underpinning the Angara project is the idea to secure Russia’s assured access to space from the Russian launch base at Plesetsk and guarantee that Russia will be able to engage in space activities regardless of any trends in military-political and economic relations with other countries.

The LOX/kerosene common core booster (CCB) is a wholesome structure that includes an oxidizer tank, a fuel tank (both tanks being coupled by a spacer) and a pr opulsion bay.

Each CCB is fit with one RD 191 high-power liquid engine.

This engine is being developed on the basis of (1) the four-chamber engine used earlier by the Energia launch vehicle and (2) the RD 170/171 engine still in operation on the Zenith LV.

One CCB is used by both the Angara 1.1 and the Angara 1.2 lightweight launch vehicles while five CCBs are integrated in 5A, a heavy launch vehicle.

Angara 1.2 will use Breeze-KM as its upper stage. (This upper stage has been successfully tested in combination with Rockot, a conversion- pr ogram launcher.).

Angara A5 will use Breeze-M or KVTK as its upper stage.

Exterior view of Energomash engine test facility. (Credit: Lana Sator)

Russian blogger Lana Sator has posted an album of extraordinary photos  taken inside of the Energomash rocket plant in Moscow — shots she took during five secret, nocturnal visits to the facility with her friends over several months. She says that they sneaked in through a gap in the fence and encountered not a single security guard as they wandered through the plant at will.

Interior shot of Energomash facility. (Credit: Lana Sator)

The multiple security breaches of the highly sensitive facility have startled and angered Russian officials, especially newly appointed space czar Dmitry Rogozin. The Deputy Prime Minister promised harsh measures to punish the “sleep cats” in charge of Energomash’s security and warned bloggers, who he called “cheeky mice,” to never again “penetrate strategic installations.”

Energomash test facility. (Credit: Lana Sator)

Russian media cited a senior space agency official, speaking anonymously, who described the breach as a shock of the same scale as German pilot Mathias Rust’s brazen Cessna flight under Soviet radar to land on Red Square in 1987.

Lana Sator in the Energomash plant. (Credit: Lana Sator)

“It showed a complete inability to protect anything whatsoever,” one anonymous senior space agency official told Izvestia. The official compared the break to the shock of when German pilot Mathias Rust evaded Soviet radar and landing his Cessna on Red Square in 1987. A vice president of Energia, which operates the facility, said the company lacked funding to fix the fence.

The security breach ended a tough 13 months for the Russian space program, which experienced seven launch failures that left eight satellites either destroyed or stranded in useless orbits. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appointed Rogozin to clean up the failure-plagued space program and corruption riddled defense sector.

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The most dramatic move is the cancellation of Russia’s large Rus-M rocket, which Energia was building to replace the venerable Soyuz booster. Rus-M was intended to carry the nation’s new six-person crew vehicle from the Vostochny spaceport. However, the effort was widely rumored to be running badly behind schedule and unlikely  to meet deadlines of an initial test flight in 2015 and human flights in 2018.

Rather than develop a brand new vehicle built from scratch, Roscosmos has instead elected to replace the Soyuz with…well, itself. Or at least a souped version with new first engines and larger strap on boosters.  Under the upgrade effort, known as Yamal, the first stage would use RD-191 or NK-33 engines. A modified version of the NK-33, which was originally developed for the Soviet lunar program, is being used on Orbital Sciences Corporation’s new Taurus II rocket.

One benefits of this approach is that the Yamal boosters can use existing launch facilities. A key problem with the long-delayed Angara rocket has been delays in constructing launch complexes at Plesetsk and Baikonur. The Plesetsk launch pad is currently set to be operational in the second half of 2013.  The Baikonur complex is currently scheduled for completion in 2014, although it might never be completed.

The end of Rus-M will allow Popovkin, who has said that human spaceflight was taking up too much of Roscosmos’ budget, to shift the space agency’s focus to other areas.  On Friday, he laid out a series of ambitious goals to lawmakers in the Russian Duma:

“By 2015, we are planning to increase the number of Earth observation satellites [in orbit] from five to 20, operational Glonass navigation satellites from 24 to 30, communications and Cospas-Sarsat satellites from 26 to 48,” Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin told Russian lawmakers on Friday.

Popovkin said Russia occupied only 3 percent of the commercial services segment of the global space market while conducting 40 percent of global space launches annually.

“Therefore, we have reviewed priorities of the federal space program. One of our new priorities is Earth monitoring, weather and communication satellites. Another priority is space science,” he said.

Russia is in the midst of a revival of its space science and planetary exploration programs, which all but collapsed after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Earlier this year, the nation launched an astrophysics observatory. In November, the nation will launch its first mission to Mars in 15 years. The ambitious Phobos-Grunt mission is designed to explore the Martian moon and to return soil samples to Earth.

Popovkin also announced plans on Friday to create of a new rocket building holding organization at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and to replace the organization’s management. The report doesn’t say why the move is being made, but it appears to be an attempt by the Russian space agency to tighten control over the industry.

Khrunichev produces the Proton and Rockot launch vehicles as well as the Briz (Breeze) upper stage. The Proton is a leading satellite launcher on the international market, having brought in billions in revenues over the years. Khrunichev is also developing the Angara rocket.

Sea Launch is back after a two-year hiatus after a Zeni-3SL rocket launched the ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 broadcast satellite into orbit from the ocean-based Odyssey Launch Platform. One hour and seven minutes after launch from the equatorial location, a Block DM-SL upper stage fired to send the Eutelsat satellite into an equatorial transfer orbit. Officials report the launch went as planned and that the satellite is performing as expected.

“We offer our sincere congratulations to Eutelsat, and to Astrium for this outstanding success,” said Kjell Karlsen, president of Sea Launch AG, in a press release. “We’re very proud to play a role in Eutelsat’s continued and expanding success. We thank you for your renewed trust and confidence in our system and our team. I also want to thank and congratulate the Sea Launch and Energia Logistics teams, RSC Energia, as well as all of the suppliers and contractors around the world who support us.”

This was the first Sea Launch mission in more than two years. The international consortium went through a bankruptcy organization that resulted in the Russian company Energia purchasing 95 percent of the company.

Satellite operators had been looking forward to the return of Sea Launch, which provides more competition among launch providers. Sea Launch is especially well suited for geosynchronous communications satellites that require equatorial orbits because the launch platform can be towed to an ideal location.

The launch was also good news for the the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau and the Yuzhny Machine Building Plant, which design and construct the Zenit boosters. The return to flight gives a boost to the nation’s space industry.

“The powerful ATLANTIC BIRD™ 7 satellite will further consolidate Eutelsat’s resources for vibrant digital broadcasting markets across the Middle East and North Africa,” Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen said in a statement. “Our thanks go to Sea Launch AG, Energia Logistics and RSC Energia for this precisely-executed launch and their extreme professionalism during this important campaign. With tonight’s launch successfully completed, we are now fully focused on collaborating with our industrial partner, Astrium, to bring ATLANTIC BIRD 7 into full commercial service next month.”

“The dynamics of funding of the new spaceship leaves much to be desired,” he said, noting that he did not mean this year’s funding. “So far, the federal program does not have the dynamics needed to ensure our absolute fulfillment of the presidential ordinance,” he said.

Lopota and Charlie Bolden have much to commiserate about.

ROSCOSMOS PR –

According to him, an additional Soyuz vehicle to be built by RSC-Energia for space tourists might be produced in 2014 instead of 2013. The delay is dependent on Roscosmos partner Space Adventures which is to collect required number of is not able to provide necessary number of solvent candidates in August 2011.

“We are pressed for time. This year our partners have to confirm feasibility of the commercial Soyuz mission project”, Krasnov said.

An RIA Novosti report on Orbital Technologies plans for a commercial space station.