Posted on February 16, 2015, at 7:45 am .
Rockot launch vehicle
It looks like we can add Rockot to the list of satellite launch vehicles that the Russians will be phasing out.
Russian media are reporting that the converted ballistic missile will be replaced by Angara and Soyuz-2.1v launch vehicles, which have had their initial flight tests over the past 14 months.
In addition to the availability of alternatives, there’s another reason for phasing out the Rockot: it depends upon components from Ukraine, with whom Russia is in conflict.
Media reports say that nation has banned export of Rockot parts in retaliation for the Russian annexation of Crimea and its support for rebel forces in eastern Ukraine.
Continue reading ‘Russia Looks to Phase Out Rockot Launch Vehicle’
Posted on February 10, 2015, at 1:35 pm .
The first stage of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares rocket is shipped out from Yuzhnoye design bureau in Ukraine. (Credt: Yuzhnoye)
I was just looking at the website for Yuzhmash, which is Ukraine’s principle producer of launch vehicles. I ran across the following letter to employees published on Oct. 10. It includes this rather prediction:
“Pivdenmash [Yuzhmash] is in deep financial crisis, the main factor which is a precipitous decline in production. The current crisis is not irreversible, but the situation is close to the point of no return.
“The actual bankruptcy of the enterprise will result in the loss of Ukraine’s status as a space power, failure of the obligations of the State to enter into international agreements, irreversible loss of proven technologies.”
This was four months ago. And by all accounts, matters have only gotten worse. The fighting eastern Ukraine has intensified. The government’s finances haven’t improved. And employees were given two-month unpaid leaves in late January. That came after many months of 3-day work weeks and partial pay.
Continue reading ‘Ukraine Space Industry on Verge of Collapse’
Posted on January 14, 2015, at 12:44 pm .
Inaugural Angara A5 launch (Credit: Khrunichev)
Here’s some more news about Sea Launch via TASS:
Russia’s new heavy-lift Angara-A5 rocket may replace the Ukrainian Zenit rocket in the Sea Launch project, a source in the space and rocket sector told TASS on Wednesday.
The announcement was made at the recent board of directors meeting of the RKK Energia space corporation. “The documents have already been submitted to the United Rocket and Space Corporation,” the source said.
Continue reading ‘Report: Angara-A5 Could Replace Zenit in Sea Launch’
Posted on August 23, 2014, at 11:33 am .
NYON, Switzerland, August 22, 2014 (Sea Launch PR) – Sea Launch announced today a series of cost-reduction measures designed to address an upcoming gap in the launch manifest of the Zenit-3SL system. According to plan, it is expected that Sea Launch will resume and start stepping-up its launch activity during mid-2015/mid-2016 time frame.
Continue reading ‘Sea Launch Cuts Back as Manifest Gap Looms’
Posted on May 14, 2014, at 11:47 am .
Zenit launch
Ukrainian rocket maker Yuzhmash has signed an agreement under which the Dnepropetrovsk Regional State will provide financial and organizational support to the company and protect against being taken over by Russian separatists.
The announcement came in a May 8 press release. Yuzhmash produces the following launch vehicles and stages:
- Zenit — used by Sea Launch and Land Launch for communications satellites
- Dnepr — Joint Ukrainian-Russian program that uses converted Soviet-era ballistic missile to launch satellites
- Antares — first stage structure and tanks for Orbital Sciences’s launch vehicle
- Vega — fourth stage for Europe’s small satellite launch vehicle
- Cyclone-4 — Joint Ukrainian-Brazilian commercial satellite launcher with inaugural flight planned from Brazil in 2015.
The full press release is reproduced after the break.
Continue reading ‘Yuzhmash Signs Agreement with Dnepropetrovsk Regional State Government’
Posted on February 23, 2014, at 5:24 pm .
Sea Launch Zenit booster
UPDATE: Sea Launch President Kjell Karlsen has resigned “to pursue other opportunities outside space industry. After his departure, the Company’s senior executive team will carry out Mr. Karlsen’s former duties and responsibilities. Mr. Karlsen has been with Sea Launch since 1999, serving as the President since 2008 and member of its Board of Directors since 2010.”
Space News reports the Russian government is mulling a takeover of the troubled Sea Launch company.
Moscow has asked the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, and Russian manufacturer RSC Energia, which holds 95 percent of Swiss-registered Sea Launch, to submit an overview of the financial situation of the maritime launch services company, Rogozin said in remarks posted on the Russian Cabinet website. The Russian government holds 38 percent of Energia, which supplies the upper stage of the Sea Launch rocket.
Should the government go forward with the deal, it likely would move the oceangoing rocket pad and command ship from Long Beach, Calif., to a Russian port on the Pacific Ocean, Rogozin said. “Something tells me that if we go for it, then the base will definitely be outside the United States,” he said.
The government could potentially use the company to carry out some of the federal launch contracts and would not be inclined to ship sensitive spacecraft to the Unites States to undergo preparation for launch, Rogozin said.
Continue reading ‘Russian Government Mulls Takeover of Troubled Sea Launch as Company President Resigns’
Posted on January 6, 2014, at 5:57 am .
Expedition 37 takes off for the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)
By Douglas Messier
Managing Editor
Russia once again led the world in orbital launches in 2013, keeping the International Space Station supplied with a study stream of crew members and cargo while earning hard currency with commercial satellite launches.
Although the vast majority of Russia’s launches were successful, the spectacular failure in July of a Proton rocket — which nosedived into the ground shortly after liftoff — accelerated efforts to reform the nation’s failure-prone space program. By the end of the year, the Russian space agency Roscosmos had a new leader and a major effort was underway to consolidate a large part of the bloated and inefficient space sector under a single government-owned company.
During 2013, Russia introduced a new variant of its venerable Soyuz rocket while also making progress on constructing a new spaceport in the Far East and developing a larger human spacecraft to replace the Soyuz transport and a heavy-lift booster to facilitate deep space exploration.
Continue reading ‘Russia 2013 Space Year in Review’
Posted on January 5, 2014, at 5:25 am .
Zenit launch from Baikonur
Ukraine had a mixed record in space in 2013. While the Dnepr rocket returned to service with a pair of successful launches after a two-year gap, one of two Zenit boosters ended up in a watery grave after it failed shortly after launch.
Ukrainian companies had better luck as a components supplier. Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares — which boasts a Ukrainian-supplied first stage — racked up two flawless flights. Meanwhile, the European Vega booster made a second successful flight with a Ukrainian fourth stage on board.
Meanwhile, a joint partnership with Brazil to launch the Cylcone-4 rocket from South America made progress even as it suffered additional schedule delays that have pushed back the maiden flight into 2015.
Continue reading ‘Ukraine’s 2013 Year in Space Review’
Posted on December 7, 2013, at 6:04 am .
Space News has an extensive Q&A with Yuriy Boyko, Ukraine’s Vice Prime Minister for Ecology, Natural Resources, Energy and Space. The interview primarily focuses on the nation’s space program, its joint Cyclone 4 launch vehicle program with Brazil, and its efforts to increase cooperation with the United States and China.
Some of the highlights:
- Ukraine’s main launch vehicles include Zenit (Sea Launch, Land Launch), Dnepr (joint program with Russia), Cyclone 4 (joint program with Brazil), and the first stage structure for Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Antares.
- Ukraine spends between $400 million and $500 million on its space program mostly for science work, but receives about $600 million annually in revenues from commercial work;
- Brazil and Ukraine have committed $1.5 million (split equally) over a three-year period to Cyclone 4, which should have its first test flight from the Alcantara Launch Center by early 2015;
- The partners hope that South American countries with satellite programs will flock to the Alcantara facility on Brazil’s Atlantic coast;
- The upper stage developed for the Cyclone 4 could be a good fit for the Antares rocket;
- Boyko recently completed consultations with NASA and U.S. commercial space companies concerning cooperative programs, with the two governments establishing a framework for further cooperation;
- There are no specific cooperative programs to announce yet between Ukraine and American government and private entities;
- Ukraine would like to become involved in the International Space Station program;
- Boyko says that Ukrainian specialists have extensive experience with radiation shielding technology, which could help the United States with human Mars and deep space missions;
- Ukraine is consulting with China, which is very interested in developing large propulsion systems.
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