SAS and Yuzhnoye SDO have worked closely together over the last three years to develop strategic marketing and system development concepts for applications in the U.S. space industry market. One such collaboration is SAS developed TALON^(TM) Micro-Upper Stage System currently utilizing Yuzhnoye’s high performance and reliable propulsion technology.

Yuzhnoye SDO is a world leader in developing launch vehicle systems, rapid launch solutions, spacecraft and propulsion systems. In cooperation with an industrial partner, the company currently produces Zenit, Cyclone-4 and Dnepr launch systems. Yuzhnoye SDO is also the developer of the Orbital Sciences Antares launch vehicle first stage core structure.

SAS is a high technology services and systems company supporting NASA, DoD, and the commercial space industry through systems engineering, digital manufacturing, special research & development, launch services, and mission analysis.

Both SAS and Yuzhnoye SDO will be at the 29(th) National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs on April 8-11, 2013. Yuzhnoye propulsion technology, including LOX-rich staged combustion first stage main engine mock-up and upper stage solutions will be on display at the SAS booth located at booth #1607 in the Lockheed Martin Exhibit Center Pavilion.

Special Aerospace Services (www.specialaerospaceservices.com) is a Certified 8(a), woman-owned engineering services, systems and solutions business. SAS began with the dream of developing and providing innovative aerospace solutions to the aerospace industry, U.S. government agencies, Department of Defense, and the emerging commercial spaceflight sector. The SAS team demonstrates our corporate motto through our products and solutions . . . Who Dreams Wins^(TM).

Orbital Sciences Corporation (Orbital) of Dulles, Va., has engaged top aerospace organizations in the United States and from across the globe to help develop the Antares launch vehicle and Cygnus cargo spacecraft for upcoming space station cargo resupply missions. This approach supports timely and cost effective development of their new commercial cargo transportation system and is consistent with the National Space Policy of the United States which has a goal to “expand international cooperation on mutually beneficial space activities”.

Orbital is the Antares prime integrator and has overall responsibility for systems engineering and integration, avionics development, software, guidance/navigation and control, primary structure, testing, verification and operations.

Orbital is working with KB Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash of Ukraine for design, production and verification of the propellant tanks and associated pressurization system used on the first stage of the launch vehicle. The first stage engines are being provided by Aerojet and are updated NK-33s, originally manufactured by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet Union N-1 rocket program. The second stage incorporates a solid rocket motor provided by Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) of Minneapolis, Minn. The payload separation system is procured from Ruag of Sweden, a world leader in design and production of low-shock separation devices.

The Cygnus spacecraft Service Module is designed and integrated by Orbital. Components for the Cygnus spacecraft are a combination of internally manufactured and subcontracted hardware from various countries. The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM), for example, was designed and is being manufactured by Thales Alenia Space in Torino Italy, who also developed the International Space Station MPLM (Multi-Purpose Logistics Module). Orbital also contracted with other non-U.S. suppliers including Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (MELCO) of Tokyo Japan for the Proximity Location System and Dutch Space of the Netherlands for its solar arrays.

All elements will come together at the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. in preparation for upcoming ground tests and flight planned for the next few months.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Friday, targeted RSC Energia, a company partially owned by the Russian government, and two Ukrainian state-owned companies, PO Yuzhnoye Mashinostroitelny Zavod and KB Yuzhnoye.

Boeing said it partnered with the companies, as well as Norway’s Kvaerner Moss Technology, in 1995 to create Sea Launch, which focuses on launching commercial satellites into space.

The U.S. aerospace company said it provided substantial funding for the venture, and the partners agreed that, if it failed, they would reimburse Boeing their share of the funding.

Sea Launch emerged from bankruptcy in 2010. As part of the plan of reorganization, a subsidiary of RSC Energia increased its ownership to 95 percent from 25 percent, the lawsuit said. Boeing and Kvaerner, now called Aker Maritime Finance AS, split the remaining 5 percent….

Boeing said in its new lawsuit that RSC Energia owed at least $222.3 million and the Yuzhnoye companies owed at least $133.4 million.

Coincidentally, the suit was filed the day after a Sea Launch rocket dumped the Boeing-built Intelsat 27 satellite into the ocean in a failed launch attempt.

Read the full story.

UPDATE: The lawsuit will add to the problems of what appears to be an already troubled Sea Launch company. Anatoly Zak at RussianSpaceWeb.com has a summary of recent Russian media coverage of the company. Some of key points:

• Sea Launch lost $100 million in 2011 in its first year launching after bankruptcy;
• The company is having difficulty attracting the four launches per year required to break even;
• Even before last week’s launch accident, RSC Energia asked the Russian government to take over Sea Launch and shift some federal launches to it, a proposal the government has not yet answered;
• As an alternative, RSC Energia is considering selling the venture to a foreign entity located in Ukraine, United States, China and Australia.

So, it appears that Sea Launch might have some difficulty surviving. It is just one rocket company with two or three launches per year. The major impact of the company going out of business would likely be felt in Ukraine.

However, here’s the really scary part:

In the effort to cut costs, RKK Energia wrestled control over NPO Energomash producing RD-170/171 engines, which power the first stage of the Zenit rocket. As a result, it was able to force NPO Energomash to reduce the price for each engine from $16 to $10 million, bringing the legendary propulsion company toward the brink of bankruptcy. RKK Energia’s own debt was also continuing mounting and according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta had essentially been a disguised bankruptcy for several years.

NPO Energomash being pushed to the brink of insolvency is very bad. The company makes a range of engines for different launch vehicles, including the RD-180 used in United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V. That rocket is crucial for U.S. national security, and for NASA’s commercial crew program.

Meanwhile, Energia might already be essentially bankrupt. That company is so crucial to Russia’s space efforts, especially in terms of maintaining and supplying the International Space Station. And now its being sued for more than $200 million by Boeing.

All of this information provides a new perspective on the Russian government’s efforts to streamline and consolidate the nation’s space effort. If Energia and Energomash can’t make money under the current setup, then something is seriously wrong. The interesting question is whether consolidating the industry under the control of the government — as has been proposed — will save the industry or accelerate its decline.

In addition to the Cosmos family of rockets, Yuzhnoye’s other launch vehicles include the Zenit rockets flown by Land Launch and Sea Launch, the Dnepr ballistic missiles used to launch small satellites, the Cyclone-4 boosters set to make begin flights out of Alcantara in Brazil next year, and the first stage tanks and structure for Orbital Sciences Corporation’s new Antares rocket that will lift off from Virginia later this year. The company also provides an upper stage for Europe’s new Vega launcher.

Ukraine’s contributions to space are often overlooked, and this anniversary went largely unnoticed outside of that nation. So,  I thought it would be nice to give the Ukrainians their due. I found an account of the launch prepared by the good folks at the Yuzhnoye press office. It begins after the break.

50 Years in Space: How it All Began

The 16th of March is a remarkable date in Ukraine’s calendar of outstanding events in space. Exactly 50 years ago in 1962, the first Dnepropetrovsk satellite DS-2 was launched by a new launch vehicle, named Cosmos (the second one in USSR after famous R-7 rocket, designed by S.P. Korolev).

Launch Vehicle

First works on development of launch vehicle intended for launch of small satellites were performed as far back as 1956 in Special Design Office 586 (OKB 586), at present known as Yuzhnoye SDO, (as an alternative option of OKB-1 project, directed by S.P. Korolev) however, after successful launch of the world’s first artificial Earth satellite onboard R-7 rocket, temporarily there was no need for one more space launch vehicle.

Later this idea was reconsidered, since R-7 rocket was too expensive and difficult to operate for launches of relatively small artificial Earth satellites. The preliminary design of a new two-stage launch vehicle on the basis of Dnepropetrovsk military ballistic missile 8K63, R-12 is the same missile (the most mass produced ballistic missile at that time) was finished in April 1960, governmental regulation for its development was signed in August 1960. Owing to competent designing and great enthusiasm the first rocket was already shipped to launch site in summer 1961 – less than a year since the regulation was issued.

In order to save time and costs the first stage was built on the basis of R-12 missile, modified for installation of second stage, and part of first stage’s design concepts was implemented in second stage. The RD-119 engine developed by OKB-456 (V.P. Glushko) and powered by unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine was accepted for the second stage.

Successful launch

The successful launch of 63C1 launch vehicle from a silo launcher of Mayak-2 launch complex was performed on March 16, 1962 at Kapustin Yar spaceport and first acting DS-2 spacecraft, developed by OKB-586, was injected into orbit. This event has opened a new phase in OKB-586 development that has also shown its capabilities in the field of rocket and space technology development and peaceful space exploration.

The DS-2 satellite was designed and manufactured in record time – about two months.

The satellite with mass of 47 kg, represented a spherical container inside which the Mayak double-frequency transmitter, intended for ionosphere and Earth atmosphere sounding using radio-frequency emission, and accumulator battery were installed and two couples of ribbon and rod antennas were located outside.

Afterword

The DS-2 spacecraft, named in mass media Cosmos-1, has become the first satellite in Cosmos family of different purpose spacecrafts. Then followed the development and launch of a series of scientific spacecrafts (research satellites, small unified satellites, automatic unified orbital station – AUOS), defense satellites (positioning, calibration, radar surveillance) and natural resources monitoring satellites (Earth remote sensing satellites).

The Cosmos launch vehicle was operated at the following spaceports: Kapustin Yar (1962-1964 – Mayak-2 silo launch complex, 1964-1973 – Dviana reequipped silo launch complex) and Plesetsk (1967-1977 – Raduga launch complex).

The total number of Cosmos launch-vehicles launches is 165, out of them 143 were successful.

The way into space, paved by Cosmos LV, continued with other launch-vehicles developed by Yuzhnoye SDO: Cosmos-2, Cyclone-2, Cyclone-3, Dnepr, Zenit-2, Zenit-3SL, Zenit-2SLB, Zenit-3SLB. The Cyclone-4 launch vehicle is being prepared for the first launch from Alcantara spaceport (Brazil).

UKRAINE SPACE AGENCY PR –

The concept defined the problem to be solved by directed program, an analysis of its causes, is the objective of the Programme on the basis of comparative analysis, the optimal solution of the problem and solve it, given the expected results of the program, as well as approximate the necessary financial resources.

Implementation of this program will provide:

- The development of space technologies and their integration into the real sector of national economy and national security and defense:

• implementation of remote sensing from space
• development of space systems, telecommunications and navigation
• space activities in the interest of national security and defense;

- Conducting scientific space research;

- The development of space technology and its manufacturing technologies:

• creation of space systems,
• provide industrial and technological development;

- Development of international cooperation.

Implementation of the Program, funding for which will be funded from the state budget funds, investments and other sources (including using public-private partnerships), will permit the implementation of space activities in Ukraine in accordance with modern requirements and national interests.

Indicative funding for programs from all sources amounts to 2.58 billion USD., including the state budget – 1.12 billion.

Editor’s Note: Ukraine recently revamped its space policy, placing a greater emphasis on public-private partnerships, commercial space activities and international cooperation. (Full story) It will be interesting to see how the nation develops those capabilities and how that affects existing and emerging commercial markets.

Ukraine has two active launch vehicles (Dnepr, Zenit), builds the first stage for Orbital Sciences Corporation’s new Antares rocket, and is developing the Cyclone-4 booster for launch out from Brazil. It also makes components for a number of Russian rockets and spacecraft.

Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye company, which performs the Antares work, is also seeking to develop a new family of Mayak rockets. Company officials visited Cape Canaveral last year to explore launch opportunities there. Yuzhonoye is reported to be partnered with Excalibur Almaz, which is modifying Soviet-era capsule and space station technology for commercial operations. Excalibur Almaz is a competitor in NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program and has an unfunded Space Act Agreement with the agency.

Inaugural Vega flight. (Credits: ESA - S. Corvaja, 2012)

Despite committing almost $1.5 billion to developing and flight testing its newest launch vehicle, Vega, Europe will spend even more money to upgrade the rocket.

European officials are eying the developing of a new German fourth stage to replace a Ukrainian-built RD-868 engine that was used on Vega’s successful inaugural flight on Monday. It’s not clear how much the new engine would cost.

In the wake of the successful launch this week, the head of the Italian Space Agency — which funded 58 percent of the rocket’s development — fielded a call from his German counterpart:

Enrico Saggese, president of the Italian space agency, said he received a call Monday from Johann-Dietrich Woerner, executive chairman of the German Aerospace Center, or DLR. Saggese said Woerner suggested Germany was ready to join the Vega program.

“I must say that we are proud of the seven countries who participated in the program,” Saggese said. “We are ready to have with us other fathers.”

Woerner congratulated Saggese on the successful launch and offered to discuss German support for a European upper stage for Vega, according to Andreas Shutz, a DLR spokesperson.

Vega’s Attitude and Vernier Upper Module, or AVUM, is the launcher’s fourth stage. The AVUM is powered by an RD-869 engine provided by Yuzhnoye of Ukraine, while a Spanish subsidiary of EADS, the largest European defense contractor, builds the stage’s structure and skirt.

AVUM is the only liquid stage on the vehicle and the only one built outside of ESA’s member states. France funded 25 percent of the development costy. Other partners in the program include Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden. German industry has been involved in building some of Vega’s system, but without a funding commitment from the nation’s government.

Full development and flight testing of the Vega rocket, which can place a 1,500-kilogram (3,307-pound) satellite in a 700-kilometer (435-mile) orbit, will cost 1.1 billion euros ($1.45 billion) before the new upper stage engine. In addition to spending 710 million euros ($930 million) on development, ESA is spending another 400 million euros ($523.5 million) on five development flights.

The market for small satellite launches has been dominated by Russian and Ukrainian rockets such as Dnepr and Rockot, which are converted Soviet-era ICBMs. Space News reports that Vega will be competitive with these launchers:

Europe’s Vega small-satellite launcher, whose inaugural flight is scheduled for mid-February, will be sold commercially for about 32 million euros ($42 million) per launch — a price that can compete with converted Russian ballistic missiles, Vega officials said Jan. 23….

“Our belief is that we can charge up to 20 percent more per launch than our biggest competitors and still win business because of the value we provide at the space center here and with Arianespace,” said Francesco De Pasquale, managing director of ELV SpA, the Italian company that is Vega’s prime contractor.

“What we are saying is that we can now deliver the vehicle for 25 million euros to Arianespace,” De Pasquale said in an interview on the eve of Vega’s final tests before flight approval.

“Arianespace’s marketing and service costs will add about 7 million to that figure, which gets us to 32 million euros. This is assuming that we launch only two Vega flights per year. If we can increase the flight rate to four per year — and we believe the market demand will be there — then our price per vehicle can drop to 22 million euros. We assume a corresponding price drop from Arianespace,” De Pasquale said.

Those are pretty good prices. They don’t seem to be sufficient to recover development costs, but I’m guessing that was probably not part of the plan anyway.

Ukraine's Cyclone rocket

AEB PR — The space cooperation between Brazil and Ukraine has taken another important step. It was extremely productive meeting held on Tuesday, September 13, 2011, the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB)  between, headed by its chairman, Marco Antonio Raupp, delegation visits and SDO Yuzhnoye Company of Ukraine, led by its director general, Alexander Degtyarev. The meeting was attended by representatives of the Institute of Aeronautics and Space Department of Aerospace Science and Technology (DCTA), the Secretariat of Strategic Affairs (SAE) and Alcântara Cyclone Space Company (ACS).

The meeting continued the understandings started during the visit of Brazilian technical committee, headed by the President of AEB, in early July, the Ukrainian industries involved in the program of bi-national company ACS, which will promote launches of Cyclone-4 rocket, Ukraine from the center of Alcantara, Brazil, introducing a safe and economical alternative in the global market for commercial launches.

We discussed the various possibilities of expanding cooperation between the Brazilian space institutions, coordinated by the AEB, and the Ukrainian space industry – in particular, SDO Yuzhnoye company with over 50 years of uninterrupted existence and enviable experience in various sectors of space activities, both launch vehicles and their basic systems such as satellites in different types and purposes.

They clear the great opportunities of cooperation existing in all these spheres. The joint development of satellites, including those equipped with radar, will be object of special attention. It was agreed to prepare a training plan for Brazilian technicians in basic systems and equipment for launchers, as well as fuel security. The amount of training of human resources should involve Ukrainian and Brazilian universities, and experts linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Defence and Communications.

Dmitriy Pozdnyakova, international relations secretary of Yuzhnoye, presented several projects of the company, which since 1954 has released more than 400 spaceships. For the future, the company plans the development of innovative projects such as launching of ships to protect Earth from asteroids.

The general designer and general manager of Yuzhnoye, Aleksandr Degtyarev, explained that the end of the Soviet Union made the company too big to national interests. “Therefore, partnerships with foreign markets are not impulsive, but strategic.” He considers the design of the Cyclone-4 the initial step of a great partnership. “The goal is that Brazil head for independent access to space.”

Paulo Moraes Jr., Department of Aerospace Science and Technology of the Ministry of Defence (DCTA), presented a history of 50 years of the Brazilian project, who made three unsuccessful attempts to launch. The last was in 2003, when a fault in the fuel caused an explosion that killed 21 civilian technicians.

He also spoke of the future program “Southern Cross”. Five vehicles will be designed in reference to the five stars of the constellation known. The first rocket to be launched in 2015 and the second is scheduled for 2020. Unlike the previous rockets, solid propulsion, the project also will include liquid propulsion. This design space can contribute to the development of society, said: “We are all dependent on satellites and rockets accordingly,” he says.

Joint Statement by
Marco Antonio Raupp, President of AEB

ALEXANDER Degtyarev
Director-General of Yuzhnoye

A new course for the Brazilian space program is being designed in partnership with Ukraine, a country with extensive experience in the industry. The proposal is part of UNB with a Masters in Aerospace Engineering will form frames for the binational company Alcantara Cyclone Space (ACS), headquartered in Brasilia. Teachers, masters, representatives of the company and the Ukrainian government to discuss the future of the project in Ukraine-Brazil Seminar: Opportunities for the Scientific-Technical Cooperation in Space, held on Monday 12 in the Auditorium of the Rectory. The goal of the partnership is the exchange of technologies and will culminate with the launch of Cyclone-4 rocket, scheduled for 2013.

Later this year, the ten students in master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from UNB will spend six months in Ukraine, where they will have contact with the Cyclone-4, developed entirely by the Ukrainians, and will be trained to work at ACS. Students will be received at Dnipropetrovsk University and return to Brazil to complete a master’s degree.

The project costs U.S. $ 487 million and is funded by both countries, half and half. The ACS will coordinate the preparation and launching of the rocket in 2013 from the Alcantara Launch Center, in Maranhão, and will have experts from both countries.

Speaking at the seminar, the rector José Geraldo de Sousa Junior recalled that UNB is consolidating new areas of research. “This will be the basis for future aerospace engineering graduate,” he said. The idea is to build a space center in Brasilia to house about 100 scientists on the campus of UNB range, an initiative supported by the two entities based in the city area, the ACS and the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB).

The convergence between the two countries dates back to 2006 when ACS was created. In early 2009, Ukraine sought UnB to treat the creation of the master. Once you know the projects of the European country, Carlos Alberto Gurgel Veras, head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UNB, was impressed with the technological state of Ukraine. “It’s a unique opportunity to start this partnership,” he said.

According Gurgel, after forming the first ten engineers, the Aerospace Engineering course will enable future members of the Brazilian space program.

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.”

A delegation of executives from Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye (builder of the Zenit and Cyclone launch vehicles) is exploring opportunities for basing a new launch vehicle program at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The Mayak family of rockets is  based on the Zenit and Cyclone vehicles and could be considered Ukraine’s answer to Russia’s Angara modular family of vehicles (built by rival rocket maker Khrunichev).

The Mayak would feature light, medium and heavy lift versions (8 tons, 20 tons, and 42 tons to LEO, respectively) and would be capable of launching humans. Yuzhnoye appears to be partnered with Excalibur Almaz to carry its commercial space station hardware and astronaut personnel to orbit. In addition to launching Mayak rockets from Florida, the discussion is focusing on opportunities for manufacturing or assembly of the vehicles on the Space Coast.

The description of Mayak on the Yuzhnoye website reads:

The family of launch vehicles is created through utilization of common rocket engines, control and measurement systems, ground equipment and other units on the basis of rational combination of technical solutions from both existing and anew developed rocket complexes, implementation of proven production processes and service technology in order to provide high reliability and competitiveness of the transport system as a whole at the world market of launch services.

The family of Mayak launch vehicles is being created on the basis of existing LVs such as Zenit and Cyclone. In the course of creation the following basic principles are realized:

- maximum utilization of earlier used and developed systems and components;
- application of proven technologies.

Whether the company has done much development work on the rocket is unclear. There is no additional information on the website other than a single description page. The Mayak page on Astronautix.com indicates that the rocket was proposed in 2005 but that no funding was forthcoming from the Ukrainian government at the time. A search on the website of the Ukrainian space agency turned up no results.

Yuzhnoye builds is the first stage of the new Taurus II rocket for Orbital Sciences Corporation. The company also plans to launch its Cyclone-4 rocket from a spaceport now being constructed in Brazil.