Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome (updates)

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

On 10/25/2016 at 5:33 AM, Draggendrop said:

Heart breaking. 

For every one U.S. casualty in space, Russia lost 10 people on the ground.

 

We haven't had human disasters up Space in a while (*knocking on wood*), but we've lost a lot more folks trying to launch ships.

 

The aforementioned accident alone is the single most important contributor to negative statistics; more than 100 died.

 

People were present in areas they were not supposed to be and there were a lot more people in some sections than the normative documents required.

 

Some engineers and scientists brought their family members with them to watch the launch of the rocket.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

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28 years ago the launch of a reusable "Energia-Buran" space transportation system was first produced.

 

Larger image...

 

 

 

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20 years of the first fire test of RD-180 - http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22912/ .

 

 

 

 

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Specialists of RSC "Energia" will participate in the creation of a space robot - http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22904/ .

 

 

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Russian New Generation Satellites to Undergo First Flight Tests in 2020

 

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MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the presentation made by Borisov, Resurs-PM2, Resurs-PM3 and Resurs-PM4 will be launched in 2021, 2023 and 2024, respectively as part of the Earth observation satellites update program.

 

"The first satellite of the next generation with improved equipment will undergo flight tests in 2020," Borisov said at the conference held at the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Resurs-PM satellites will be the successors of the Resurs-P remote-sensing satellites designed to provide high-resolution imagery of the Earth surface that are used by Russia’s ministries of agriculture, meteorology, transportation, emergencies, natural resources and defense.

https://sputniknews.com/science/201611141047426759-russia-satellites-resurs/

 

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First Russian to land on Moon in 2031 — space corporation

 

AP Photo/Amr Nabil

 

 

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MOSCOW, November 15. /TASS/. Russia’s rocket and space corporation Energiya plans to land the first Russian on the Moon in 2031, Energiya CEO Vladimir Solntsev said on Tuesday.

 

"After 2025, the start of flights to the Moon and the start of the work to become accustomed to this artificial satellite are planned. The year 2026 will see an unmanned flight around the Moon and in 2027 we’ll launch a take-off and landing module to the Moon’s orbit," he said.

The module will land on the Moon in an automatic mode, he added. "In 2029, there will be an unmanned flight of a new spacecraft to the Moon’s orbit. In the 2030s, we set the task of a manned flight to the Moon and in 2031 we plan landing on the Moon," he said.

As the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building told TASS earlier, Russia’s future Moon exploration program envisages flights around the Moon and the landing of cosmonauts on its surface, as well as their delivery to the Lagrange point of the Earth-Moon system (the equilibrium point of the two celestial bodies’ gravitational forces).

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ISS life cycle may be prolonged

 

According to Solntsev, partner countries involved in the International Space Station project are discussing the possibility of prolonging the ISS life cycle till 2028.

"We have an effective document on the ISS operation till 2024. The question remains open what will happen after that. The ISS life cycle may be prolonged. At the moment 2028 is being discussed as a possibility," he said.

Earlier, the operation of the ISS was extended till 2024. The decision was announced by Russia, the United States, Canada and Japan. The European Space Agency is still in the process of mulling this issue as part of its long-term budget. NASA’s Charles Bolden said the station might stay in operation till 2028.

Russia invites Europe, US to develop module for Moon landing

Russia is inviting Europe and the United States to jointly develop a module for landing on the Moon, Solntsev said.

"A take-off and landing module [for a flight to the Moon] is a completely new development, which I believe we’ll be making together with our European and American partners. We’re inviting all the countries for participation and the development of new samples of space hardware and the implementation of the lunar program," he said.

http://tass.com/science/912408

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Rogozin called the terms of the beginning of work on the second phase of the cosmodrome "East"

 

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Moscow. on 16 November. INTERFAX.RU - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the designing of the second stage of the spaceport is completed, direct the work on it will begin in 2017.

 

"We have them ( the works on the second phase of the cosmodrome -IF ) actually begin already in 2017", - Rogozin said in Moscow on Wednesday to journalists.

 

He added that the first phase of construction of the spaceport is completed now, "given the fact that the first stage of the launch site must be entered before the end of 2016," East ".

 

"Starting at least was secured for the launch rocket" Soyuz-2 "on April 28, now there is a completion of support facilities," - said Deputy Prime Minister.

 

The function of the second stage

"With regard to the second stage, its purpose - to ensure by 2021 automatic, ie unmanned start of a new generation of manned spacecraft from the rocket" Angara "with the new launch pad, - said Rogozin -. And, accordingly, a new technical complex will be built - in the framework of single ensemble, but it will be an additional assembly and testing facility. "

 

According to him, by 2023, all infrastructure is already manned vehicle-starting to be created, this additional buildings and crew escape system, which is always available. "Yesterday the president at a meeting in Sochi once again confirmed the inviolability of these terms. Although there have been some doubts about our financial and economic bloc, because it all costs money. However, the money will be allocated as much as necessary to carry out this work ", - said Rogozin.

 

"Then we will have the third stage - the creation of the launch complex for extra heavy rocket Accordingly, it was also reported to the President yesterday -. Where will be built, how much it will approximately cost It will be there, just there are certain security restrictions, that is no closer to seven. kilometers away from each other, but within the framework of a unified logistics, "- said Rogozin.

 

On the eve of Russian President Vladimir Putin called on actively to deploy the second phase of construction of the cosmodrome "East".

http://www.interfax.ru/russia/537276

 

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Russia’s new Soyuz-2LK space rocket may be ready for flight in 2020

 

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MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Russia’s new light carrier rocket Soyuz-2LK may be ready for launch already in 2020, if financing begins in the imminent future to develop it, CEO of Progress Rocket and Space Center Alexander Kirilin told TASS on Monday.

Progress Rocket and Space Center presented the project of a new two-stage modification of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket in late October.

"We’ll be able to develop and manufacture ground-based equipment and also carry out the carrier rocket’s ground experimental work within three or three and a half years. Therefore, the launch of the first carrier rocket Soyuz-2LK may take place in three or three and a half years after the start of financing," the Progress CEO said.

 

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The Soyuz-2LK is a new carrier rocket developed on the initiative of Progress Rocket and Space Center. The spacecraft features two first stages of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket with a Fregat booster installed as the third stage.

 

The new carrier rocket can lift from 2 to 3.85 tons to a sun-synchronous orbit, depending on the spaceport, from which it is launched.

"Currently, an engineering note on this carrier rocket has been released to give basic technical solutions and characteristics of this new carrier," Kirilin said.

According to the head of Progress Rocket and Space Center, the replacement of the third stage of Soyuz-2 rockets with the Fregat booster will help increase the economic efficiency of launches in the concurrent delivery of several small satellites into orbit as the new acceleration unit has the engine’s multiple switch-on function.

"The acceleration unit has to be multiply switched on to orbit many satellites and in the case of launching a small space vehicle or several small space vehicles, it is more efficient to use the Fregat booster instead of the third stage of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket," Kirilin said.

The multiple switch function allows implementing various schemes of orbiting space vehicles, including a grouped launch of satellites into one or several various orbits with their delivery to the orbit’s different points whereas a rocket stage that lacks this function can bring them only to one point of the orbit.

Other Soyuz rockets

While the new rocket is similar to the Soyuz-2.1v carrier by its characteristics, the head of Progress Rocket and Space Center believes they will compete with each other.

 

"The Soyuz-2LK carrier rocket is today at the initial stage of its development. Correspondingly, there can be no talk in the coming years about its rivalry with the Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket. The number of space vehicles that can be launched by a light-class carrier rocket exceeds considerably the frequency of Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket launches," he noted.

The new rocket is not the first proposal of Progress Rocket and Space Center to use its accumulated potential for developing new rocketry.
The most renowned of them are the projects of the Soyuz-2.3 rocket with the enhanced lifting capacity and the Soyuz-5 rocket firing liquefied natural gas.

According to Kirilin, the works on the Soyuz-2.3 have been stopped and the enterprise is looking for investors to continue developing the Soyuz-5 rocket.

"We’re carrying out work to create the Soyuz-5 carrier rocket and a concept design has been released. In addition to the concept design, work is underway to look for and agree possible financing sources," the head of Progress Rocket and Space Center said.

http://tass.com/science/913728

 

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In the chapter "Dalspetsstroya" will be opened a case of non-payment of salaries on the East

 

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MOSCOW, November 16th. / TASS /. In the chapter "Dalspetsstroya" is a criminal case because of the situation with salaries on the Eastern cosmodrome. He told reporters Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin.

 

"Rostrud presented Mr. (George) Wolfhound, who heads the" Dalspetsstroy "liable to be even instituted a criminal case, - Rogozin said -. We have things we can not tolerate."

According to him, the company needs to raise funds and pay with their work, not only with the subcontractor. Rogozin said that for the case of non-payment of salaries in 2012-2013, criminal cases already filed, but now there are questions to the leadership "Dalspetsstroya". "This was already the company is FSUE, that is, not some private companies that do not pay the money, they are now removed from the construction site, there now are only workers' Dalspetsstroya," - said Deputy Prime Minister.

He added that he plans to visit with the next inspection checking construction site Vostochny cosmodrome in early December.

http://tass.ru/ekonomika/3788527?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=smm_social_share

 

 

 

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All those who before the transfer of construction in autumn 2014 under the supervision of the Board # MIC used "curves circuit" at # East , the polls will go on trial

 

 

 

 

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Businessman goes on trial for embezzlement during the construction of the cosmodrome Vostochny the https: // ria.ru/incidents/2016 1114 / 1481283445.html  ...

 

 

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RKS started manufacturing transformable antenna devices for small satellites ERS - http://www.roscosmos.ru/22946/ .

 

 

RKS. CREATED FOR THE ANTENNA-TRANSFORMER advanced spacecraft

 

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21.11.2016 14:52
Holding "Russian Space Systems" (RCC, is a state corporation "Roscosmos") started production of transformed antenna devices for small satellites for Earth remote sensing (ERS) "Condor-FSA." Russia's new technology will make monitoring the Earth from space more cost effective, reduce the cost of production and operation of advanced space systems. The first synthetic aperture radar satellites of the new series is planned to produce and transfer for up to end of 2017.
 
Generated in JSC "Special Design Bureau of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute" (OKB MEI, included in PKC holding) synthetic aperture radar will allow in any weather and at any time of the day to get highly detailed image the Earth's surface up to 1 meter resolution in detail mode and examine the surface of the earth in band up to 120 km in the overview mode.
 
Director General of OKB MEI Alexander Chebotarev, "The accuracy of our antenna system for the machine" Condor-FSA "comparable to the precision radar-based active phased array antenna - AFAR. During the day, with our antenna apparatus can receive a highly detailed image of 600 thousand km2 of the earth's surface and examine the in the overview mode for more than 1.6 million km2. This will significantly increase the possibility of the national satellite remote sensing group. "
 
The antenna consists of illuminating device, the waveguide path and transformed the reflector. Irradiating device provides electronic control of the radiation pattern, whereby the synthetic aperture radar can operate in different viewing modes. The design of the reflector allows compact place it folded under the fairing of the launch vehicle - the volume of the folded reflector is less than 0.3 m3. After the satellite in orbit is disclosed a reflector, forming a regular hexagon size six to seven meters, increasing in volume up to 100 times.
 
As the power of the reflector frame is used convertible truss paraboloid shape, which is fixed a metal setepolotno forming radiootrazhayuschuyu surface. This technology allows you to create truss reflectors space antennas having the same surface accuracy over the entire area. Reflectors of different forms, shapes and sizes are needed for advanced remote sensing systems, as well as other space-based systems, where important light weight, low cost and high economic efficiency.
 
The antenna device is mounted on a small spacecraft ERS-type "Kondor-E", developed by JSC "MIC" NPO Machine Building ". In the coming years it is planned to launch two satellites in this series - "Condor FSA» №1 and №2. Their tasks will include mapping of the Earth's surface, environmental monitoring and exploration of natural resources.

http://www.roscosmos.ru/22946/

 

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Bolden praises continued cooperation with Russia on ISS 

 

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WASHINGTON — As he prepares to leave office, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said that the agency’s relationship with its Russian counterpart remains strong despite continued, broader geopolitical tensions.

 

Speaking at a press conference in Russia Nov. 19 after the successful docking of a Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new crew members for the International Space Station, Bolden and Igor Komarov, head of the Russian state space corporation Roscosmos, said they had discussed continued cooperation, including crew exchanges once NASA starts flying commercial crew vehicles designed to end its reliance on Soyuz vehicles for access to the station.

 

“We should each have a crew member on whatever vehicle is flying. The details for that still remain to be worked out,” Bolden said about continuing to fly NASA astronauts on Soyuz vehicles as Russian cosmonauts fly on commercial crew vehicles. “I do not expect that you’ll find an all-American vehicle or an all-Russian vehicle ever again.”

 

“I believe that it is very important for all participations of the program to have alternative transportation means to the station,” Komarov said, speaking through an interpreter. That meant, he said, flying Russian cosmonauts on U.S. commercial vehicles, with some NASA astronauts continuing to fly on Soyuz vehicles.

 

While NASA has been developing commercial crew vehicles for several years to end reliance on the Russian Soyuz for access to the station, NASA officials had previously discussed the possibility that astronauts would continue to use Soyuz while Russian cosmonauts flew on commercial vehicles. How those exchanges would take place, and whether any exchange of funds would be required, is not clear.

 

Bolden, in an interview after the press conference broadcast on NASA TV, said that the space station program has demonstrated the ability of the United States and Russia, along with other international partners, to cooperate on a complex project. “We on the International Space Station are a model for the rest of the world to follow,” he said.

more at the link...

http://spacenews.com/bolden-praises-continued-cooperation-with-russia-on-iss/

 

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Russian space monitoring technology will increase the efficiency and security of Indian Railways - http: // www. roscosmos.ru/22948/ 

 

RKS. Russian space technology MONITORING improving efficiency and safety of Indian Railways

 

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11.22.2016 10:16
Holding "Russian Space Systems" (RCC, is a state corporation "Roscosmos") and the Ministry of Railways of India discussed perspectives for adaptation India Russian monitoring and safety rail on the basis of GLONASS technologies. The sides discussed the details of the joint work and expressed interest in further development of cooperation in the field of application of the results of space activities.
 
The Russian side presented their Indian counterparts in the development of monitoring critical infrastructure of railways and transportation of hazardous and valuable cargo by rail using global navigation satellite systems. These solutions help to ensure safety and to minimize the impact of risks on objects and loads of factors of anthropogenic and natural factors, to reduce the damage caused by accidents and emergencies.
 
Deputy Director for Foreign Economic Activity Project "Russian Space Systems" Vladimir Savelyev: "At this stage, together with the Indian partners need to develop an overall vision of the future system. We define facing, link the purpose of its use of system problems with the current legal regulations in India. "
 
Developed in PKC geographically distributed monitoring system for critical facilities consists of three levels. Sensors installed in the tunnels, depots, stations, bridges and other infrastructure facilities, collect and transmit information to local dispatch centers. These items are related to monitoring centers zonal railway administrations, the information of which is drained into the situational center railways. In the Russian version of the upper level is the National Center for Crisis Management EMERCOM of Russia.
 
Types of sensors installed depends on the purpose and specifics of the controlled object. Widely used gas sensors monitor and control air pollution, radiation sensors, power sensors, fire and burglar alarms, as well as video surveillance.
 
railway monitoring system also involves the installation of railway bridges, high-rise buildings and large-measuring modules satellite navigation system, allowing to control bias and fluctuating structures structures. For the analysis of such parameters RCS specialists developed a separate system of high-precision displacement monitoring of engineering structures (VMSIS), which is already implemented in a number of objects of the Trans-Siberian railway in Russia.
 
Using the signal of the Russian orbital group of GLONASS satellites, the system VMSIS with millimeter accuracy determines the oscillations of constructions at the same time in three planes, processes them, and provides results in real time on the operator panel. This allows professionals to continuously diagnose disorders of integrity of complex engineering structures, track buckling of individual elements, as well as conduct research of dynamic characteristics of structures under the influence of various factors - seasonal changes, traffic, wind, soil displacement, etc..
 
The task of improving the safety and dangerous goods is achieved through the installation of a mobile ad hoc navigation equipment, receiving signals of satellite navigation systems. As one of the areas of cooperation of the Russian and Indian sides in the long run it may be considered a joint venture for the production of such devices for the needs of the Indian Railways.

http://www.roscosmos.ru/22948/

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Lomonosov Moscow State University to Launch 'Space Department' in 2017

 

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This year Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU), named Russia's best institution of higher education in 2016, will add a department of space sciences to its long list of 42 faculties to focus on mathematics, astronomy, biology, chemistry and informatics, the university's rector Viktor Sadovnichy said.

 

"The new department will deal with things we still know very little about - space, black holes, and people's behavior in zero gravity. It will be training specialists in space-related fields with emphasis on fundamental sciences. Our potential here is second to none," Sadovnichy said during an open-door meeting on Tuesday.

 

He added that with the construction of the Vostochny spaceport in the Far East Russia urgently needs specialists in various fields of space research and this is where Moscow State University can help.

 

The university has one of the most powerful supercomputers around which, besides catering to the needs of its more than 500 research teams, is also used by many institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other scientific centers from across the country.

 

Lomonosov Moscow State University has even launched six satellites of its own making. One of them, aptly named Lomonosov, became the first to be launched into space from the Vostochny space center. "We are maybe the only university around capable of building and launching its own satellites.

 

The Lomonosov, which we launched from Vostochny in April 2016, is a space station bristling with dozens of instruments studying outer space and the Earth's atmosphere. Since the start of the space era our students and post-graduates have designed and built over 400 instruments that have at various times worked in space," Sadovnichi continued.

 

The new department will open in September as part of an agreement on joint research, educational and design work the university signed with Roscosmos space agency in 2015. The department will conduct fundamental and applied research, study the physical and psychological effects of longtime space travel on humans and develop computer software for intellectual aerospace trainers and many other things.

 

Lomonosov Moscow State University is consistently the highest ranked Russian university in both the BRICS ranking and the QS World University Rankings, placing 7th in BRICS and 108th in the world.

 

It's the largest of all Russian universities and one of the oldest, founded in 1755 and currently educating around 47,000 students, the majority of which are studying at graduate level.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Lomonosov_Moscow_State_University_to_Launch_Space_Department_in_2017_999.html

 

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Russia to Launch 15 Rockets From Baikonur, 6 From Plesetsk, 2 From Vostochny

 

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Russia plans 23 space launches next year, eight of them from homegrown launch pads, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Roscosmos state space corporation supervisory committee Dmitry Rogozin said Wednesday.

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Fifteen launches are expected from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, six from Plesetsk and two from Vostochny, Rogozin said.

He disclosed the plans at this year's last commission on the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Far East.

 

Infrastructure building to service the Angara space-launch vehicles and advanced boosters on environmentally friendly propellants is expected to begin in Plesetsk next year, Rogozin added.

 

The official highlighted the importance of carrying out accident-free launches into space in 2017.

https://sputniknews.com/russia/201612281049060014-russia-rockets-launch/

 

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Russia to Double Number of Space Launches in 2017 – Roscosmos Chief

 

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Director-General Igor Komarov said that Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos plans to launch twice as many rockets into space in 2017 as in the outgoing year.

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos plans to launch twice as many rockets into space in 2017 as in the outgoing year, its Director-General Igor Komarov said Wednesday.

"The launch program for the next year comes with a considerable increase [in space launches]. Next year, we will effectively see the number of launches double," Komarov announced.

 

The first launches of 2017 are scheduled for January at Kazakhstan’s Baikonur and Guiana space ports. The new Plesetsk cosmodrome in Russia will enter the active phase of operation in February, with the Vostochny space port about to be completed.

https://sputniknews.com/russia/201612281049059419-russia-roscosmos-launches/

 

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Vostochny Cosmodrome to Test Returnable Rockets

 

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The Vostochny Cosmodrome will attempt to use returnable rockets in the future, according to Igor Barmin, deputy director of TsENKI (Centre for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure).

 

Barmin said that a possible future project regarding the cosmodrome is the building of “the [necessary] infrastructure for launching returnable rockets.”

 

Russia does not yet have the technology to return and re-use launch vehicles, although there are plans to test such solutions by 2025, according to the Federal Space Programme. At the same time, the US company SpaceX has already made several test launches with returnable vehicles.

 

Barmin also noted that TsENKI plans to develop the cosmodrome’s infrastructure in order to launch spaceships with nuclear propulsion.

http://getrussia.com/news/vostochny_cosmodrome_to_test_returnable_rockets/

 

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Private investment helps in the creation of BKA-2

 

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The second remote sensing satellite will be created with private investment attraction. BKA-2 will be at least four times better than its predecessor.
This spacecraft will based on the same platform as the first, but with a number of improvements and new telescope.

The satellite will create topographical maps of a 1:10,000 scale. BKA-2 is scheduled for launch by 2019 from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russian.

The creation of BKA-2 is already underway.

Sergei Zolotoi, director of Geographic Information Systems, National Academy of Sciences of Belarus:

The spacecraft solves not only civilian tasks. We can talk about a whole range of problems related to environmental security and food security. The instruments allow evaluating environmental threats, fires, and floods.

http://en.ctv.by/en/1485040259-private-investment-helps-in-the-creation-of-bka-2

 

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FSUE "TsENKI" was the general contractor for the construction of a number of objects of the cosmodrome # East -http: // www. roscosmos.ru/23129/ 

 

 

FSUE "TsENKI" became the general contractor for the construction of some objects Vostochny cosmodrome

 

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01.16.2017 13:05
The state corporation Roscosmos defined FSUE "TsENKI" general contractor for the construction of some objects Vostochny cosmodrome.
 
TsENKI will be completed by the start technical and complex, as well as water intake facilities for launches from Baikonur EAST 2017
 
TsENKI already signed 8 contracts with subcontractors. Companies selection criteria were the experience and the satisfactory financial condition of the sub-contractors.
 
Andrew Okhlopkov, Deputy General Director for Technological Development of space infrastructure FSUE "TsENKI" "Tolerance of the former general contractor employees terminated on objects in connection with the termination of the contract. Employees will be allowed to object to correct only the notes, as well as to end the work started, were not included in the list of contracts signed with FSUE "TsENKI".

http://www.roscosmos.ru/23129/

 

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Meeting "TsENKI" MAI leadership with graduates who dream of working in the Russian cosmodrome.

 

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It's time to sum up the results of 2016, which became an important industry in many ways - http: // www. roscosmos.ru/23097/ 

 

 

ROSCOSMOS. RESULTS 2016

 

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30.12.2016 18:00
2016 th anniversary year, the year of the 55th anniversary of the flight of the first man, Yuri Gagarin, into space, has become a significant industry in many ways. the first launch was carried out from the first civil cosmodrome Russia - Vostochny cosmodrome. The Russian government has approved the Federal Space Program (FCP) for 2016 - 2025 years. Work was also completed on specification of the Federal Target Program (FTP) "Development of the spaceports in the years 2017-2025", the document passes the necessary approvals. ROSCOSMOS completed the formation of the main Russian orbital groups (remote sensing of the Earth - Earth remote sensing, navigation and communication). In 2016 it continued launched in the autumn of 2014 a systemic reform of the space industry, the main directions of which - the quality of products, financial improvement of the enterprises and production update.
 
In 2016 ROSCOSMOS carried out 18 launches in the interests of government and commercial customers. According to the International Space Station (ISS) performed ROSCOSMOS 7 starts (all - from the Baikonur Cosmodrome). The number of commercial launches was 5, including 2 from Baikonur, Plesetsk 1 and 2 of the Guiana Space Centre. For the first time in October 2016 the launch of the US-launch vehicle (LV) Antares with Russian engines RD-181 production NPO Energomash.
 
The most significant event in 2016 - April 28, 2016 Russian President Vladimir Putin has launched the first Russian civilian spaceport - EAST spaceport. "Soyuz 2.1a" put into orbit spacecraft for scientific purposes.
 
Within the framework of international cooperation in the ISS program with the European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA has developed a program of joint scientific research and experiments until 2020. The program - dozens of studies. An agreement was reached on the exchange of scientific data and sharing of equipment for the experiments. In 2016 he successfully completed the first annual Russian-American mission Roscosmos cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko and NASA astronaut Scott Kelly. Such long-term missions are planned in the future.

more at the link...

http://www.roscosmos.ru/23097/

 

[DocM]

Oopsie....Sounds like it's tied to the recent Progress failure.

 

http://spacenews.com/defective-engines-may-ground-russias-proton-rocket-for-months/

 

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Defective engines may ground Russia’s Proton rocket for months

 

Russian media reported that test firings found problems with engines used in the second and third stages of the Proton rocket, reportedly due to the replacement of heat-resistant alloys in those engines with cheaper, but more failure-prone, materials.

 

The Proton may not return to flight until June or July as a result. Roscosmos is also looking into engines made by the same manufacturer, Voronezh Mechanical Plant, used in the upper stage of Soyuz rockets.

 

The director general of the plant resigned last week. [Russian Space Web]

 

 

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

I'm glad they've pinpointed what the problem is.

 

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The director general of the plant resigned last week. 

They should prosecute him. 

[BetaguyGZT]

Oh my. They didn't test these materials more thoroughly?  If they passed the specific temperature tests in Metallurgy, there's still the Methodology and Manufacturing tests to see if they hold up, then Failure Mode testing on up to Stress Mode and then outright abusing the materials in non-optimal conditions -- and a lot more testing in other ways that are above my pay grade, then examining the results to see what's what and how to improve the processes being used and what needs to be changed to make it work. If there's a failure in any one of the early steps then it's a non-starter by default because it has to be.

 

Russia's Space Budget is under strain, yes -- but one thing that absolutely cannot happen is cutting corners. The Proton and Soyuz designs have minimum margins for a reason. They're robust because that robustness is built-in -- and a failure of manufacturing in any component compromises that robustness.

 

I can understand "evolving the design". I'm totally with that. But cutting corners isn't acceptable.

 

This could have been worse -- as in a Crew heading to the ISS worse.

 

Yikes.  

[DocM]

Before another non-Russian flies on Soyuz there need to be assurances, and verification, that these substandard parts are NOT used on the vehicle. Period.

 

Yeetch....

[BetaguyGZT]

I'm thinking that anything using Stage 3 on Proton and Soyuz vehicles will be grounded until they get this sorted.

 

Expect Commercial Crew to move forward on overdrive. SpaceX could probably be ready to fly Dragon 2, if given the budget needed to do so, in four months -- but they are going to want to do the UQF first and combine most of the testing milestones during that unmanned flight. This will prove the technology, and knowing SpaceX they will not, under any circumstances, put humans on the bird until they've done it by the numbers.

 

ULA's Starliner isn't nearly ready. They won't be ready for 18 months, and they aren't the sort that does overtime either.

[DocM]

Not sure about CCtCap accelerating.

 

Boeing is still ass deep getting their aero load fixes approved by NASA and may well slip into 2019, and

 

NASA wants 5 flights of F9 Block 5, counting the unmanned Crew Dragon test, to clear it for the first crewed test. SpaceX says later this year for Block 5's debut, so their schedule depends on when 'later' is.

[BetaguyGZT]

Hmm. And SpaceX is using up the inventory of Block-3 then reflying those as FH cores after they refurb 'em. I personally doubt we'll see more than 1 or 2 reflights of the Block-3 model other than for the purposes of Customer Request in a Falcon-9 configuration. The rest will be Block-4 or Block-5.

 

Unless something changes ... then yeah. I see your point.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

 

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All the persons who are guilty of the substitution of the technology and the documentation will be severely punished. Three Proton-M rockets will be disassembled. Those stage-2 and stage-3 engines will be replaced.

 

 

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The launches of Proton-M will be renewed in 3.5 months. Voronezh Mechanical Plant is to receive economic aid for technical reequipment.

 

 

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The board of directors of the Military Industrial Complex insists on the soonest creation of a united engine-building holding corporation at Roscosmos for the realization of a unified technical policy.

 

 

[DocM]

Comrade Rogozin is definitely not a happy camper today. Sux to be the bozos who allowed this Charlie Foxtrot 

[BetaguyGZT]

Oh ####! Yep. A contractor pulling a fast one, and got caught when things went pear-shaped. This is more or less akin to if Aerojet were cutting corners on RL-10's and a dozen or so went kaboom ...

 

Gentlemen, I think we've got our culprits with the several upper stage failures of not just the Progress vehicles that have either exploded or gone OOC. Remember that Progress that stayed intact but was uncontrollable due to a "recontact event"? I'd bet anything that this was a "backfiring event", instead. Same engine, anything can happen.

 

Briz(?) upper stage -- remember the one recently during TGO's early Cruise Phase that exploded after releasing the Mars-bound probe for "unknown reasons"? Yep -- I'm betting on "blue" again.

 

Who knows how long this has been going on ... but we know how quick it's ending. Besmirching Russia's proud and storied Aerospace Industry with such filth like this ... they'll hang 'em all from the tallest buildings at Vostochny and Baikonur for it, the ######. Russia takes that as seriously as we do here, probably even more than we do. And you know what? We here in the U.S. will cheer that reckoning on too. One thing we've always had in common is don't mess with the effing Space Programs. If it's besmirched or disrespected in one country, we tend to take it just as personally elsewhere because we want everyone to succeed with margins to spare.

 

So yeah. The jackwagons that pulled this stunt should be piked. I hope it hurts like hell, too. Russia will fix this and get back to business.  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I would hate to be in that meeting room...paint flying off the walls.

 

This will get addressed and a precedent will be made "advertised".

 

One does not mess with heritage science and technology.

[BetaguyGZT]

I'd hate more to be on the receiving end of that meeting ... but then again I wouldn't be the one cutting corners either.

 

Good grief. Comrade Rogozin railing on you like you've abused his dogs? And murdered his parakeet? Then violated his cigar collection?? Nope. I'm not gonna be the one. 

[DocM]

Yup. The next VMP team meeting is gonna be fugly.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

3 minutes ago, Unobscured Vision said:

I'd hate more to be on the receiving end of that meeting ... but then again I wouldn't be the one cutting corners either.

 

Good grief. Comrade Rogozin railing on you like you've abused his dogs? And murdered his parakeet? Then violated his cigar collection?? Nope. I'm not gonna be the one. 

I read your comment and even I got freaked out....One does not mess with a mans parakeet. ever.

[BetaguyGZT]

7 minutes ago, Draggendrop said:

I read your comment and even I got freaked out....One does not mess with a mans parakeet. ever.

One does not. Nor his cigars. Say what you want about his dogs, he'll just sic 'em on you and you'll be singing a different tune. Or they'll lick you to death. Either way it doesn't end well. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Proton launches delayed until mid-May

 

Proton launches will not resume until at least the middle of May in order to replace engines on several vehicles, a top Russian official said Jan. 28. Credit: ILS/Inmarsat 

 

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WASHINGTON — Launches of Russia’s Proton rocket will be postponed until the middle of May in order to replace faulty engines on several vehicles, a top Russian official said Jan. 28.

 

In a series tweets, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin discussed a meeting he held Jan. 28 with representatives of the Voronezh Mechanical Plant, which makes engines used in the upper stages of the Proton and Soyuz launch vehicles.

 

Rogozin said in Russian-language tweets after the meeting that Proton launches will be delayed for several months to replace engines. “Three ‘Proton-M’ will be dismantled,” he wrote, to replace their second- and third-stage engines. “Launches of ‘Proton-M’ will be resumed in 3.5 months.”

 

The Rogozin comments come after a Jan. 20 meeting of Russian space industry executives organized by Roscosmos. During that meeting, Ivan Koptev, director of Voronezh, submitted his resignation voluntarily because of “underperformance and the quality of products,” according to a Roscosmos statement.

 

In a Jan. 11 release, Roscosmos blamed the Dec. 1 failure of a Soyuz launch vehicle carrying a Progress cargo spacecraft to foreign particles that entered the Soyuz’s third stage engine, causing a fire. The statement also indicated that defective assembly of the engine played a role in the failure.

 

The engine, like the Proton upper stage engines, was manufactured by Voronezh.

 

The last Proton flight was the June 2016 launch of the Intelsat 31 communication satellite, which suffered a problem with the rocket’s second stage engine. The satellite still achieved its desired orbit when the rocket’s Breeze-M upper stage extended its burn.

 

Preparations were underway for Proton’s return to flight, carrying the EchoStar 21 satellite, when International Launch Services announced Dec. 28 that the launch would be delayed, but did not disclose the reason other than that it was not linked to the problem on the June launch. The launch date slipped several times prior to Rogozin’s announcement of the extended delay.

 

Neither Rogozin in his tweets, nor a Jan. 28 Roscosmos statement about his visit to Voronezh, discussed the reasons the engines would be replaced.

 

Russian media previously reported that workers may have replaced materials used to manufacture the engines with alternatives that are less expensive but more likely to fail in flight.

 

The investigation into the engine issue is ongoing. “All those responsible for the substitution of technologies and documentation will be severely punished,” Rogozin tweeted.

http://spacenews.com/proton-launches-delayed-until-mid-may/

 

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XLI Academic Conference on Astronautics in # MSTU them. NE Bauman -http: // www. roscosmos.ru/23158/ 

 

ROSCOSMOS. ACADEMIC XLI Conference on Astronautics in Bauman MSTU

 

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01.24.2017 16:22

January 24, 2017 in the MSTU. Bauman (Moscow) opened XLI Academic readings on space, dedicated to the memory of Academician SP Korolev and other outstanding Russian scientists - the pioneers of space exploration.
 
Traditionally, the reading in the MSTU experts discuss the fundamental questions of Astronautics and the state of some of its directions; achieve design schools in the aerospace field; humanitarian aspects of space activities and its place in the socio-economic and strategic development of modern civilization.
 
For the inauguration was timed readings another event in the MSTU - opening of the exhibition "SP Korolev. Strokes to the portrait of the Chief Designer of rocket and space technology. By the 110th anniversary of the birth. "
 
The plenary session was attended by the heads of the organizing committee of reading - the general director of state corporation Roscosmos Igor Komarov (co-chair), Chief Designer for manned space systems, Academician Yevgeny Mikrin (Chairman), Rector of MSTU. Bauman Anatoly Alexandrov (co-chair).
 
Participants of the plenary were unanimous that SP Korolev played a crucial role in the development of world space and its basic directions. Director General of the state corporation Roscosmos Igor Komarov also noted that "the current state of Russian cosmonautics have been unthinkable without the contribution of Sergei Pavlovich. Many of his ideas were far ahead of their time and gave a great foundation for the future. "
 
But time does not stand still. And speaking of modern problems, Igor Komarov said: "Today, we are focused on interplanetary missions, exploration of the Moon, Mars, the creation of new launch vehicles. Therefore, we need these breaks, which occur during the Queen. And we expect our businesses and scientific institutions solve such large-scale problems. "
 
The answer should be a number of promising projects submitted for breakout sessions Readings by authors who have already offered interesting solutions of varying degrees of elaboration.
 
Among them - the proposal to create a space solar power station in Earth orbit, experts formulated TsNIImash, Moscow Aviation Institute and NPO. Lavochkin. According to experts, the price of a "space power" can be up to six times cheaper than the ground, which undoubtedly should cause demand for this idea.
 
Another project - the creation of boosters for output payload into orbit with solar thermal rocket engines was presented by scientists of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). Ballistic efficiency of these boosters with solar engines will be a half to two times the possibility of liquid assets-orbit transportation.
 
Employees of the State Rocket Center to them. VP Makeyev offered to resume work on the creation of the domestic single-stage reusable launch vehicle "Crown" with vertical takeoff and landing, which could be used for the construction of modular space stations or deliver cargo to the ISS. Today, the company's specialists have already carried out feasibility studies and developed an efficient schedule for the development of the launch vehicle, and analyzed the results and prospects of the development and operation of launch vehicles.
 
With these and other prospective projects of development of Russian cosmonautics can be found at section meetings Readings in the coming days - from 24 to 27 January in the MSTU. Bauman and online www.korolevspace.ru .

http://www.roscosmos.ru/23158/

 

Academic Conference on Astronautics, dedicated to the memory of Academician Sergei Korolev and other outstanding Russian scientists - the pioneers of space exploration.

 

"Reading Bank"

 

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Super-launcher is back on the books

 

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At the end of 2016 -- the beginning of 2017, RKK Energia formulated a new design for a super-heavy rocket for Russia's prospective lunar-exploration program. The new architecture, approaching NASA's Space Launch System, SLS, in size and payload, had two possible variations of the upper stage.

 

Energia-5VR and Energia-5V rockets as of 2016. Copyright © 2017 Anatoly Zak

 

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Energia-5V/VR concept

 

By the middle of 2016, the Russian scenario for lunar expeditions based on four Angara-5V rockets was deemed too risky and unreliable. Instead, Russia's strategic plans for human exploration of deep space defaulted back to a much larger super-heavy rocket.

 

The path to the development of a super-heavy launcher was built into the 2016-2025 Federal Space Program, and it was apparently endorsed with a government document signed by the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. By the end of 2016, there were some rumors inside the industry that the Russian president Vladimir Putin would officially endorse the costly project as early as January 2017.

 

By that time, the architecture of the super-rocket favored by RKK Energia featured a five-booster first stage powered by RD-171MV engines. The boosters themselves would derive from the Feniks and Sunkar projects, which aim to build a medium-class rocket with a diameter of 4.1 meters. If the Sunkar-type rocket had ever been built, it would be only logical to re-tailor the path to a super-rocket utilizing the prospective new booster as a stepping stone.

 

The RD-171-based launcher built of standard modules with a diameter of 4.1 meters could carry between 80 and 100 tons of payload and after additional upgrades, it could lift up to 150 tons.

 

The latest designs essentially superseded the Energia-5K and Energia-5KV concepts proposed by RKK Energia for the role of the super-heavy launcher in 2013 and 2014.

 

With the architecture of the first-stage boosters essentially determined by the Sunkar/Feniks project, engineers at RKK Energia tried to tackle the design of the upper stages. By the beginning of 2017, they formulated two different upper stage arrangements which could support a two-launch scenario of a lunar expedition.

 

The first configuration, known as Energia-5V, featured a two-stage space tug propelled by liquid hydrogen. The second configuration, designated Energia-5VR, had a larger single upper stage using the same propellant. Both rockets, would be topped with an upper composite consisting of the MOB-DM space tug responsible for deep-space maneuvers and the payload. In turn, the payload could include the PTK Federatsiya crew vehicle, a lunar lander, or a lunar cargo vehicle. In the two-launch lunar expedition scenario, the spacecraft would be represented by the PTK Federatsiya capsule carrying the crew, while the second rocket would have a lunar lander as its payload. The manned PTK vehicle would link up with the lunar lander in lunar orbit.

 

The Energia-5VR architecture offered obvious advantages over the Energia-5V: namely, it was shorter and lighter, while carrying practically the same cargo. Moreover, because it consisted of only three stages, rather than the four stages making up the 5V variant, the 5R version would likely be cheaper and more reliable. During a lunar mission, the third stage of Energia-5R would fire twice: first to accelerate the payload to nearly orbital velocity and then to deliver it into a highly elliptical orbit with an apogee of 35,000 kilometers. Once there, the crew of the PTK spacecraft could check all onboard systems and, if everything had gone according to plan, the spacecraft would fire its MOB-DM space tug to enter an Earth-escape trajectory toward the Moon.

 

In contrast, Energia-5V would use its third stage to enter an initial parking orbit and after its separation, the fourth stage would accelerate its payload on an Earth-escape trajectory.

More at the link...

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/energia5v.html

 

[BetaguyGZT]

Impressive. So they're cancelling the multiple iterations of Angara in favor of the Energia-5V series ... 80-100t capacity with the possibility to go to 150t after upgrades. Cool.

 

Let's have a look-see at the RD-171 engines ... /me dives into Wikipedia  

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The RD-170 (РД-170, Ракетный Двигатель-170, Rocket Engine-170) is the world's most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine, designed and produced in the Soviet Union by NPO Energomash for use with the Energia launch vehicle. The engine burns the Russian equivalent of RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer in four combustion chambers, all supplied by one single-shaft, single-turbine turbo pump rated at 170 MW in a staged combustion cycle.

 

Several Soviet and Russian rocket engines use the approach of clustering small combustion chambers around a single turbine and pump. During the early 1950s, many Soviet engine designers, including Valentin P. Glushko, faced problems of combustion instability while designing bigger thrust chambers. At that time they solved the problem by using a cluster of smaller thrust chambers.

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RD-171
Building on the technology from the Energia launch vehicle the Zenit (rocket family) was developed, which uses a RD-170 variant, the RD-171. While the RD-170 had nozzles which swiveled on only one axis, the RD-171 swivels on two axes. Models called the RD-172 and RD-173 were proposed upgrades that would provide additional thrust, but they were never built.

Thrust (vac.): 7,904 kN (1,777,000 lbf)

Thrust (SL): 7,257 kN (1,631,000 lbf)

Throttle range: 100% to 40%

Thrust-to-weight ratio: 75

 

Citations: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-170

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RD-170#RD-171

 

Oooh. So the RD-180 is a two-chamber version of this. Well, well. This should treat them very well indeed -- and hopefully the manufacturing issues are a thing of the past when they start cranking these out by the dozens. They're gonna need a bunch. 5 per rocket ... oof. That's gonna make some noise.  

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

 

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Russia ready to welcome specialists of Ukraine’s Antonov enterprise

 

"We are waiting for Ukrainian aircraft designers to move to Russia - those, who had designed Antonov," he said. "We are ready to welcome them, to offer everything not to allow the Antonov school disappear."

 

The design bureau led by Oleg Antonov was founded on May 31, 1946 at the USSR aircraft plant in Novosibirsk. In 1952, it moved to Kiev, where it focused on military-transport and passenger models: from research to production and service.

 

[BetaguyGZT]

Agreed. The Antonov School is quite important. There's a lot they do and their engineering expertise is among the best anywhere.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Russia to call tender for 2nd Phase of Vostochny Spaceport construction in Fall

 

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Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos plans to call an open tender for the second stage of the Vostochny Cosmodrome construction in autumn 2017, in the light of abolition of the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy), the Izvestia newspaper reported Monday citing its sources.

 

In late December, Spetsstroy, which had been constructing the cosmodrome, was abolished.

 

According to the newspaper, the second stage includes the construction of the launching site for the Angara space-launch vehicles and other infrastructure.

 

"Any Russian development company will be able to take part in the tender, including Spetsstroy divisions, if they are able to incorporate as separate entities as a result of the reorganization of the agency," a source told the news outlet.

 

The work on the project documentation for the construction of the second part of the cosmodrome's facilities is at the final stage, and it will be sent for the state expert review in May, the publication reads.

 

Vostochny has been under construction in Russia's Far East since 2012 and is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan, which is on lease to Russia until 2050.

 

Russia carried out a maiden space launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome on April 28. It involved a Soyuz-2.1, a light class space rocket with three research satellites.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_to_call_tender_for_2nd_Phase_of_Vostochny_Spaceport_construction_in_Fall_999.html

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

 

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Spaceport # East will be one of two symbols placed on the new banknotes in denominations of 2000 rubleshttp: // www. roscosmos.ru/23190/ 

 

ROSCOSMOS. PICTURE Vostochny cosmodrome - the Russian ruble

 

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01.02.2017 13:59

The first civilian spaceport modern Russia - the cosmodrome East - together with a bridge to the island of Russian in Vladivostok will be one of two symbols placed on the new banknotes in denominations of two thousand rubles.
 
On the banknote of 200 rubles will be placed symbols of Sevastopol - the image of the monument to the scuttled ships and views of the Chersonese.
 
Denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles will go into circulation in late 2017.
 
The decision was taken by the Board of Directors of the Bank of Russia on the basis of the all-Russian contest, which was conducted from June to October 2016. In his Russian residents offered more than 5000 sites in 1113 cities in Russia. The longlist, breaking the threshold of 5,000 votes, entered 76 characters 49 Russian regions. Following the results of nationwide sociological study of the long-list of ten finalists were selected. At the last stage of the competition all-Russian voting, which was attended by more than 3 million people, will determine the winner - the symbols of the Far East and Sevastopol. Results of the competition were announced on October 7, 2016 on the TV channel "Russia 1".

http://www.roscosmos.ru/23190/