Russia's Vostochny Cosmodrome (updates)

[xrobwx71]

I know this is off topic, but it would make a cool Battlefield 4  map.  

[Draggendrop Veteran]

7 minutes ago, xrobwx said:

I know this is off topic, but it would make a cool Battlefield 4  map.  

Or maybe a spin off of the old game of "Risk"...only have it for world wide aerospace ventures, and see who does what, with what they have and want, when they do it and if it works..... 

[xrobwx71]

Just now, Draggendrop said:

Or maybe a spin off of the old game of "Risk"...only have it for world wide aerospace ventures, and see who does what, with what they have and want, when they do it and if it works..... 

I could just see myself perched on top of that rocket scaffold with my SRR-61. 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

2 minutes ago, xrobwx said:

I could just see myself perched on top of that rocket scaffold with my SRR-61. 

One shot...and the neighborhood has been neutralized with spectacular effects.

[BetaguyGZT]

Hey, Risk! I want Australia/Indonesia!

[Draggendrop Veteran]

I always went for Kamchatka...everyone seemed to ignore it, then I quietly built up around it and watched the others destroy themselves. 

[BetaguyGZT]

On yeah, the Baltics are always the most difficult to conquer, then you've got nothing left to deal with Asia. Good strat.  

[DocM]

Uh-oh....

 

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Russia's new spaceport will have only one launch pad for Angara rockets due to budget cuts

 

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TSIOLKOVSKY (Amur Region), January 20. /TASS/. Only one launch pad for Angara carrier rockets will be built at the Vostochny spaceport, deputy head of the Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure Andrey Okhlopkov said on Wednesday. "There will be one universal [launch pad]," Okhlopkov said adding that it will be capable of servicing all types of Angara rocket, including Angara-A5V. The decision was made after federal target programs for developing cosmodromes were cut. In 2016, Russia will start building launch and technical facilities for the new Angara carrier rocket as the second stage of the Vostochny cosmodrome construction. Plans are afoot to create a heavy-class space and rocket center for the launches of unmanned space vehicles and as part of a manned flight program. The cosmodrome is expected to be fully commissioned in 2020.

http://tass.ru/en/science/850717

 

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Russian space agency scales back plans as crisis shrinks budget

 

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MOSCOW, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Russia will spend 30 percent less on its space programme in the next decade and scale back a slew of projects to save money in the face of tanking oil prices and a falling rouble, a plan presented by the country's space agency showed on Wednesday,

 

According to the blueprint, presented to Russian media by Igor Komarov, head of space agency Roscosmos, the space programme budget for 2016-2025 will be cut to 1.4 trillion roubles ($17.36 billion), down from 2 trillion roubles.

 

That means plans to launch a manned flight to the moon will be pushed back five years - to 2035 from 2030 - and that development of a reusable space rocket meant to be built by 2025 will, for now, be abandoned.

 

"Russia is certain to implement this project, but at the moment the launch of a booster rocket with a reusable first stage is not economically viable," local media cited Komarov as saying. He did not elaborate.

 

A Roscosmos spokesman told Reuters the agency would return to the matter after 2025.

 

Russia's Cold War-era rival, the United States, has already successfully tested similar vehicles. Re-using the first stages of rockets, designed to return to Earth after launch, would make commercial rocket launches cheaper.

 

A new cosmodrome currently under construction in the country's Far East will also suffer under the slimmed down programme. It will now get only one launch pad instead of the two originally planned.

 

The government is due to sign off on the new space programme in March. It is unclear whether it could demand more cuts before then.

 

Heavily dependent on oil revenues, Russia has been forced to scale back spending plans across a range of sectors as it tries to navigate an economic crisis compounded by a weakening rouble and Western sanctions over the Ukraine crisis.

The rouble hit a record low on Wednesday.

 

President Vladimir Putin has spoken many times of rekindling Soviet-era space glory. The USSR launched the first artificial "Sputnik" satellite in 1957, sent the first man into space in 1961, and conducted the first-ever space walk in 1965.

 

But the United States made six manned landings on the moon between 1969 and 1972, while the Soviet-built N-1 heavy rocket, designed to take cosmonauts to the moon, failed to make a single successful flight. ($1 = 80.6600 roubles) (Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/russian-space-agency-scales-back-164735434.html

 

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Russia to phase out importing Ukrainian Rocket Parts

 

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Russia's Roscosmos space agency plans to gradually stop using Ukrainian-made rocket parts after a breakdown in space cooperation, the organization's spokesperson said Thursday.

Deteriorating relations between Moscow and Kiev over the 2014 conflict in Ukraine's southeast have put a strain on their space cooperation. Russia has to rely on NASA mediation to procure rocket control systems from Ukraine.

"Our reliance on Ukrainian components is very limited, and I am positive that it will be phased out in the near future," the spokesperson told reporters.

Despite worsened relations, Russia and Ukraine launched a jointly-built Zenit carrier rocket in late 2015. It is produced by the Ukrainian Yuzhmash manufacturer with 70 percent of Russian-made components.

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russian_State_Space_Agency_to_Phase_Out_Imports_of_Ukrainian_Rocket_Parts_999.html

 

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2016: Scaling down

 

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On January 20, 2016, Roskosmos officials admitted that budget cuts at the end of 2015 required to drop plans to build one of the two launch pads for Angara rockets in Vostochny. Previously, the Russian space officials claimed that a dual launch complex for the Angara was absolutely necessary to support the four-launch scenario of the lunar expeditions relying on the Angara-5V rocket.

 

The beginning of the construction of the remaining single pad was now delayed from 2016 to 2017.

 

To save money, the Amur project, which aimed to bring the Angara family to Vostochny, was subdivided into two phases. Only the first phase, which funded the deployment of the Angara-5/KVTK and Angara-5P rockets at the site, would reach flight tests in 2021, during the Federal Space Program extending from 2016 to 2025. The completion of the second phase, which would see the first unmanned launch of the Angara-5V rocket from Vostochny, was now postponed from 2024 to beyond 2025.

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/vostochny_angara.html#2016

 

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The approved budget for the development of the Amur project, (as of Dec. 23, 2015):

Currency	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	Total
In millions of rubles	1,322.7	2,392.3	2,395.8	2,508	5,062.4	9,614.3	12,119.0	11,836.1	13,213.7	16,997.0	77,461.3

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/vostochny_angara.html#2016

 

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With Doc's news (post above), and a summary I posted on last page ...prior to deviating to "risk".........

 

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I am attempting to figure this out....
 
1) They have some work done already on "fly back booster", but have appeared to temporarily suspend this.
 
2) The Angara line meant to replace Proton....Angara 1.2, 3, 5, 5P   (ongoing with pad being built at Vostochny)
 
3) Soyuz 5 to replace present Soyuz...Soyuz 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 5.3 PTK/NP
 
4) Fenix was initially intended as a LNG modular lifter to overlap Angara, now..no LNG and modular with ability to up size to super heavy lifter.
 
5) LNG engine work to continue and a future lifter made to "fit this package"
 
6) Core sizes appear to be in range of one another...boosters extra
 
7) Reduced budget for next 10 years and falling oil prices will not help matters.
 
8) PTK capsule to continue till completion.
 
9) Two overlapping launcher families preferable in case of an "accident"....assured access to space.
 
If I had to guess, one of them, the Soyuz 5 or Fenix, may be curtailed shortly due to budget constraints. My guess would be to continue Fenix on the way to super heavy.
 
Well Doc...how bad have I botched this analysis....?

This has changed again....

 

Primarily, only one Angara universal pad at Vostochny, delayed till 2017......with manned A5V delayed again into the mid 2020's.

 

They have to have Angara as a replacement for Proton...I would think it unwise to use proton for another decade.

 

They need a replacement for current Soyuz, hence Soyuz 5

 

It appears manned program put off for awhile, then why any concern with superheavies, other than "powerpoint".

 

10 year budget does not look realistic at 2020 and beyond.

 

Next guess after these articles....They need to work on Angara to replace Proton as well as a replacement for Soyuz, which is the "bread and butter" right now.

 

The rest of the planning is not going to happen in the foreseeable future unless funding is there to promote it.

 

Vostochny will be okay, but it is very troubling for Roscosmos now and for the next decade.

 

 

 

[DocM]

Crude oil hit $32 a barrel today. These prices kill Russian oil income, which is one of their largest moneymakers. With Iran oil coming into the market its not likely to change.

[+Mirumir Subscriber¹]

1 minute ago, DocM said:

Crude oil hit $32 a barrel today.

It touched $27 on Wednesday so the 32 dollar mark two days after is a rebound.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Just found this.....

 

Russia’s new manned spacecraft to be 3.5 times cheaper than US Dragon

 

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MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Russia’s State Corporation Roscosmos intends to spend over 58 billion rubles ($734 million) on a new manned spacecraft or 3.5 times less than NASA has allocated to SpaceX on the Dragon space vehicle, according to a document published on Friday.

 

The funds for the project to develop the new manned spacecraft called Federation are stipulated in a draft federal space program for 2016-2025 prepared for submission to the Russian government. Under the document, 58 billion rubles will be spent on R&D work to develop the ‘promising manned transport system’ through 2025, or 8 billion rubles ($101 million) less than was planned last year.

 

As was reported earlier, SpaceX will receive $2.6 billion from NASA to develop the Dragon 2 manned spaceship. Meanwhile, the development of the new Russian space vehicle will cost just $734 million. Russia plans to launch the Federation space vehicle in 2021. Subsequent launches to the International Space Station in the manned and unmanned modes are scheduled for 2023.

 

A space vehicle to fly around the Moon will be created in 2024-2025 and the flight is planned after 2025. The previous draft federal space program stipulated financing in the amount of 66.689 billion rubles ($844 million) before budget cuts. The manned flight to the International Space Station was planned in 2024 and the spacecraft was expected to fly around the Moon in 2025.

 

The promising new-generation transport spaceship developed by Energiya Rocket and Space Corporation is designed to deliver humans and cargoes to the Moon and near-Earth orbital stations The spacecraft will have a crew of up to four persons.

 

The new space vehicle will be able to operate autonomously for up to 30 days and its flight as part of an orbital station can last up to one year.

 

The Angara-A5V heavy-class rocket is expected for use to deliver the new spacecraft into orbit.

 

http://tass.ru/en/science/851562

 

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Spacecraft for first launch from Vostochny delivered to spaceport

 

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MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Aist-2D spacecraft and nanosatellite SamSat-218 have been delivered to the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East for the first launch, Federal Space Agency Roscosmos said on Thursday.

 

"Spacecraft Aist-2D and SamSat-218 were delivered to the assembly and testing facility for carrier rockets at the Vostochny cosmodrome," the agency said in a statement. The spacecraft will remain in sealed containers until construction works are finished at the assembly and testing facility.

 

After that, specialists from the Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure will test equipment. The plane carrying spacecraft landed at the airport of Blagoveschensk in the evening yesterday.

 

The satellites and the Mikhaylo Lomonosov spacecraft that will be delivered to the cosmodrome at the beginning of February will be launched first from the Vostochny spaceport. The first launch from the spaceport is preliminarily planned for the second half of April.

http://tass.ru/en/science/851521

 

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A bit confusing, but would appear that the Angara 5V still being worked on unless Angara 5 will launch "Federation" for her unmanned tests .....

[DocM]

Quoting $2.6 billion for Dragon development is rather disingenuous since that award includes not only the CCtCap development but also 2 test flights and operational flights including the F9 launchers.

 

From 2010 to 2014 SpaceX received $545 million, most of it for cargo Dragon - not crew.

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

As Mark Twain stated..." Get your facts first...then distort them at your leisure"

[BetaguyGZT]

Interesting that the Russians are quoting their prices so low. I guess they aren't including the bribes.

[BetaguyGZT]

1 hour ago, DocM said:

Quoting $2.6 billion for Dragon development is rather disingenuous since that award includes not only the CCtCap development but also 2 test flights and operational flights including the F9 launchers.

 

From 2010 to 2014 SpaceX received $545 million, most of it for cargo Dragon - not crew.

 

 

Since Dragon and Dragon 2 are far superior technologically to anything that the Russians have ever attempted to R&D, let alone construct, and offsetting what the CTC has earned SpaceX, I'd say that Dragon and Dragon 2 have been bargains.  Far cheaper than anything NASA could come up with, and I should point out that SpaceX has done all of their work including Falcons 1, 9, and FH for less than NASA did Mercury~Geminii for. Yeah. Who's doing more with less now, fellas?

Edited January 23, 2016 by Unobscured Vision

[Draggendrop Veteran]

First Soyuz rocket assembled in Vostochny

 

First assembly of the launch vehicle in Vostochny began around January 19, 2016.

 

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On January 18, 2016, a team of specialists from RKTs Progress, who are responsible for the assembly and testing of the Soyuz rocket in Baikonur, arrived at Russia's future space port in Vostochny to support the first launch campaign at the new site. The Soyuz-2-1a rocket intended for the maiden flight from Vostochny was finally unloaded from its transport containers on January 20, after its assembly building at the center's processing facility had received power via a permanent supply line, Roskosmos announced.

 

At the time, autonomous tests of the new launch facilities were scheduled to be completed by March 26, 2016, when the rocket would be rolled out to the launch pad for integrated tests.

 

Contingent on the success of all tests, the first launch from the new Russian space center could take place as early as the second half of April, the head of Roskosmos Igor Komarov said upon his inspection of the site on January 20.

 

Also on January 19, the Volga upper stage, the Aist-2D experimental remote-sensing satellite and the SamSat-218 educational nano-satellite were scheduled to depart the airfield at the Aviakor plant near the cirty of Samara onboard an Il-76 transport plane bound to Blagoveshensk, south of Vostochny. Following its landing in Blagoveshensk on January 21, the hardware was expected to reach its future spaceport by rail on January 22 and be delivered for processing a day later. The primary payload on the first flight from Vostochny -- the Lomonosov satellite -- was expected to arrive at the launch site on February 1.

 

By January 26, four boosters of the first stage were integrated with the core booster of the second stage, which was to follow with pneumatic and electric tests and would be concluded with the final assembly of the rocket, Roskosmos said. According to the agency, engineers from RKTs Progress planned to complete all operations with the first launch vehicle in Vostochny on March 15, 2016.

 

 

Two lower stages of the Soyuz rocket were integrated inside a processing facility in Vostochny on Jan. 26, 2016.

 

 

 

The Volga upper stage, Aist-2D, and Samsat-218 satellites arrive at Blagoveshensk on January 21, 2016. 

 

 

 

Two lower stages of the Soyuz rocket were integrated for first time in Vostochny by Jan. 26, 2016. 

 

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz2-vostochny.html#unload

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

RT EXCLUSIVE: Drone footage of Russia’s mighty new Vostochny Cosmodrome (VIDEO)

 

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RT has captured spectacular drone footage of Russia’s ongoing project – the Vostochny Cosmodrome, which promises to further cement the country’s self-sufficiency with regard to space travel. The first launch at the site could be as soon as April.

The flyover captures a silent, snowy and inhospitable landscape, as the drone hovers over the vast base near Uglegorsk village in the Amurskaya Oblast. The site will soon be busy launching a whole slew of Russian spacecraft – among them the Volga rocket launch vehicle, as well as the Lomonosov and Aist satellites.

The first launch is expected in late April, Roskosmos said. There is also ongoing construction on the new Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle, expected to be completed by the end of March.

https://www.rt.com/news/329662-vostochny-cosmodrome-drone-video/

 

RAW: Drone footage of Russia’s new Vostochny Cosmodrome (EXCLUSIVE)

video is 1:16 min.

 

 

 

 

Russia comes first by space garbage volume, third by satellite grouping — report

 

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Tthe largest space grouping is held by the United States (542 satellites) followed by China (163) and Russia (139)

 

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Russia’s satellite grouping is the third biggest by the number of satellites after the United States and China but Russia still has the largest volume of garbage in orbit, according to a report released by the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) on Monday. The 2015 final report was prepared by specialists of the ballistic center of the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIImash), which is Roscosmos’ leading institute. "The largest number of space garbage objects belongs to such countries as Russia (6,169 space objects), the United States (4,878) and China (3,645)," the report says. Meanwhile, of all existing satellites (active, back-up space vehicles and satellites undergoing flight trials and partially operational), the largest space grouping is held by the United States (542 satellites) followed by China (163) and Russia (139), according to the report.

 

The Russian satellite grouping was not far behind the Chinese constellation in April 2015. According to Head of the Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council Yuri Koptev, the Russian satellite grouping was by five satellites smaller than the Chinese constellation at that time. "Today we are not in the best condition," he said. Overall, 17,472 man-made space objects were listed in the near-Earth space as of December 31, 2015. Of this number, 1,442 are operational spacecraft and the remaining 16,030 are space garbage, including 2,689 inactive satellites. Also, there are 1,931 acceleration units and 1,931 upper stages of carrier rockets in orbit, along with 11,041 fragments of space vehicles, boosters and carrier rocket upper stages.

http://tass.ru/en/science/851903

[Draggendrop Veteran]

This post will be a collection of twitter posts, which have images for us....(translation did not carry over)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Draggendrop Veteran]

confirmation article about April launch...

 

Soyuz prepared for first flight from Siberian cosmodrome

 

The three-stage Soyuz-2.1a rocket is assembled inside a hangar at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East. Credit: Roscosmos

 

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The first Soyuz rocket to launch from a new cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East is being assembled for liftoff in April with a package of small research satellites.

 

Technicians inside a hangar at the Vostochny Cosmodrome have connected the Soyuz rocket’s two core stages and four liquid-fueled boosters ahead of electrical tests that will verify the launcher’s readiness for flight, according to Roscosmos, the Russian space agency.

 

Ground crews from TsSKB Progress, the Soyuz rocket’s manufacturer based in Samara, Russia, will complete preparations on the rocket by March 15, Roscosmos said in a Jan. 26 update posted on its website.

 

Russian news agencies have reported the Soyuz booster is tentatively set for liftoff April 25 on the first launch from Vostochny, a facility located in Russia’s Amur region near the Chinese border about 3,400 miles (5,500 kilometers) east of Moscow.

 

Two of the three satellites that will launch aboard the Soyuz rocket arrived at the Vostochny Cosmodrome on Jan. 21, Roscosmos said.

 

A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 transport jet delivered the Aist 2D engineering test satellite and the SamSat 218 CubeSat to Vostochny, along with the Soyuz rocket’s Volga upper stage, which will inject the satellites into orbit.

Components of the first Soyuz rocket to launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Credit: Roscosmos

 

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The 1,170-pound (531-kilogram) Aist 2D satellite, made by TsSKB Progress in partnership with Samara State Aerospace University, will demonstrate a new small spacecraft design with a high-resolution hyperspectral imaging camera. Aist 2D also carries an innovative radar operating in P-band, a wavelength that penetrates through forest canopies and Earth’s surface to study underground structures.

 

Aist 2D’s other science instruments will study the environment around the spacecraft and monitor how the satellite’s components respond to the harsh temperature extremes, vacuum conditions and micrometeoroid and space debris impacts in orbit, according to TsSKB Progress.

The SamSat 218 satellite, built by students at Samara State Aerospace University, is about the size of a shoebox. The craft’s mission is part-educational and part-technology demo, with its flight plan including tests in how to control tiny satellites in orbit.

 

Engineers planned to keep the Volga upper stage and the Aist 2D and Samsat 218 satellites in their shipping containers until early February, after ground teams complete tests of the Soyuz rocket and its launch pad.

 

The Aist 2D satellite. Credit: TsSKB Progress

 

A view of the Soyuz launch pad at the Vostochny Cosmodrome. Its design is similar to the Soyuz launch facility at the European-run Guiana Space Center in South America, with a large concrete flame pit and mobile service gantry. Credit: Roscosmos

 

more at the link...

http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/01/31/soyuz-prepared-for-first-flight-from-siberian-cosmodrome/

 

Time is getting closer for the first official soot in the new flame trench....

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Not much out there for updates...odds and ends....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BetaguyGZT]

Damn, that's some cold cold. -38C ... yikes. Eh, bit of the ol' Botki will keep them warm.  

[DocM]

The record low in MI is -46°C, and there was once a wind chill of -88°C at northern peninsula air base.

[Draggendrop Veteran]

Yes...The Great lakes winter temperatures feel much worse than the readings indicate due to the moisture. The cold sinks into you quickly.

[BetaguyGZT]

You folks in Canada have it worse than we do.