Russian launch vehicles: 2017 year and near future
Russia, which possesses carrier rockets of several classes and types, is sometimes derogatoryly called the “space carrier”. However, if we take into account the specifics of the industry, such a name can be interpreted in a positive way. The existing fleet of missiles and upper stages makes it possible to solve various tasks, and output one or another payload to different orbits. Moreover, in certain areas, Russian technology is in fact a monopolist - due to the well-known events of the recent past, access to the International Space Station is now provided only by the Soyuz series.
During this year, the Russian rocket and space industry should conduct 19 launches of several types of launch vehicles. To date, most of these plans have been completed: 13 missiles successfully delivered a payload to orbit. By the end of the year, 6 launches are planned. The first two of them are scheduled for next week - October 12 and October 13.
The main platform for Russian launches is still the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This year, 13 has been assigned to it. Three more rockets have already launched from Plesetsk, and in the near future another one will be added to this list. In November and December, two rocket launches are planned from the newest Vostochny space center. This will be the second and third start from the newly built site.
This year most of the launches are carried out with the use of Soyuz launch vehicles. The manned program involves Soyuz-FG missiles with Soyuz-MS series ships. Other missions to put into orbit are solved with the help of Soyuz-2.1а, Soyuz-2.1b, Soyuz-2.1в and Soyuz-U carriers. From April to December, Roskosmos must launch a total of four rockets with astronauts on board and 9 "Soyuz" with various automatic vehicles. Among them are three space "truck" type "Progress MS".
Separately, it should be noted two launches of Soyuz-ST missiles made this year. These launches from the French Kourou cosmodrome do not formally refer to the Russian ones. Nevertheless, despite the use of a foreign cosmodrome, they use Russian-made launch vehicles. Thus, they can also be taken into account when analyzing the current work of Roskosmos and related organizations.
In the recent past, the domestic space industry was forced to temporarily suspend the operation of Proton-M launch vehicles. Since then, the existing problems have been solved, and these missiles returned to work. 8 of June, 17 of August, 11 and 28 of September, four carriers of this type successfully put a payload into orbit - one domestic and three foreign communication satellites. The next launch of the Proton-M is scheduled for next year. According to some information, in this flight the launch vehicle will send a new laboratory module for the ISS into space. In addition, plans to launch heavy satellites of various types in the interests of various customers.
Other launch vehicles also remain in operation, but they have only two launches. On October 13, the Rokot rocket is launched from Plesetsk with the Breeze-KM upper stage, whose mission will be the launch of the European satellite Sentinel-5P into orbit. In early December, the complex of the Zenit-3SLBF rocket and the Fregat-SB upper stage will launch the AngoSat Angolan communications satellite into space.
Traditionally - for obvious reasons - Roskosmos is the main customer of launches of domestic launch vehicles. This trend continues in the current 2017 year. From 19, formally Russian launches of 10 are performed under a contract with a domestic state corporation. First of all, these orders are related to the support of the ISS, and imply the launch of the Soyuz-MS and Progress-MS type ships.
At the same time, other payloads were launched and planned for launch. This year, it is planned to send three Earth-sensing satellites of the Canopus-V series into orbit. One of them brought 14 July, the other two will be launched at the end of the year. At the end of November, the launch of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket with the Meteor-M satellite is scheduled.
The second largest number of launches is the Russian Air and Space Forces, which have ordered four starts. In May and June, spacecraft systems put into orbit the Kosmos-2518 and Cosmos-2519 devices. According to reports, this technique is used as part of a missile attack warning system. In August, in the interests of VKS, the launch of the communication satellite Blagovest-1 took place. On September 22, the Soyuz-2.1b rocket launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome sent another satellite of the GLONASS navigation system into space. As far as we know, until the end of the year, new launches in the interests of the Aerospace Forces are not planned.
The category of commercial launches in the interests of foreign customers can only be attributed to 5 launches (or 7 - taking into account two "French" from the Kourou cosmodrome). In early June, the Proton-M with the Breeze-M upper stage launched the American communications satellite EchoStar 21 into orbit. In September, Russian missiles sent into space communication satellites, commissioned by Spanish and Hong Kong commercial organizations. In October and December, the Russian space industry will execute orders from the European Space Agency and the Angolan company AngoSat.
In general, the statistics of Russian launches in the current 2017 year looks good. Domestic carriers account for a significant proportion of launches, and in addition, they retain their leading positions in global statistics. However, there is a noticeable lag behind the US rocket and space industry, which currently holds the first place in the number of launches.
In the first nine months of 2017, 62 launched space rockets around the world, the vast majority of which were found to be successful. 20 starts accounted for several US organizations. Russia with 13 launches ranks second on the leaderboard. The third place is shared by China and ESA, who completed 9 launches. Thus, from the point of view of absolute numbers, the position of Russian astronautics looks decent and allows one to do without pessimism.
However, it should be noted the specific structure of the Russian order book. Two thirds of the launches of Russian launch vehicles (if we consider Russian-made carriers built for the Kourou cosmodrome) fall on orders from Roskosmos and the Aerospace Forces. Only seven out of two dozen missiles must deliver a commercial payload into orbit. The structure of orders of foreign rocket and space organizations looks different. For example, in the case of the American industry, the number of commercial launches can be compared with the number of orders from government organizations.
These circumstances are not very pleasant consequences of a financial nature. So, last year the volume of the world market of commercial launches reached 2,5 billion US dollars. Of this amount, only 130 million went to the Russian space industry. The remaining more than two billion were divided mainly by American companies, including private ones, and the European Space Agency. This year the numbers should change noticeably, but the current trend is not likely to change. Seven commercial launches for the year do not allow us to expect to receive big profits.
The Russian rocket and space industry sees this problem and is already looking for ways to solve it. With the implementation of all existing plans, Russia will get a chance to significantly increase its share in the market of commercial space "traffic". According to experts, one of the main problems lies in the structure of the rocket technology park. In the foreseeable future, it is proposed to create several new launch vehicles with the required characteristics, but differing in reduced launch costs.
In the early twenties, it is planned to put a new medium, the Soyuz-5, to be put to the test, and by the middle of the decade it should be put into operation. First of all, this rocket is considered as the carrier of the manned ship "Federation", but it can be equipped with another payload.
Based on the existing heavy-duty rocket Proton-M, several new projects are proposed to be created. By changing the composition of the aggregates, it will be possible to build carriers of the light and middle class, fully capable of competing with foreign counterparts. Projects Proton Medium and Proton Light are still at the design stage. The first flight of the modification of the middle class is scheduled for 2019 year. Upon completion of all necessary checks, the rocket will receive a recommendation for further operation. Not later than the mid-twenties, both new "Protons" can become full-fledged commercial carriers.
It is noteworthy that the developed rocket has already attracted the attention of potential customers. Earlier it was reported that the company International Launch Services, which will operate the Proton Light and Proton Medium complexes, has already received the first order. Eutelsat Communications, a large communications company, intends to send its new spacecraft into orbit with the help of the updated Proton. Other details of this order, however, have not yet been clarified.
At present, Russia has a whole range of modern launch vehicles of several classes capable of outputting different payloads to different orbits. This technique finds application in the scientific and military fields, and also promotes the development of communication systems. The existing nomenclature of carriers does not yet allow to easily obtain all the desired contracts, but new projects are being created to solve this problem.
All this means that the remaining plans for the current 2017 year will be fulfilled, and in the next 2018, Russian enterprises will carry out new launches, both ordered by domestic state organizations and commercial ones. Despite certain problems and difficulties, the space industry celebrated its anniversary with successes and a reason for restrained optimism.
On the materials of the sites:
https://roscosmos.ru/
http://rg.ru/
http://ria.ru/
http://tass.ru/
http://lenta.ru/
- Ryabov Kirill
- State Corporation "Roscosmos" / roscosmos.ru
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