The second "Baikonur". Russia is building a space center in the Far East
Russia, at last, has begun work on the actual construction of its new Vostochny cosmodrome, located in the Amur Region. According to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the Russian defense industry and space, the scale of this project can be compared with the Soviet electrification plan of the country - GOELRO. In this case, exaggeration does not seem so strong. The Vostochny Cosmodrome is not a backup, but a full replacement of the famous and great Baikonur Cosmodrome. Initially they plan to transfer all manned launches here. So the scope of work, as well as budget expenses, will be astronomical.
Back in April of this year, Dmitry Rogozin said that the construction of residential neighborhoods for the new Far Eastern "star city" for the Vostochny spaceport will be started in 4 quarter 2012 of the year, and the spaceport will be ready for 2015 year. In any other scenario, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia promised to sacrifice his tooth. According to Dmitry Rogozin, in the 4 quarter of 2012, in parallel with the construction of residential neighborhoods, the construction of the cosmodrome infrastructure will begin, which will help take Soyuz-2 missiles into space, which can be classified as light rockets. In the future, they are going to use the Fregat acceleration kits, as well as heavier missiles.
According to Dmitry Rogozin, the Vostochny space center will help make Russia more equilibrium in terms of population density, especially stressing that today in the east Russia is adjacent to such densely populated countries as the PRC, Japan, India, the DPRK, and South Korea. The new Vostochny cosmodrome will help Russia to solve the whole range of tasks in the space field, that is, to make launches into the near and far space. The southern latitudes of the cosmodrome will allow ships with a sufficiently large load to be set at specified orbits with minimal costs. In addition, it was decided to build a unique satellite city, convenient for life and extremely beautiful. In addition, the Academgorodok will be built next to the cosmodrome, which will be an additional incentive for young people to go live and work in the Far East.
What will the new spaceport Russia
A new spaceport in the Russian Far East will be able to give the country:
- independence of space activities in the whole range of tasks: from socio-economic and scientific, to manned space flights;
- guaranteed implementation of commercial and international space programs (as opposed to the existing Baikonur cosmodrome, whose work is hampered by Kazakhstan from time to time);
- improvement of the socio-economic situation in the Far East, development of local industrial production, attraction of private capital and investments to the spaceport creation area;
- In the future, reducing the cost of renting the Kazakh "Baikonur".
Advantages of the Vostochny Cosmodrome
According to Roscosmos, the spaceport will have the following advantages:
- the initial part of the flight path of the launch vehicles will not pass over densely populated areas of the country, as well as over the territory of foreign states;
- drop areas of detachable parts launched by rockets are located in neutral waters or sparsely populated areas of Russia;
- The location of the cosmodrome is located close to the developed highways and railways and airfields.
We can note separately the reduction of political risks - in recent years, Kazakhstan has blocked Russian launches several times using various pretexts. In this case, the primary task is to reduce the load on the Baikonur cosmodrome, but not its full replacement, at least until the end of the lease term - 2050 year. Local authorities will try to solve their regional tasks by building a cosmodrome. In particular, the Vostochny cosmodrome is considered as the cornerstone for the implementation of the State Program for the resettlement of compatriots.
Disadvantages of the Vostochny cosmodrome compared to Baikonur
- the need to build our own airfield (at Baikonur there are 2 modern ones), or to lay a railway line from the spaceport to the nearest airfield (necessary for transporting spacecraft);
- increase in transportation costs (both time and financial). Currently, the main space enterprises of Russia are located in Moscow, Samara and Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), it is from there that launch vehicles, spacecraft and personnel are delivered to Baikonur aviation or by rail over a distance of 2 and 500 km. respectively. In the case of the new Vostochny spaceport, the delivery distance will increase to 1 km.
- the Vostochny cosmodrome is located at 6 degrees north of Baikonur, which leads to a reduction in the maximum mass of cargo to be launched into space (other things being equal, the launch conditions);
- spent parts of rockets, landing in the taiga, can cause forest fires, which are quite a serious problem for this region of Russia;
- lack of infrastructure and housing for employees, leads to large financial costs for the creation of a virtually new city, with a population of up to 100 000 people (with families of cosmodrome personnel).
Price issue
The cost of construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome is estimated at 300 billion rubles, which is comparable to the expenses of the Russian budget for the Sochi Olympics and the APEC summit. Such a staggering amount of construction was voiced by G. Naginsky, director of the Federal Agency Spetsstroy. It is worth noting that officially the country's government approved an estimate of 81 billion rubles to 2015 of the year. True, soon enough, in the speeches of officials, the phrase about 251 billion rubles began to sound, now there was a new figure announced - 300 billion rubles.
The cosmodrome becomes more expensive, although so far virtually nothing has been done. As of the end of September 2012, the work had not gone beyond the stage of clearing the forest belts and digging the pits. With such schedules to meet the deadline will not be easy, most likely, the construction deadlines will be transferred. At present, it is said that the first launch of the launch vehicle from the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled for 2015, the first manned flight will take place in 2018, and the final completion of construction is scheduled for 2020.
Any average person may wonder, why is it so slow? Of course, building spaceports is not an easy task. In order to assess the scale of these facilities, it is necessary to know their size. For example, “Baikonur” with its 15 launch complexes, 2 airfields, half a thousand railways, is spread over an area of 6 700 square. kilometers On the territory - it is more than Transnistria or Cyprus. There are a total of 28 spaceports built around the world (with 5 being decommissioned). However, the truly large platforms from which heavy rockets capable of launching manned vehicles into Earth orbit could be launched, all in all, 3 pieces. In addition to the "Baikonur" and the American Space Center. Kennedy, this is the Jiuquan PRC space center, which occupies 2 800 square. kilometers
By the time the Vostochny is finally built, it will be one of the 4's largest spaceports of the planet and will be the most modern of them. It will be not only a launch vehicle for launching heavy carriers, but also a 2 fuel plant: hydrogen and nitrogen. In total, the spaceport will include the 1 600 order of various structures. In addition, Roskosmos showed and pictures of the modern star town, while on 30 000 residents. Judging by the presented images, the cosmodrome workers will have to live in ultra-modern housing among flowering gardens.
That's just to wait for this miracle will take a long time. At one time, when the superpowers drove each other through the space race, the launch sites were erected in the blink of an eye. For example, Baikonur was built in less than 2 of the year. The first works in Kazakhstan began in June of the 1955 year, and the first launch of a ballistic missile took place already in May of the 1957 year, after the 4 month the first satellite in the world went to Earth's orbit.
At Vostochny, the percussion construction did not work out from the very beginning. Formally, work on the facility has been going on since November 2007, since the Russian president signed a decree on the creation of a new cosmodrome. In fact, the process was slowed down as best they could. Many attribute this to the position of the former head of Roscosmos, A. Perminov, who almost openly opposed the Vostochny cosmodrome. The calculation here was as follows. Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed on the lease terms of Baikonur to 2050. Every year, Russia transfers to its neighbor, 115 million dollars (3,7 billion rubles), the cost of rent is fixed for the entire term. We have to admit that this agreement was beneficial for Russia. The total amount of payments for the remaining 38 years of rent will be 140 billion rubles, which is less than what is required to build a new cosmodrome. The savings could be used for various purposes, for example, for the development of new launch vehicles.
Choosing a place for the future spaceport
However, the views of the Kremlin with the position of Perminov diverged. Upstairs decided that space independence is more important than saving money. According to the plans, after 2030, 90% of all our launches will be carried out in the Russian territory. After that, Kazakhstan, most likely, will be forced to almost completely preserve Baikonur, since its re-equipment for launching foreign missiles is expensive and difficult. Most likely, only the 1 launch complex, Baytrek, which is intended for launching new Angara missiles, will remain in operation. The cost of its construction is 1,6 billion dollars and takes on itself Kazakhstan. Here countries have a mutual benefit. Russia will sell missiles to Kazakhstan, and he will make money on commercial launches.
Having decided on the fate of "Baikonur", in Russia they began to search for a place for a new cosmodrome. For some time, experts leaned toward Nakhodka. Choosing one of the most southerly points on the territory of Russia, which is even 3 degrees south of Baikonur. In addition, Nakhodka is located by the sea, thanks to which bulky spacecraft could be brought by water transport. It is cheaper than delivering them from factories using aviation. Beijing was counting on transport economy when it finished finishing the 4 on the Wenchang space center, located on the seashore.
However, the choice did not fall on the Primorsky Territory, but on the Amur Region, although a number of experts do not consider it optimal. The launch point has moved to 9 degrees north of the latitude of Nakhodka, the space center is located near the border with China. The flight trajectory is such that in the event of an accident during takeoff, the rescue module will most likely land at sea, where it is more difficult to get to it. At the same time, many infrastructure facilities, including roads and housing, will need to be built from scratch. The cost of work will also be affected by annual temperature fluctuations - from + 35 to -40 degrees. What is worth only one preparation of the soil, when the samples have to be taken from a depth of 70 meters.
The cosmodrome in Nakhodka would be good, with the exception of the fact that when launched into orbit, the missiles could fly into the airspace of neighboring Japan. In addition, in the event of a possible accident, our eastern neighbor would not have used to inflate an international scandal. As a third option, the option of construction in the Sovetskaya Gavan area in the Khabarovsk Territory was considered, but it did not fit either, since it was located even closer to Japan.
Information sources:
http://ria.ru/science/20120414/625992986.html
http://argumenti.ru/economics/n357/203212
http://ru.wikipedia.org
Back in April of this year, Dmitry Rogozin said that the construction of residential neighborhoods for the new Far Eastern "star city" for the Vostochny spaceport will be started in 4 quarter 2012 of the year, and the spaceport will be ready for 2015 year. In any other scenario, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia promised to sacrifice his tooth. According to Dmitry Rogozin, in the 4 quarter of 2012, in parallel with the construction of residential neighborhoods, the construction of the cosmodrome infrastructure will begin, which will help take Soyuz-2 missiles into space, which can be classified as light rockets. In the future, they are going to use the Fregat acceleration kits, as well as heavier missiles.
According to Dmitry Rogozin, the Vostochny space center will help make Russia more equilibrium in terms of population density, especially stressing that today in the east Russia is adjacent to such densely populated countries as the PRC, Japan, India, the DPRK, and South Korea. The new Vostochny cosmodrome will help Russia to solve the whole range of tasks in the space field, that is, to make launches into the near and far space. The southern latitudes of the cosmodrome will allow ships with a sufficiently large load to be set at specified orbits with minimal costs. In addition, it was decided to build a unique satellite city, convenient for life and extremely beautiful. In addition, the Academgorodok will be built next to the cosmodrome, which will be an additional incentive for young people to go live and work in the Far East.
What will the new spaceport Russia
A new spaceport in the Russian Far East will be able to give the country:
- independence of space activities in the whole range of tasks: from socio-economic and scientific, to manned space flights;
- guaranteed implementation of commercial and international space programs (as opposed to the existing Baikonur cosmodrome, whose work is hampered by Kazakhstan from time to time);
- improvement of the socio-economic situation in the Far East, development of local industrial production, attraction of private capital and investments to the spaceport creation area;
- In the future, reducing the cost of renting the Kazakh "Baikonur".
Advantages of the Vostochny Cosmodrome
According to Roscosmos, the spaceport will have the following advantages:
- the initial part of the flight path of the launch vehicles will not pass over densely populated areas of the country, as well as over the territory of foreign states;
- drop areas of detachable parts launched by rockets are located in neutral waters or sparsely populated areas of Russia;
- The location of the cosmodrome is located close to the developed highways and railways and airfields.
Baikonur Cosmodrome
We can note separately the reduction of political risks - in recent years, Kazakhstan has blocked Russian launches several times using various pretexts. In this case, the primary task is to reduce the load on the Baikonur cosmodrome, but not its full replacement, at least until the end of the lease term - 2050 year. Local authorities will try to solve their regional tasks by building a cosmodrome. In particular, the Vostochny cosmodrome is considered as the cornerstone for the implementation of the State Program for the resettlement of compatriots.
Disadvantages of the Vostochny cosmodrome compared to Baikonur
- the need to build our own airfield (at Baikonur there are 2 modern ones), or to lay a railway line from the spaceport to the nearest airfield (necessary for transporting spacecraft);
- increase in transportation costs (both time and financial). Currently, the main space enterprises of Russia are located in Moscow, Samara and Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk Territory), it is from there that launch vehicles, spacecraft and personnel are delivered to Baikonur aviation or by rail over a distance of 2 and 500 km. respectively. In the case of the new Vostochny spaceport, the delivery distance will increase to 1 km.
- the Vostochny cosmodrome is located at 6 degrees north of Baikonur, which leads to a reduction in the maximum mass of cargo to be launched into space (other things being equal, the launch conditions);
- spent parts of rockets, landing in the taiga, can cause forest fires, which are quite a serious problem for this region of Russia;
- lack of infrastructure and housing for employees, leads to large financial costs for the creation of a virtually new city, with a population of up to 100 000 people (with families of cosmodrome personnel).
Price issue
The cost of construction of the Vostochny cosmodrome is estimated at 300 billion rubles, which is comparable to the expenses of the Russian budget for the Sochi Olympics and the APEC summit. Such a staggering amount of construction was voiced by G. Naginsky, director of the Federal Agency Spetsstroy. It is worth noting that officially the country's government approved an estimate of 81 billion rubles to 2015 of the year. True, soon enough, in the speeches of officials, the phrase about 251 billion rubles began to sound, now there was a new figure announced - 300 billion rubles.
Construction of the East Cosmodrome
The cosmodrome becomes more expensive, although so far virtually nothing has been done. As of the end of September 2012, the work had not gone beyond the stage of clearing the forest belts and digging the pits. With such schedules to meet the deadline will not be easy, most likely, the construction deadlines will be transferred. At present, it is said that the first launch of the launch vehicle from the Vostochny cosmodrome is scheduled for 2015, the first manned flight will take place in 2018, and the final completion of construction is scheduled for 2020.
Any average person may wonder, why is it so slow? Of course, building spaceports is not an easy task. In order to assess the scale of these facilities, it is necessary to know their size. For example, “Baikonur” with its 15 launch complexes, 2 airfields, half a thousand railways, is spread over an area of 6 700 square. kilometers On the territory - it is more than Transnistria or Cyprus. There are a total of 28 spaceports built around the world (with 5 being decommissioned). However, the truly large platforms from which heavy rockets capable of launching manned vehicles into Earth orbit could be launched, all in all, 3 pieces. In addition to the "Baikonur" and the American Space Center. Kennedy, this is the Jiuquan PRC space center, which occupies 2 800 square. kilometers
By the time the Vostochny is finally built, it will be one of the 4's largest spaceports of the planet and will be the most modern of them. It will be not only a launch vehicle for launching heavy carriers, but also a 2 fuel plant: hydrogen and nitrogen. In total, the spaceport will include the 1 600 order of various structures. In addition, Roskosmos showed and pictures of the modern star town, while on 30 000 residents. Judging by the presented images, the cosmodrome workers will have to live in ultra-modern housing among flowering gardens.
That's just to wait for this miracle will take a long time. At one time, when the superpowers drove each other through the space race, the launch sites were erected in the blink of an eye. For example, Baikonur was built in less than 2 of the year. The first works in Kazakhstan began in June of the 1955 year, and the first launch of a ballistic missile took place already in May of the 1957 year, after the 4 month the first satellite in the world went to Earth's orbit.
The project of residential neighborhood for workers East
At Vostochny, the percussion construction did not work out from the very beginning. Formally, work on the facility has been going on since November 2007, since the Russian president signed a decree on the creation of a new cosmodrome. In fact, the process was slowed down as best they could. Many attribute this to the position of the former head of Roscosmos, A. Perminov, who almost openly opposed the Vostochny cosmodrome. The calculation here was as follows. Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed on the lease terms of Baikonur to 2050. Every year, Russia transfers to its neighbor, 115 million dollars (3,7 billion rubles), the cost of rent is fixed for the entire term. We have to admit that this agreement was beneficial for Russia. The total amount of payments for the remaining 38 years of rent will be 140 billion rubles, which is less than what is required to build a new cosmodrome. The savings could be used for various purposes, for example, for the development of new launch vehicles.
Choosing a place for the future spaceport
However, the views of the Kremlin with the position of Perminov diverged. Upstairs decided that space independence is more important than saving money. According to the plans, after 2030, 90% of all our launches will be carried out in the Russian territory. After that, Kazakhstan, most likely, will be forced to almost completely preserve Baikonur, since its re-equipment for launching foreign missiles is expensive and difficult. Most likely, only the 1 launch complex, Baytrek, which is intended for launching new Angara missiles, will remain in operation. The cost of its construction is 1,6 billion dollars and takes on itself Kazakhstan. Here countries have a mutual benefit. Russia will sell missiles to Kazakhstan, and he will make money on commercial launches.
Having decided on the fate of "Baikonur", in Russia they began to search for a place for a new cosmodrome. For some time, experts leaned toward Nakhodka. Choosing one of the most southerly points on the territory of Russia, which is even 3 degrees south of Baikonur. In addition, Nakhodka is located by the sea, thanks to which bulky spacecraft could be brought by water transport. It is cheaper than delivering them from factories using aviation. Beijing was counting on transport economy when it finished finishing the 4 on the Wenchang space center, located on the seashore.
Construction of the East Cosmodrome
However, the choice did not fall on the Primorsky Territory, but on the Amur Region, although a number of experts do not consider it optimal. The launch point has moved to 9 degrees north of the latitude of Nakhodka, the space center is located near the border with China. The flight trajectory is such that in the event of an accident during takeoff, the rescue module will most likely land at sea, where it is more difficult to get to it. At the same time, many infrastructure facilities, including roads and housing, will need to be built from scratch. The cost of work will also be affected by annual temperature fluctuations - from + 35 to -40 degrees. What is worth only one preparation of the soil, when the samples have to be taken from a depth of 70 meters.
The cosmodrome in Nakhodka would be good, with the exception of the fact that when launched into orbit, the missiles could fly into the airspace of neighboring Japan. In addition, in the event of a possible accident, our eastern neighbor would not have used to inflate an international scandal. As a third option, the option of construction in the Sovetskaya Gavan area in the Khabarovsk Territory was considered, but it did not fit either, since it was located even closer to Japan.
Information sources:
http://ria.ru/science/20120414/625992986.html
http://argumenti.ru/economics/n357/203212
http://ru.wikipedia.org
Information