New Russian Cosmodrome - Vostochniy

George1 wrote:Vostochny space center construction behind schedule — deputy PM

It is impossible to determine from this how much of a delay there is. In this case Rogozin should really keep quiet. There has been
enough oversight of this project that rampant corruption is a non-issue. Such construction projects always have delays. Take a
look at construction of nuclear power plants in the USA, Canada, Finland and elsewhere. There are major delays and massive cost
overruns. This cannot all be attributed to corruption and reflects the difficulty in estimating the construction timeline.

If Rogozin is harassing the contractors for basically errors in forecasting, then he is doing more harm than good.

Russia’s Vostochny Cosmodrome Construction Reaches Home Stretch

The facility is expected to reduce Russia’s dependency on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is on lease from the Kazakh government to Russia until 2050.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Vostochny cosmodrome construction in Russia’s Far East has reached a home stretch, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said Friday.

“Vostochny reaches home stretch. Mainly, because of firm decisions,” Rogozin said on his Facebook page.

Earlier this month, Russian Federal Space Agency has requested Russia's construction watchdog Spetstroy to supply all the relevant documents on the phase of cosmodrome construction, Russian daily Kommersant reported. Spetstroy said that the official report is ready.

The Vostochny space center is located in the Russian far eastern Amur region. The facility is expected to reduce Russia’s dependency on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, which is on lease from the Kazakh government to Russia until 2050.

The Russian government also hopes that the Vostochny will benefit the economy of Russia’s Far East, and will enable the country to conduct more launches.

The construction of the space center began in 2012. The first launch of a carrier rocket from the Vostochny is scheduled to take place in 2015, while the first piloted spacecraft is set to take off from the facility in 2018.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150227/1018825750.html#ixzz3T3ZZh8L3

Russia Completing Vostochny Cosmodrome Project

The construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome is nearing its completion. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin on Friday.

The Russian Federal Space Agency earlier asked the Federal Agency for Special Construction to prepare an objective report on the state of the construction of the Vostochny Cosmodrome. The press service of the Federal Agency for Special Construction announced that the response had been prepared. This information will be used by the Federal Space Agency to summarize the preliminary results of the program titled ‘Construction of Russian Cosmodromes in 2006-2015’, as well as to evaluate the utilization efficiency of allocated funds.

It’s necessary to mention that the Vostochny Cosmodrome is being built in Amur Region near Uglegorsk. The first spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2015.

1st Launch of Piloted Spacecraft From Vostochny Center Postponed - Reports

The launch of the first piloted spacecraft from the Russian Vostochy space complex reportedly will be postponed by two years.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The launch of the first piloted spacecraft from the Russian Vostochy space complex will be postponed from 2018 to 2020, Kommersant newspaper reported Friday, citing space industry and governmental sources.

According to the media outlet, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin and head of Russia's space agency Roscosmos Igor Komarov suggested the postponement of the launch to President Vladimir Putin in order to avoid creating infrastructure for old spacecraft at the new space center.

"This [creating sites for old spacecraft] is a waste of money because later the infrastructure would have to be rebuilt for new ships and tasks," a Roscosmos source told Kommersant.

Putin reportedly agreed to postpone the launch.

The Vostochny space center, located in Russia's far eastern Amur region, is expected to reduce Russia's dependency on the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Baikonur is on lease to Russia until 2050.

The construction of Vostochny began in 2012. The first launch of a carrier rocket is scheduled for 2015.

Moscow hopes that the new space center will benefit the region's economy as well as enable Russia to conduct more launches.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150417/1021001174.html#ixzz3XZNKWmyu

George1 wrote:1st Launch of Piloted Spacecraft From Vostochny Center Postponed - Reports

"This [creating sites for old spacecraft] is a waste of money because later the infrastructure would have to be rebuilt for new ships and tasks," a Roscosmos source told Kommersant.

Read more: http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150417/1021001174.html#ixzz3XZNKWmyu

Interesting... Apart from the obvious difficulties at Vostochny like construction delays, construction contractor malfeasance, labour shortages and appalling weather affecting concrete pours, it seems that the 2-year delay in the Angara pad is likely due to the additional infrastructure requirements needed to support the A5V enhanced-heavy lift vehicle. The A5 gantry will need to be modified for the additional stack height of the A5V and to include the LH2 loading systems/piping, as well as LH2 storage (and manufacture?). If the A5V is indeed a reality, it makes sense to defer the pad construction and get the design right rather than simply build a repeat of the Plesetsk gantry.

Construction of two new launch pads for Angara rocket to be started at Vostochny spaceport

The deputy prime minister said that it will be universal launch pads for the Angara A5, Angara 5V rockets and the light class Angara rocket

MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. In January 2016, after the first launch from the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, the construction of two new launch pads for various modifications of the Angara carrier rocket will be started, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Thursday.

"In January, just after the blast-off from the first launch pad we will immediately proceed to the second stage of the Vostochny cosmodrome construction," he said in an interview with the Rosiye 24 TV channel. "The construction scope will be expanded for installing two more launch pads for the Angara rocket."

The deputy prime minister said that it will be universal launch pads for the Angara A5, Angara 5V rockets and the light class Angara rocket. According to him, the plans also envisage the construction of an airfield at the spaceport, roads and other infrastructure.

"There are plenty of plans and all of them are also provided with cost estimating documentation," Rogozin said, adding that normalisation of the construction progress has taken a major effort and it was also necessary to "learn the language of the builders," as well as to overcome problems with a multilayer subcontracting system.

The Vostochy cosmodrome is being built near the Uglegorsk town in the Amur region that will soon get the name of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. The complex will include two launch facilities, an aerodrome, cosmonauts’ flight training facilities, an oxygen-nitrogen plant and hydrogen plant, 115 kilometres of automobile roads and 125 kilometres of railways and other facilities. The first rocket to be launched from Vostochny is to be the Soyuz-2.1a, made by the Progress Rocket and Space Centre. The carrier rocket will place into orbit the Samara satellite Aist-2, the SamSat-218 nanosatellite of the Samara State Aerospace University and the Lomonosov satellite of Moscow State University (MGU).

Directorate of Vostochny cosmodrome will be included in the Roscosmos State Corporation
Russian Aviaton » Thursday June 11, 2015 17:10 MSK

Roscosmos State Corporation, which is being established at the moment, will comprise Cosmonaut Training Center named after Y.A. Gagarin and Directorate of Vostochny cosmodrome, RIA Novosti reports with reference to the First Deputy CEO of United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC), Maxim Petrov.

“Two enterprises will be placed in management of the state corporation: Cosmonaut Training Center named after Y.A. Gagarin and Directorate of Vostochny cosmodrome,” Petrov said in the State Duma.

According to him, Roscosmos State Corporation is being established by the example of Rosatom and Rostec corporations.

Roscosmos State Corporation is being established by means of merging the Federal Space Agency with URSC. It was reported earlier that this process will take about six months and will be completed in mid-2015. Besides space activities, the corporation will be responsible for developing cosmodromes and GLONASS system as well as improving defense capabilities of the country.

Equipment installation starts at new Russian spaceport's command post

The cosmodrome’s command post is located above ground and looks more like a concrete bunker
Russia's new Vostochny saceport

BLAGOVESHCHENSK, June 19. /TASS/. Installation of equipment for the carrier rocket prelaunch procedure has started at the command post of the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region, the press service of Russia’s Special Construction Agency (Spetsstroy) reported on Friday.

"All the premises for the installation of the support equipment, assembly of the first floor of the command post of the Vostochny cosmodrome have been handed over to specialists of the Centre for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure (TsENKI). The equipment for the prelaunch preparation of the carrier rocket and giving the command for blast-off is now being mounted," the press service said.

The cosmodrome’s command post is located above ground and looks more like a concrete bunker. During carrier rocket launches the building will experience an 8-point seismic load, so it was designed and built with an extra margin of safety.

"The command post walls will be more than half a metre thick. More than 12,000 cubic metres of concrete mixture were used in its construction and more than 2,000 tonnes of reinforcement bars," the press service said.

Spetsstroy sources said that the command post is the launch complex’ ‘nerve centre.’ The facility is designed to process all the collected information about the status and readiness of technological and multipurpose support systems, on-board equipment and units of the launch vehicle and spacecraft, quality and the number of components of rocket fuels, special fluids and gases.

The control and test equipment of the prelaunch preparation of the space complex will be located at the command post.

The Vostochny cosmodrome construction was started near the town of Uglegorsk in the Amur region in 2010. It will become the country’s first civilian spaceport ensuring Russia’s full access to outer space.

The first launch from the Vostochny spaceport is planned to be carried out in late 2015.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said previously that the creation of the new spaceport Vostochny in the Far East should confirm Russia’s high scientific and technological status. In his opinion, the new spaceport should become "yet another strongpoint for the development of our Far East."

Vostochny should become operational in 2015 and start sending manned missions in 2018. The comsodrome is intended for launching automatic and piloted space missions under national, international and commercial programmes. By 2018, the spaceport should be ready to launch heavy Angara-5A rockets. The cosmodrome will also have infrastructure for future piloted missions.

The spaceport complex will include two launch facilities, an aerodrome, cosmonauts’ flight training facilities, an oxygen-nitrogen plant and hydrogen plant, 115 kilometres of automobile roads and 125 kilometres of railways and other facilities. The first rocket to be launched from Vostochny is to be the Soyuz-2.1a, made by the Progress Rocket and Space Centre. The carrier rocket will place into orbit the Samara satellite Aist-2, the SamSat-218 nanosatellite of the Samara State Aerospace University and the Lomonosov satellite of Moscow State University (MGU).

Vostochny spaceport to be equipped with smart security systems

Vostochny cosmodrome will become the country’s first civilian spaceport ensuring Russia’s full access to outer space

BLAGOVESHCHENSK, June 30. /TASS/. The facilities of the Vostochny cosmodrome under construction in the Russian Far East will be equipped with modern security systems. This will ensure the highest security level with the use of state-of-the-art technologies, the press service of Dalspetsstroy, a state-run agency affiliated to Russia’s Federal Special Construction Agency (Spetsstroy) said on Tuesday.

"Specialists of Spetsstroy are completing the construction of checkpoints, the installation of perimeter wire fences of the launch and technical complexes. All this allows to install high-tech new generation equipment needed for ensuring safety of the Vostochny facilities," the press service said.

They are installing TV surveillance systems, access control and burglar alarm systems, telecommunication networks and information protection systems.

"The Vostochny project does not stipulate the construction of high concrete fences or barbed wire. Their functions are transferred to the "smart" security systems capable of ensuring 100-percent safety of both the facilities and the staff," Dalspetsstroy said.

The Vostochny cosmodrome construction began near the town of Uglegorsk in the Amur region in 2010. It will become the country’s first civilian spaceport ensuring Russia’s full access to outer space. The first launch from the Vostochny spaceport is planned to be carried out in late 2015.

Fresh pics from my favourite place

http://www.sdelanounas.ru/blogs/64659/

Looks like it's coming along nicely....thx for posting

Cyberspec wrote:Looks like it's coming along nicely....thx for posting

Indeed. +1

From all the talk of corruption and delays you would think nothing was built. People are never given
a proper context. This allows all sorts of propaganda spin. Take a look at construction projects in the 3rd
world and you will realize that Vostochny is not in the state that is being hysterically claimed. A two year
delay and a $256 million overrun on the budget on a project this scale is a joke. In corrupt 3rd world
equivalent terms the project would be over 10 years behind schedule and several billion dollars over budget.

Cyberspec wrote:Looks like it's coming along nicely....thx for posting

No problem, this is one of my favorite topics. Can't wait to see the finished version, it will be glorious.

http://www.sdelanounas.ru/blogs/65566/

Some more pics of construction site, no dates but given the construction progress and vegetation they seem to be quite recent.

http://www.sdelanounas.ru/blogs/66035/

Vostochny is 95% finished and has reached the "launch minimum" threshold. Basically all of the infrastructure is ready and the
remaining 5% is mostly specialized equipment installation.

Motherload guys and gals!!!    

Fresh UAV aerial pics from construction site plus some cool usual material:

















Nice dude who made these awesome pics:












You can see one of two massive observation towers being constructed in the background




















Photos with descriptions here:
http://russos.livejournal.com/1232169.html

@Papadragon

Thk for the pic

Book. wrote:@Papadragon

Thk for the pic

You're welcome buddy!

Construction of town Tsiolkovsky next to Vostochniy spaceport:





















More pics and descriptions:
http://russos.livejournal.com/1235971.html

I didn't see this posted here, plans for manned Soyuz from Vostochny are being dropped completely,
with manned program from Vostochny now planned to only happen via Angara-5V (+PPTS), now scheduled for 2025.
Which begs the question, why bother finishing the Soyuz pad there?, if it will not achieve "independence from Kazakhstan"?
I guess it leaves the possibility to re-start the manned Soyuz program from Vostochny WHEN/IF NEEDED,
but honestly that is a very expensive contingency plan and Kazakhstan is hardly seeming to present a threat of non-cooperation...? /shrug
I'm sure everybody in Roscosmos/etc are just waiting for the day Vostochny is finally fully functional and they can forget this long drawn-out episode.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0372-blow-for-new-cosmodrome-as-officials-say-first-manned-launch-is-still-a-decade-away/

mutantsushi wrote:I didn't see this posted here, plans for manned Soyuz from Vostochny are being dropped completely,
with manned program from Vostochny now planned to only happen via Angara-5V (+PPTS), now scheduled for 2025.
Which begs the question, why bother finishing the Soyuz pad there?, if it will not achieve "independence from Kazakhstan"?
I guess it leaves the possibility to re-start the manned Soyuz program from Vostochny WHEN/IF NEEDED,
but honestly that is a very expensive contingency plan and Kazakhstan is hardly seeming to present a threat of non-cooperation...? /shrug
I'm sure everybody in Roscosmos/etc are just waiting for the day Vostochny is finally fully functional and they can forget this long drawn-out episode.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0372-blow-for-new-cosmodrome-as-officials-say-first-manned-launch-is-still-a-decade-away/

Soyuz will be go-to light cargo rocket for decades to come, hence the launch pad on Vostochniy (and in French Guiana and in China and most likely Brazil.....)

Angara and PTK-NP are superior to Soyuz system on all parameters. You can't use 50 years old ship infinitely. It took a total redesign for it to carry 3 crewmen instead of 2.

It is time for old girl to go to well earned retirement.

Vostochniy must be completed in order to achieve independence from Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan cannot be trusted, neither can any country that is not called Russia. It is mathematical axiom. Recent events proven it yet again.

Russia has to trust some countries, at least, at the end of the day.

If it trusts no-one, not even its closest allies, then how can it expect to be trusted by others?

It's the same as wih respect. If you want respect, then you must also give respect.

Contingency plans are good mind you. No harm in them. But unless they are cheap to keep on the backburner and can be occupied with secondary uses - it's best to leave most of them on paper, ready to be fundec only when neccessary.

Frankly, some Russian behaviour in relation to its neighbouring Eurasian Union states reeks of protectionism - at a time when they're all meant to be integrating into a common market, while its arms procurements border on paranoia, Russia seems to be carrying through 'import subsidisation' even against Belarus and its defence companies - yet this is an economy that it has to support, not reject.

PapaDragon wrote:

mutantsushi wrote:I didn't see this posted here, plans for manned Soyuz from Vostochny are being dropped completely,
with manned program from Vostochny now planned to only happen via Angara-5V (+PPTS), now scheduled for 2025.
Which begs the question, why bother finishing the Soyuz pad there?, if it will not achieve "independence from Kazakhstan"?
I guess it leaves the possibility to re-start the manned Soyuz program from Vostochny WHEN/IF NEEDED,
but honestly that is a very expensive contingency plan and Kazakhstan is hardly seeming to present a threat of non-cooperation...? /shrug
I'm sure everybody in Roscosmos/etc are just waiting for the day Vostochny is finally fully functional and they can forget this long drawn-out episode.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0372-blow-for-new-cosmodrome-as-officials-say-first-manned-launch-is-still-a-decade-away/

Soyuz will be go-to light cargo rocket for decades to come, hence the launch pad on Vostochniy (and in French Guiana and in China and most likely Brazil.....)

Angara and PTK-NP are superior to Soyuz system on all parameters. You can't use 50 years old ship infinitely. It took a total redesign for it to carry 3 crewmen instead of 2.

It is time for old girl to go to well earned retirement.

Vostochniy must be completed in order to achieve independence from Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan cannot be trusted, neither can any country that is not called Russia. It is mathematical axiom. Recent events proven it yet again.

Well I agree that Russia should take every step to end strategic dependency on any other nation, but to say that Kazahkstan cannot be trusted is a patently absurd claim, that is unwarranted and unsubstantiated:

President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, not President Putin of the Russian Federation, is the mastermind behind the Eurasian Union and you could argue that Kazakhstan's Nomenklatura is on average more pro-Russian that Russia's Nomenklatura. Back in the early 90's Nazarbayev was trying his best to collect the pieces of the USSR puzzle and putting them back together again, take for example the Eurasian Union was in fact proposed by Nazarbayev in a speech back in 1994, meanwhile at the same time Russian and Ukrainian oligarchs were raping their respective countries' state-owned assets. Kazakhstan has reliably chosen to stick with Russia in the worst of times and the best of times, and resisted all the Pan-Turkic pressure of falling in to the orbit of Turkey in NATO's sphere of influence.