Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #1

Luna-9 landing happened 49 years ago from today (Feb. 3rd 1966), next year will be it's 50th anniversary.

New Generation Spacecraft to Be Launched from Plesetsk

Russian spacecraft of new generation will be launched from the Plesetsk space center in February 2015, the representative of the press and information service of the Defense Ministry for Aerospace Defense Colonel Alexei Zolotukhin said on Tuesday.

“Combat unit of the state test Plesetsk cosmodrome launched a process of unloading and transportation of new Russian generation spacecraft to the technical complex of a space rocket complex (KRK) “Soyuz-2″, the launch of which is planned from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in February 2015,” he said.

This will be the first launch of the spacecraft from Plesetsk cosmodrome in 2015. Last year, combat units effectuated 10 launches of space rockets and four training and test launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

“It is expected that Millimetron will be launched into orbit in 2025, to the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from our planet,” Roscosmos said in a statement Monday.

Wow... that is the first I have heard of the Russians using a Moon-Earth Lagrange point.

For those not familiar with the term if you get into a rocket ship and take off from earth and move towards the moon as you get further from earth its gravitational pull on you will get less and less while as you get closer and closer to the moon its gravity will become stronger and stronger.

At some point between the earth and the moon you will reach a point where the two gravities balance so you will neither fall back to earth or to the moon. the earth is much bigger and heavier than the moon so the balance point is much closer to the moon than the earth.

Placing a satellite there means less fuel is needed to keep it in orbit because it is not constantly being pulled by earth down to the ground.

Is depressing to see NASA to continue making headlines and Russia doing nothing.. to become more active in space.

NASA’s mission to determine whether life is lurking beneath the frozen surface of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is about to take a big step forward.



http://sputniknews.com/science/20150204/1017761878.html#ixzz3QmLQ9lgv


The US gov use NASA as a political tool.. in just a month , they announced travels to venus ,pluton ,Jupiter and now Europa. and this doesn't include their every 2 or 3 weeks promotion of what they doing in mars "searching more life"
wich they know there is none.. the point is always to keep the propaganda going and make people believe that .
"we are the best ,you need to stick with us,and ignore Russia".  

So far Russia space program looks like is on a recession , and selling for pennies their rockets to NASA is not going
to help. All Russia is planning is a moon landing in 2 decades at the earliest and sending an orbiter in 3 to 5 years. IMHO very disappointing the lack of space exploration of Russia and allowing NASA to steal all the show. Becoming a second best is not the way Russia could convince the world that they are leaders on anything and that they can become a real alternative to the west.

So far all that Russia promotes is their stupid nuclear weapons and every little tiny upgrade to their military hardware.. Russia do not get it.. that building more nukes is not going to influence the world to be taken seriously.
They need to become much more aggressive in their space program more than anything. Russia major problem is image . And this is the reason ,they have so much problems to create economic alliances with anyone in the west.
USA is seen are the only option.. for all Europe.  They will only partner with Russia for mars exploration only after NASA choose to take the credit alone of all their space explorations.

NASA also has more money than Roscosmos.

Russian satellite comes back to life after unknown glitch

Earlier, a source in the space rocket industry told TASS an unidentified glitch had upset the satellite’s operation

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. Russia’s space satellite Express-AM33 has come back to life, the press-service of the Satellite Communications company told TASS.

"At 15:00 on February 4 the Satellite Communications state enterprise and the Reshetnev Company "Information Satellite Systems" managed to fully restore the operation of the Express-AM33 satellite and resume communication and broadcasting services provided on its basis," the press-service said.

Earlier, a source in the space rocket industry told TASS an unidentified glitch had upset the satellite’s operation.

Express-AM33 was put in orbit in January 2008 and went operational in April 2008.

According to information available from open sources, the satellite is a joint product of the Reshetnev Company "Information Satellite Systems" and Thales Alenia Space, built under a contract with the federal state unitarian enterprise Satellite Communications. Express-AM33 provides digital TV broadcasting, telephony, video conferencing, data transmission and Internet access services. It covers a vast territory of Russia, Kazakhstan, northern regions of Central Asia, Mongolia and China.

George1 wrote:NASA also has more money than Roscosmos.

Roscosmos will have much more money if Russian Government just knew how to better use their budget.. Just months ago Putin announced a well fare program to the baltic states  (that is not RUSSIA).. basically give away money for free to former veterans of the world war 2..  Thats completely Moronic how Russia waste their money.

Then they spend so much money in nuclear weapons.. unnecessary military programs ,that offer no military advantage on any real threat to Russia.. like Mistrals absolutely not needed..  like Pak-Fa.. neither they need..
and so and so.. and spend a lot of money too in the artic..and a lot of money on surface warships ,that will not make any difference at all.. to counter NATO. Japan navy alone can crush Russia navy in the pacific.  In short.. Russia waste so much money to better fight in a world war .. not knowing that just becoming a much more influent and developed nation they can change the aptitude of their potential adversaries and avoid wars ,by becoming  much more attractive and developed nation and create a very solid economic alliance with major European nations and effectively make it impossible for NATO to continue to exist..

Influence is everything.. is all. Russia is doing the same mistakes of the soviet union.. trying to counter the west
with military power. that is where they most spend their money...but not with nation development and technology influence.

Vann7 wrote:

George1 wrote:NASA also has more money than Roscosmos.

Roscosmos will have much more money if Russian Government just knew how to better use their budget.. Just months ago Putin announced a well fare program to the baltic states  (that is not RUSSIA).. basically give away money for free to former veterans of the world war 2..  Thats completely Moronic how Russia waste their money.

Then they spend so much money in nuclear weapons.. unnecessary military programs ,that offer no military advantage on any real threat to Russia.. like Mistrals absolutely not needed..  like Pak-Fa.. neither they need..
and so and so.. and spend a lot of money too in the artic..and a lot of money on surface warships ,that will not make any difference at all.. to counter NATO. Japan navy alone can crush Russia navy in the pacific.  In short.. Russia waste so much money to better fight in a world war .. not knowing that just becoming a much more influent and developed nation they can change the aptitude of their potential adversaries and avoid wars ,by becoming  much more attractive and developed nation and create a very solid economic alliance with major European nations and effectively make it impossible for NATO to continue to exist..

Influence is everything.. is all. Russia is doing the same mistakes of the soviet union.. trying to counter the west
with military power. that is where they most spend their money...but not with nation development and technology influence.

Sorry Vann7, but you misunderstand the mentality of the Ruling Elite that controls the Western world.  The members of the Deep State that run US/EU are interested in one thing only - WORLD DOMINATION.  They want everything, and they are not prepared to share.  These Elites display the worse vices of the Washington consenus-inspired neo-liberal agenda - ie the rapacious capitalistic ethos of winner take all, give nothing back, tolerate no opposition, accept no alternatives, demand full spectrum dominance and destroy what you cannot possess.  They covet taking full control of Russia for several reasons.  

Firstly, they HATE Russia for daring to resist Western hegemony during the Cold War and for retaining its independence and sovereignty following the break-up in 1991.  They assumed (falsely) that the collapse of Communism in Europe and the break-up of the USSR would render Russia a permanently broken nation ripe for plunder, and that Western capital would soon succeed in asset stripping the nation, and that their bought-and-paid-for political stooges would deliver them total control of Russia in a "managed democracy".  Yeltsin was loved as he was an incompetant and vain man who delivered on their agenda, allowing the Oligarchs to plunder the USSRs wealth (and stash it in Western banks), proceeding to begin the process of de-centalisation of power (which they rightly figured would lead to disintegration of the country into smaller pieces whose capture could be more easily managed), and failing abysmally against the challenge of Chechen insurrection (sponsored by the Saudis and orchestrated by US intelligence).  Similarly, Putin is HATED as it was under his leadership that Russia reasserted its sovereignty and fought back to restore her soul.  He tamed the Oligarchs and made examples of the worst of their breed such as Khordorkovsky and Berezovsky.  He restored centralised rule where needed to combat the disintegration trend, and marginalised the pro-Western liberals who had caused so much ruin in the 90s with their US-mandated capitalist shock-therapy.  He moved decisively against the jihadist threat in the Causcaus once "Ickcheria" invaded Dagestan and suceeded in crushing that insurgency, much to Washington & Riyadhs seething fury. Under Putin & Medvedev, Russia has been transformed from a sad and pathetic wretch into a powerful nation requiring respect.  The Western Ruling Elite HATE and DESPISE him for this, and will NEVER forgive him for upsetting their plans.

Secondly, they LUST for control of Russia's bountiful natural resources.  Her vast deposits of oil, gas, metals, gold, diamonds, etc are coveted by the Elite, but with the collapse of the stooge-regime they are unable to take control and asset strip the nation.  The usual US-instigated regime-change operations, while often successful in the post-Soviet space(eg Georgia, Ukraine, Yugoslavia), have failed to dislodge Putin or seriously damage his appeal to the Russian voters, and their failure simply fuels their rage and hatred.  The Elite are used to winning, and they respond poorly to defeat. They recognise that only by dislodging men like Putin from power and by placing stooges like Kasparov or Navalny (pffftt..) in the Kremlin will their nefarious plans come to fruition.

Thirdly, and most importantly, they GREATLY FEAR the changing of the global power balance and the steady relative decline of US power.  China is rising, and providing a powerful sign that the Washington consensus is NOT the only viable political-economic-social model.  As China rises and the US stagnates, the US faces the possible spectre of a Eurasian regional integration which transforms the World Island into an economic and political powerhouse beyond the US ability to challenge.  Russia is the key to this process as she is the great landmass that links Eurasia to Europe and she alone can serve as both the conduit through which integration is acheived, and the supplier of the energy and resources needed to power the transition.  We are already seeing this happening with the huge natural gas pipeline deals and the start of the New Silk Road projects such as the planned high-speed-rail from Beijing to Moscow.  The US is DESPERATE to sabotage this process as its success would spell doom for US global hegemony and the collapse of the corrupt US-controlled global financial system that the US relies upon to sustain its bloated empire and ability to print cash without limit.

This is why Russia must have a stong military, even if such taxes the nation and diverts money from more pleasig and worthwhile developments.  The Western Elite must be made to realise that any attempt to defeat Russia militarily is suicide.  The US-engineered Ukraine crisis has shown that the US has a powerful grip over the EU political leadership, and it is a distinct possibility that they may succeed in manipulating events to force a large scale confrontation with Russia.  Outright military victory is not required as the NATO assault against Serbia proved, where outright military agression forced the Serb leadership to back down in order to spare their people further carnage.  The combination of humiliation of defeat, economic sabotage and pro-NATO 5th columnists within Serbias political system acheived the overthrow of the Serb government and collapse of resistance to the neo-liberal agenda.  The Western Elite MUST UNDERSTAND that such a strategy is doomed to fail against Russia, and that Russia is not only capable of defeating wide-scale NATO agression, but can inflict incalculable damage to the agressors.  Russia doesn't need to build a conventional military to rival the combined US/EU forces as any attempt that would simply trigger an arms race that she could not win.  Instead, she needs to build a multi-layered defensive posture sufficient to repel any attack short of a full US/NATO mobilisation.  The crucial part of the defense posture is a public and well-publicised policy committing to the use of battlefield nuclear weapons should Russia face an overwhelming threat that cannot be overcome by conventional arms.  Nuclear tactical strikes against both enemy force concentrations, staging areas, AND against the governmental and civilian infrastructure of those nations that allow the use of their territory for aggression against her.  Russia must make an absolute priority for the development and deployment of advanced strike weapons that can penetrate any plausible NATO defense systems to ensure she can strike if needed.  US/EU/NATO and the psychopathic Ruling elite that control them must be FULLY aware that aggressive war against Russia is a NO-WIN situation.

While the above is necessary, it is in no way sufficient.  Russia's political immune system needs to be developed to seek out and uncover US/EU sedition such as fraudulent NGOs, 5th columnists, biased journalists and political stooges, and to prevent media organisations becoming compromised and corrupted by such.  Knowing who these people are, and making sure that their loyalities, funding activities and secret agendas are widely advertised for public scrutiny is the best way to immunise Russian society from foreign regime-change threats.  Clumsy, brutal and ham-handed actions such as those of the old Communist regimes are counter-productive and they generate propaganda windfalls for Russia's enemies.

Finally, Russia needs to embrace and enshrine virtuous principles in governance such as honesty and service to the people.  Eradicate corruption and punish the perpertrators, and be seen to be doing so.  Deal with foreign nations fairly but firmly, and refuse to indulge in dirty tricks like US secret sponsporing of terrorism to acheive geo-political goals.  Be generous to the samll and poor nations, and provide needed assistance without strings or hidden obligations as is US standard practise.  These things will allow Russia to gain moral high ground, and help her to ward off the depredations of the Western Elite by gaining friends and allies and forming coalitions to oppose geo-politocal agressions.

GarryB wrote:

“It is expected that Millimetron will be launched into orbit in 2025, to the L2 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system at a distance of 1.5 million kilometers from our planet,” Roscosmos said in a statement Monday.

Wow... that is the first I have heard of the Russians using a Moon-Earth Lagrange point.

For those not familiar with the term if you get into a rocket ship and take off from earth and move towards the moon as you get further from earth its gravitational pull on you will get less and less while as you get closer and closer to the moon its gravity will become stronger and stronger.

At some point between the earth and the moon you will reach a point where the two gravities balance so you will neither fall back to earth or to the moon. the earth is much bigger and heavier than the moon so the balance point is much closer to the moon than  the earth.

Placing a satellite there means less fuel is needed to keep it in orbit because it is not constantly being pulled by earth down to the ground.

Actually, they are be talking about the L2 point of the Sun-Earth system, not Moon-Earth.

Furthermore, the L2 point allows a deep space scope to have a continuous view of its target objects without the annoyance of our big ball of rock periodically getting in the way as the satellite orbits us. In fact, the sun, earth and moon inhabit the same area of sky, so therefore maximising the observable celestial sphere. By subscribing a lissajous orbit centered on the L2 point, the satellite also keeps out of the earths shadow and the solar panels can operate to their maximum effectiveness.

Or in other words, @#$%ing awesome...

L2 is gonna be hard to get too... Gonna take a large rocket and a tug of some sort.

I think it will be hard to stay at L2 since the moon will not revolve around the earth in precise circle but more elypsic form which the satellite would be pulled towards moon or earth, unless the satellite can somehow sustain the same altitude and speed as the moon despite shorter distance from earth and much lower weight as the moon.

Big_Gazza wrote:
Actually, they are be talking about the L2 point of the Sun-Earth system, not Moon-Earth.

Furthermore, the L2 point allows a deep space scope to have a continuous view of its target objects without the annoyance of our big ball of rock periodically getting in the way as the satellite orbits us.  In fact, the sun, earth and moon inhabit the same area of sky, so therefore maximising the observable celestial sphere.  By subscribing a lissajous orbit centered on the L2 point, the satellite also keeps out of the earths shadow and the solar panels can operate to their maximum effectiveness.

Or in other words,  @#$%ing awesome...  

So it looks like the L2 thing could be ideal to observe meteors and predict their impact on Russia days before it happen. It could also be used for military purposes if the west seek to build nukes that goes beyond Geo orbit and return back..  

About domination.. yes the western globalist wants world domination. But they cannot do it without the support
of Europe. And the way they control Europe is through Influence.. not by military influence but by economic and development influence. This is the reason Europe welcomes to be colonies of USA.. because there is no other option for them to be part of their technology progress.  Without USA ,europe will not have Intel or AMD or Microsoft..or Apple..or NASA.. etc.. or Entertainment Music Industry , Movie Industry ,Gaming industry.. etc.. US control JApan..
controls Internet and is the world currency.   USA is a full self efficient country..that produce all its needs.. and all the things that modern society wants.. and No one in Europe can say that. And Russia is the only thing close to USA in terms of self suffient country but is not fully there yet.. Russia is self sufficient in Defense ,Space and energy but nothing else.. So Russia needs to REPLACE completely USA in everything or most important things to convince Europe to leave NATO and to stop following Americans Genocidal policy in the world of the destruction of humanity.

So that said .. IT could be said that the major danger for Russia ..is opposing a power like US and not being an alternative in the world for them.. at least not in most development nations like Europe. Russia do have the best technology in space.. and they should not allow NASA to get the lead there too..  The best way to counter Americans is not building more nukes.. (They will use Russian population to attack Russia ) But by Russia becoming a very modern and developed nation.. That will not only attract Europeans into their orbit ,but also help create alliances that will secure Russia economic future..  BRICS nations i do not see that ever replacing the alliance of US+Europe.. BRICS major problem is the huge cultural differences between all those countries..  You have India that worship many Gods.. China an atheist nation , South Africa with many blacks that are not really very popular in Russian society. etc.. Russians allies are the countries that have less influence in the world with the exception now of China ,for its economy. Then which other allies Russia have? IRAN a muslin nation that Russians wants to get rid of muslin influence there. North Korea... that worship as God their leader.. BRICS is only a stop gap , to allow Russia Hold economically against the west economic domination.  For RUssia to defeat United States ,they need to become more influential with Europe..through its nation development technology and modernization and become a real alternative to USA. More nukes will do nothing.. But becoming very influential on technology and nation development ,that can do a big difference.  Nothing can be more prestigious in the world that your space program.. and Russia should just stop wasting money in winning world wars and use it instead in become far more developed nation instead.

Russia Roscosmon budget is like $5 billion dollars.. per year..and their Defense Budget like $70 billions per year.. They will be able to make more safer Russia by cutting in half their defense budget and using the saved money to boost their space program. something like $35+$5 = $40 billions  and plant a flag in Mars and moon in a manned mission...  And to develop space tourism for civilians to the moon , that will steal the show and will give a massive boost to Russia influence in Europe.. Is an irony that the whole security of RUssia depends on Europe ,who have more influence there. Without Europe support there will be no NATO.. and no US dollar as world currency.. that will be the end of US economy and the end of their world domination plans.

Russia is only using energy to influence Europe ,that is cheap gas prices..and thats a big mistake.. they need to do much more than that.
and become a real alternative to USA.

Werewolf wrote:I think it will be hard to stay at L2 since the moon will not revolve around the earth in precise circle but more elypsic form which the satellite would be pulled towards moon or earth, unless the satellite can somehow sustain the same altitude and speed as the moon despite shorter distance from earth and much lower weight as the moon.

it does take more fuel to get to l2 compared to l1 or geostationary but it has its benefits...
nope primary gravity influences are earth-sun.
many observation satelites already are in that orbit without a problem...

Europe orders six more Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rockets for Kourou launches
http://tass.ru/en/non-political/776561

"According to contracts, a total of 13 carrier rockets [seven under last year’s contract and six more under a new one] were ordered to provide for launching campaigns up to 2019," Kirilin said.

The very first contract on the use of Soyuz-ST carrier rockets from the Kourou space center was signed in 2015 and stipulated a plan of at least 50 launches.

Austin wrote:Europe orders six more Russian Soyuz-ST carrier rockets for Kourou launches
http://tass.ru/en/non-political/776561

"According to contracts, a total of 13 carrier rockets [seven under last year’s contract and six more under a new one] were ordered to provide for launching campaigns up to 2019," Kirilin said.

The very first contract on the use of Soyuz-ST carrier rockets from the Kourou space center was signed in 2015 and stipulated a plan of at least 50 launches.

Why Europe order Russian carrier rocket ? isn't eu has its own?

Funding for NASA vs. Roscosmos, 2009 - 2014

Funding of both during cold war?

Werewolf wrote:Funding of both during cold war?

u mean analogue graphic for cold war era?

Yes.

Werewolf wrote:Yes.

till now i can find only for NASA, for Soviet Space Agency then it will be difficult to find, i dont think USSR revealed such data

George1 wrote:Funding for NASA vs. Roscosmos, 2009 - 2014

Wow... that's not bad at all! And those are in dollars/nominal? Pretty impressive, honestly.

EDIT: That made me think... What could be achieved if great powers would allocate something like 2-5% of their GDP for space exploration, every single year? What if 100 billion dollar space budgets would be a reality?

Kimppis wrote:

George1 wrote:Funding for NASA vs. Roscosmos, 2009 - 2014

Wow... that's not bad at all! And those are in dollars/nominal? Pretty impressive, honestly.

EDIT: That made me think... What could be achieved if great powers would allocate something like 2-5% of their GDP for space exploration, every single year? What if 100 billion dollar space budgets would be a reality?

USA had about 4% of GDP for NASA during Apollo program years

George1 wrote:USA had about 4% of GDP for NASA during Apollo program years

Makes sense. So 6% for the military and 4% for NASA, that is 10%. How about the USSR? Probably hard to separate from military spending? USA likely had to outspend USSR's space spending quite considerably during Apollo years?

May be off topic ,but man ! where are those days whereas 77.3 billion rubles = $128 billion
1989 news
Soviet Military Budget: $128 Billion Bombshell

The new "Soyuz-5" will fly on natural gas

On the basis of a rocket "Soyuz-5" will be to create a series of media including heavy and superheavy modification

Rocket and Space Center "Progress" (Samara) is finalizing construction of a new carrier rocket "Soyuz-5", which will run on compressed natural gas.

According to the news agency TASS General Director Alexander Kirilin, "a new perspective on the modern rocket fuel - liquefied natural gas, its cost-effectiveness is achieved through harmonization and reduce the range of parts assembly units."In turn, the first deputy general director of the center Ravil Akhmetov explained that the liquefied natural gas - a cleaner fuel than kerosene, and has great energy capabilities.

On the basis of "Soyuz-5" will be to create a series of missiles, including heavy and superheavy. This is achieved via the use of a completely new scheme - two-stage vehicle with two side blocks.

According Kirillina, the center will offer to include the project in the Federal Space Program for the period 2016-2025 years. It is planned that the "Soyuz-5" will be created by 2021. The new missile is planned to launch from the Baikonur East in the Amur region.