Russian Launch Vehicles and their Spacecraft: Thoughts & News

And use the Soyuz-5 to shoot a Aurus into space.

Flight trials of Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket to be completed in 2019

The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket will replace Soyuz-U rockets that were used at the Plesetsk spaceport from 1973 until 2012

MOSCOW, March 9. /TASS/. Flight trials of the Soyuz-2.1v carrier rocket are planned to be completed in 2019, the Progress Rocket Space Center told TASS on Saturday.

"Flight trials of the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket stage 1v are planned to be completed in 2019," the center said.

The Soyuz-2 carrier rocket will replace Soyuz-U rockets that were used at the Plesetsk spaceport from 1973 until 2012. In total, 435 launches of Soyuz-U carrier rockets were carried out from the spaceport over this time period, and around 430 spacecraft were delivered to the orbit. Soyuz-2.1v carrier rockets were launched from Plesetsk in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 as part of trials.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1047979

Russian space agency to cut cost of Proton-M rocket’s launch to Falcon 9’s level

The Proton-M is a Russian heavy three-stage carrier rocket produced by the Khrunichev Space Rocket Center

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos will cut the cost of launching a Proton-M carrier rocket to the level of a US Falcon 9 (produced by SpaceX) through lower expenses on ground-based preparations, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"Proton-M rockets are about at the level of Falcons by their price. Now we have taken steps to reduce the cost of launch services for us by cutting some expenses on the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure. That is, we can save funds on preparations for a launch," the Roscosmos chief said.

"We will restore the competitiveness of Proton-M rockets compared to Falcons," he added.

The Proton-M is a Russian heavy three-stage carrier rocket produced by the Khrunichev Space Rocket Center. As Khrunichev CEO Alexei Varochko said in an interview with the business daily Kommersant, Russia is holding talks with the UK-based OneWeb on selling 10 Proton-M launch vehicles.

The production of Proton-M carrier rockets is expected to be over by the end of 2020 and their operation will come to a close in 2025. Protons will be replaced by new Angara heavy-class rockets.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1050342

Roscosmos chief discloses details of Russia’s new super-heavy carrier rocket

The rocket’s conceptual design will be approved this year, according to Dmitry Rogozin

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Russia’s Yenisei new super-heavy carrier rocket will be assembled using the principle of a building kit where each part of the launcher is an independent flight element, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"It is necessary to act using the principle of the technological Lego: the rocket’s first, second and third stages should have their double or even triple application. That is, the super-heavy rocket will consist of components, each of which will have its flight practice," the Roscosmos chief said.


As Rogozin said, "the rocket’s conceptual design will be approved this year, after which we will already switch to designing but de facto the super heavy rocket’s flight tests will begin from 2022 because Soyuz-5 rocket will start its flights at that time."

The super-heavy carrier rocket’s first stage will consist of five-six blocks that make up a part of the first stage of the medium-class Soyuz-5 rocket (also known as the Irtysh). The engine of the Soyuz-5 rocket’s first stage, the RD-171MV, is already being prepared for its first ground start at the Energomash Research and Production Association, the Roscosmos chief said.

"We proposed making the second stage of the super-heavy rocket on the basis of the engine that has unique flight statistics: this is the RD-180 engine, which we have been supplying to the United States since 1994. This engine is mounted on the Atlas rocket and we have had 85 successful launches," Rogozin said.

The engine has undergone "the tightest qualification by US specialists while it has never been used aboard Russian rockets," Rogozin said.

"We are planning to borrow the third stage from the Angara-5V rocket. It will be equipped with a hydrogen engine, which will boost the rocket’s lifting capacity by 10 tonnes, from 27 to 37 tonnes," the Roscosmos chief said.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1050311

Minimal cost of creation of Russian super-heavy booster is $11.6 billion

The Russian super-heavy rocket Yenisei is to be first launched in 2028

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The minimal cost of the creation of the Russian super-heavy rocket Yenisei, which is to be first launched in 2028, is 740 billion rubles ($11.6 billion), Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin told journalists.

"I may name the minimal sum for you, but it is the sum for the first launch. The cost of all the works, including the creation of the launching pad for the super-heavy class, the building of the rocket, its preparation for the launch and the launch itself of a launching test vehicle, not even the craft, is about 740 billion rubles [$11.6 billion,]" the corporation’s head said.

He specified that the Federal Space Program by 2025 has no funds for the creation of this program, but just includes the building of the Soyuz-5 rocket, the first stage of which will serve as a component for the super-heavy vehicle. The financing of the super-heavy rocket should be carried out under a separate program within the state program for the development of space activity, which would include resources for testing, designing, new headways, the launch of new development activities and land testing.

"These solutions are possible only in case of stable financing. We have no printing machine in Roscosmos - you may walk through the building and you will not find it there. So, everything will depend on the degree to which the financial-economic bloc of the Russian government will be ready to secure the implementation of the president’s decree," he added.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1050277

Roscosmos chief says Soyuz MS version for flights to Moon to cost $400 mln

The Soyuz was initially designed as a spacecraft for the Moon’s exploration and, therefore, it has the potential to boost its thermal and radiation protection, the Roscosmos chief said

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. The creation of the Soyuz MS spacecraft’s version with the enhanced thermal and radiation shield for flights to the Moon will cost about $400 million, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

The Soyuz was initially designed as a spacecraft for the Moon’s exploration and, therefore, it has the potential to boost its thermal and radiation protection, the Roscosmos chief said.

"We are now considering using this spacecraft for flights around the Moon, including as a commercial project. The project’s initial cost may equal about $400 million: this involves creating the spacecraft and organizing one mission," Rogozin said.

A modernized Soyuz spacecraft can be launched to the Moon using a two-launch scheme: an upgraded Soyuz spaceship is launched aboard a Soyuz carrier rocket and is temporarily docked with the International Space Station (ISS) and then a booster is launched with the help of an Angara heavy rocket. After that, the booster and the spaceship are assembled on the orbital outpost, after which they make a flight around the Moon, perform a gravitational maneuver and return to Earth," Rogozin said.

From the viewpoint of thermal and radiation protection, a modernized Soyuz spacecraft will feature "actually a second hull," the Roscosmos chief said.

The Roscosmos chief earlier said that NASA had requested Russia to develop the Soyuz spacecraft’s version for flights to the Moon to have a backup space transportation system. The United States plans to implement the Deep Space Gateway program with the participation of other countries to create a permanent lunar orbital station to regularly receive spacecraft from Earth.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1050328

i thought "Federation" was for moon orbit.

George1 wrote:...i thought "Federation" was for moon orbit.

It was NASA that requested this platform to be developed as a backup for flights to cis-lunar station

Looks like nobody is in the hurry to put the old horse out to pasture

Should be simple enough so why not make it as long as they don't screw up Federation development (serious possibility)

I'll believe it when I see it but news is news:

First Liftoff of Russia's New Soyuz-5 Launcher Scheduled for 2nd Half of 2022

https://sputniknews.com/science/201904211074316476-soyuz-launch-roscosmos-russia/

must be why S-7 has trashed its Zenit rocket orders …. they need to modify the Zenit launch sites to fit Soyuz-5 which is a wider diameter etc
and that is probably why the talk of the Sealaunch moving to East Russia have surfaced … as it will be modified too to launch Soyuz-5
instead of Zenit …. Zenit is history

lets face it Soyuz-5 is just a slightly fatter Zenit …. same engines …. same upper stage ….. they have gone to the Proton width rocket as its easier to retool … saving time and money …. and you can stick more fuel etc in it …. and you can use all the existing upper stage cones etc
makes sense to me

they need to keep Proton pads until 2024 … because Vostochny Angara pad … is behind schedule

and ... and ... and .... its like dominos isn't it

they say Soyuz-5 will replace Soyuz-2 .... to me its replacing Zenit
Angara is replacing Proton .... re toxic rocket fuels used
Soyuz-2 ... will probably re in production forever ...

interesting launch manifest here .... Soyuz-2 launches .... everywhere
Soyuz-5 is there for late 2022 ...
extra modules for the ISS .... Lunar mission bits ... even the nuclear power TEM ....
for a space program "close to collapse" they look snowed under to me ?

http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/russia-man.txt

As always Zak demonstrates total dominance over Roskosmos when it comes to basic advertising, shameful display:

Russia begins cutting metal for Soyuz replacement

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/protected/ptk-2019.html#0424

sure but Federatsiya being wider … only fits on the Soyuz-5 …. which is a fat Zenit (it could fit the Angara too )

and Soyuz-5 will launch from Baikonur because it is too fat to fit through the railway tunnel to Vostochny
but Angara does fit through the tunnel … so they had 2 choices

so they gave up on the Angara man-rated version with Federatsiya ….
so they could make the Angara cheaper to be a freight truck and not be "man-rated"
to compete with Musk .... Angara-light

so the Baikonur launched Soyuz-5 is "man-rated" …. and thus more expensive … to fly with the Federatsiya

but they also need a cheaper "non-man rated" version of Soyuz-5 for "S7" …. preferably with methane
as its easier to re-use …. a Soyuz-5 "light" = "non-man-rated"
to also compete with Musk ….. from Baikonur and Sea Launch … let's call it Soyuz-7 ! S7 … nice name

yep … a tunnel pretty much dictated the Roscosmos "strategy" …
that and aborted launch cosmonauts from Vostochny landing in the Ohkotsk Sea … or in a volcano in Kamchatka

I just did all Zac's "breaking news" ….

USA has no man rated rocket ATM because they chose not to have it when they retired shuttle not because they can't have one

Sorry... just noticed this comment... are you joking or drunk?

There were no long term plans to retire the shuttle up until the second one blew up, it was never their choice to not have a man rated rocket... they thought they had more time to copy the Russian rockets and make their "own" rocket to replace them.

NASA and the US government would never choose to have to rely on their Russian partners to get to and from the ISS... never in a million years... it is like the Russians and Ukrainian diesel engines they had no choice but to rely on them because replacements are not quick and cheap and easy... we are not talking about things everyone makes and makes well.

yep … a tunnel pretty much dictated the Roscosmos "strategy" …

Aircraft alternative transport routes for rockets should make their options expand.

Also if they can build a bridge to the Crimea they could build a new tunnel to replace the existing tunnel that is 10m wide or bigger if it is only 15 km long...

Once the new tunnel is completed they could use both tunnels because rail transport from Asia to the EU and back is going to increase soon anyway, plus being able to move much larger items by train to the far east and back would benefit their military too.

ESA uses ships to bring there rockets to south america. Russia could do the same (to bring them to the far east).

only a fool would have one option … for your launch vehicles (85% of your launch system)

the tunnel … version 1 took 20+ years as they hit a lake inside the mountain …
a new tunnel at 10yrs …. read Wiki
for all you armchair experts … learn to read

it is well documented that Soyuz-2 and Angara URM-1s fit through the tunnel
and it was a major influence on the Soyuz-5 (fat Zenit) going to Baikonur …

and it is also well documented that the new human rated capsule Federatsiya …. fits on top of a Soyuz-5 best
and that is why they have built an Angara "light" non-human rated
as they can launch humans from Vostochny in the Soyuz-2 …..

the Soyuz-2 for Vostochny has been "reinforced" to survive the long rail trip to the East … documented
so it is more expensive

wikipedia …. Severomuyski Tunnel
try reading …

but you guys just can't seem to see the wider issue
Vostochny … is a part of the development of the very much wider East strategy ….

Vostochny …. means East

I wouldn't trust wiki as far as I could throw it... it is handy because there is a lot of information there, but I wouldn't place any real trust in it because it is controlled by russophobes...

Tunneling technology has moved on... they have even talked about a new tunnel/bridge combination to Sakhalin Island which is rather more than 15km and would require serious tunnelling equipment...

I have seen some pretty impressive drills that are basically robotic and send back the spoil on a train directly behind the drill itself and it pretty much runs on its own unmanned inside the tunnel it builds itself... behind it is a machine for putting in supports to create the tunnel in the hole the machine in front is boring...

Would be an excellent test case for a new tunnel in Russia.

Russian space firm launches production of new Soyuz-5 carrier rocket

The Soyuz-5 rocket is designed for launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the Baiterek joint project with Kazakhstan

SAMARA, May 31. /TASS/. The Progress Space Rocket Center based in Samara in the Volga area has launched the production of a new Soyuz-5 carrier rocket, Progress CEO Dmitry Baranov said on Friday.

"Now we have launched the production of [fuel] tanks of the Soyuz-5 carrier rocket. We have no right to disrupt the deadline of the rocket’s production and believe we are able to comply with it," the chief executive said.

The Soyuz-5 (Irtysh) medium-class carrier rocket is being developed by Energia Space Rocket Corporation. The rocket is designed for launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the Baiterek joint project with Kazakhstan.

The Soyuz-5 will be able to deliver the promising manned Federatsiya spacecraft into a low near-Earth orbit. The Soyuz-5 is set to be developed by 2021. During the new rocket’s flight tests, its four launches are planned to be carried out in 2022-2025.

More:
http://tass.com/science/1061151

Russia developing Soyuz-5 rocket to capture commercial launch market

The Soyuz-5 medium-class carrier rocket is being developed by Energia Space Rocket Corporation

MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. Russia is creating its new Soyuz-5 carrier rocket to capture the market of commercial launches. The new rocket will be competitive price-wise with its US rivals, Chief of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

"We have some reserve potential as well and we are ready to compete with them. The Soyuz-5 rocket is aimed at capturing the commercial market, and not only for solving state objectives. It should be competitive price-wise so that even with all our rivals’ economic policy tricks, they won’t be able to cut it to a level that could pose a challenge to us," Rogozin said.

As was reported on Thursday, the US Department of Defense included Russia in the list of countries whose services cannot be used after December 31, 2022 in carrying out space launches. A notification to this effect was uploaded by the Pentagon’s Federal Acquisition Regulation System to the website of the Federal Register - the daily journal of the US Government.

The Soyuz-5 (Irtysh) medium-class carrier rocket is being developed by Energia Space Rocket Corporation. The rocket is designed for launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of the Baiterek joint project with Kazakhstan. The Soyuz-5 will be able to deliver the promising manned Federatsiya spacecraft into a low near-Earth orbit.

The Soyuz-5 is set to be developed by 2021. During the new rocket’s flight tests, its four launches are planned to be carried out in 2022-2025.


More:
http://tass.com/science/1061130

The propulsion system of the emergency rescue system of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft

In the historical part of the exposition of the exhibition pavilion of JSC Corporation Tactical Missile Armament (KTRV) in the Military-Patriotic Park of Culture and Recreation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Patriot in Kubinka there is an interesting exhibit - the propulsion system of the emergency rescue system of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft .


The propulsion system of the emergency rescue system of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft in the exposition of the exhibition pavilion of Tactical Rocket Armament Corporation JSC in the Military-Patriotic Park of Culture and Rest of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Patriot (c) bmpd


A similar emergency rescue system worked automatically after a memorable accident of the Soyuz-FG missile that occurred on October 11, 2018, and prevented the death of the crew of the Soyuz MS-10 manned spacecraft, the spacecraft commander Alexei Ovchinin and NASA astronaut Nick Haig.

The system uses a solid-propellant propulsion system of the emergency rescue (ДУ САС) 855М and four solid-fuel rocket engines of the head fairing (РДГ) 860М, developed by JSC ICD Iskra named after. I.I. Kartukov "(part of the" Tactical Missile Armament Corporation "), which provide removal of the detachable head unit (OGB) with astronauts in case of a launch vehicle accident at the initial launch site of the spacecraft into orbit.





https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3690764.html

Roscosmos in talks on converting SS-18 Satan ICBMs for space launches

https://tass.com/science/1067416

First flight of recoverable rocket stage scheduled for 2021-2022

A design bureau is being created as tasked with developing light-class reusable rockets, according to a source

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The first flight of the Russian recoverable stage of the Krylo-SV launch vehicle is scheduled for 2021-2022, Director-General of the Russian Foundation for Advanced Research Projects Andrei Grigoryev told TASS on Tuesday.

"The flights are scheduled for 2021-2022," he said.

According to Grigoryev, it is planned to create several demonstrators of the stage. During the flight along the trajectory, in a controlled mode the stage will first accelerate from zero to hypersonic speed, and then perform a deceleration in the atmosphere and complete the flight by landing on an airfield.

A source in the rocket and space industry told TASS earlier that a new experimental design bureau will be created at the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash), the main scientific and research institution of Russia’s space corporation Roscosmos.

"In line with the Roscosmos head’s decree, an experimental design bureau named after [Italian-born Soviet aircraft designer Robert] Bartini is being created. Its first task will be to design light-class reusable rockets," the source said.

According to the source, the project will be based on the preliminary design of the Krylo-SV project to create a recoverable rocket stage, earlier prepared by the Prospective Research Fund (FPI).

The bureau will employ young Roscosmos specialists and engineers who resigned from the Ilyushin Aviation Complex.

On Tuesday, a defense industry source told TASS that about 80 employees resigned from Ilyushin. A company spokesperson later told TASS that a group of managers and administrative sector employees were leaving their posts due to ongoing optimization of the management system.

https://tass.com/science/1067691

personally I think just because the Saturn 5 was huge... doesn't mean it was right
to me it was ridiculous
what did they do with that fn great rocket after the Moon wanks ? …. nothing
it had no secondary purpose at all …

it makes eminently more sense to me to launch components and assemble them in Earth's orbit on "sane sized" rockets at a space station

so my point is this ….
who cares if the astronauts launch from Baikonur … ? on a Soyuz-5 ….

and Vostochny which will have the space freighter the Angara A-5 (non-human rated) sending up the bulk of the components … before hand
why do they need to drill a new bigger tunnel ? at all ?

some of the upper stages currently used on Soyuz at Vostochny are flown in already …
and lets face it most of the satellites will always be flown in too ….

I'd be amazed if the Soyuz-5 based "Super rocket" pad "planned" for Vostochny is ever built ….
and if they need for some reason to get astronauts into orbit from Vostochny they've always got the Soyuz-2 pad …

if you have an orbiting "assembly" plant …. who needs a "super rocket" ? … for what ?
I don't buy it ...