Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #3

Scorpius wrote:Be precise: This is a project of the failed American space station...

Big_Gazza wrote:

PapaDragon wrote:Here is some more precision: Mir-2 is project of a failed Russian space station

It doesn't count as "failed" if the country that planned to build it dissolved before the project could see light....

MOSCOW, April 13 - RIA Novosti. Funding for scientific space projects of the Federal Space Program for 2016-2025 has been restored to the same level, President of the Academy Alexander Sergeev said at a meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences .

"The restoration of funding for the scientific space subsection within the framework of the Federal Space Program has been confirmed," the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences said; the meeting is being broadcast on YouTube.

"Now a decision has been made to restore funding at the level of 15 billion (rubles per year - ed.), Which will allow us to carry out three missions to the moon : this year Luna-25, in 2024 - Luna-26 and in 2025 year "Luna-27" - he added.

In November 2020, Sergeev announced that the volume of funding for scientific research in the field of space in Russia until 2025 will be cut five times - to three billion rubles from the planned 12-15 billion rubles.
Prior to that, the deputy of the State Duma Denis Kravchenko after a meeting with the head of " Roskosmos " Dmitry Rogozin told reporters that may be affected Russian lunar program: according to him, "Luna-26" and "Luna-27" is partially funded, "but then there is a significant sequestration ".

Moscow. April 12th. INTERFAX - The Russian leadership has approved the decision to create an independent Russian orbital station, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported.
"The project to create an alternative for the ISS was approved on Monday by the President of the country at a closed meeting on the development of the space industry, which was held by Vladimir Putin from Engels," the newspaper said, citing an informed source.
"It is assumed that the construction of the new ROSS station will begin in the near future in order to prevent a large temporary gap between the conservation of our segment on the ISS and the appearance of a new working area in orbit. The estimated date for the conservation of the old segment of the ISS is 2025," the publication says.
As noted in the publication, the decision was dictated by the deterioration of a number of modules in the Russian segment.
The executive director of Roskosmos for manned programs, Sergei Krikalev, on Monday evening was unable to confirm to Interfax the information that Russia would create its own orbital station.
“I cannot comment on anything, because I don’t know,” he said.
On April 5, Vladimir Soloviev, Flight Director of the ISS Russian Segment, announced that the life of the ISS could be extended until the 2030s.
"Next, we plan to think about the completion of the ISS, although until 2030, maybe a little more, we plan to operate it with a smooth completion of the program," Solovyov said.
In October 2020, Soloviev announced that the corporation's specialists predict "an avalanche-like failure of numerous elements on board the ISS" after 2025. According to him, due to the increased costs, experts consider it necessary "to reconsider the terms of further participation in the program and focus on the implementation of programs for orbital stations."
The Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences, after its report, recommended to revise the terms of the ISS flight program and start developing a new concept for the development of Russian manned space exploration, "including the creation of a national manned infrastructure in near-earth orbit."
The service life of the ISS expires in 2024. Earlier, it was repeatedly reported about a possible extension of the station's operation until 2030.
On November 26 last year, Roskosmos reported that in early 2021 it is planned to begin consultations with NASA and other partners on the future fate of the station. On December 28, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced that the fate of the ISS would be determined "in the first quarter of next year."
On March 4, Yuri Gidzenko, deputy head of the Energia spacecraft and launch vehicle flight center, said that a decision had been made "at the upper levels" to extend the station's operation until 2028.

MOSCOW, April 13. / TASS /. Roskosmos plans to spend 1.88 billion rubles on development work (ROC) to create a complex of landing areas and primary service for the reentry vehicle of the manned transport spacecraft Orel, follows from the materials posted on the public procurement portal .

According to the terms of reference, "the purpose of the design and development work is to create a complex of landing areas and primary servicing of the reentry vehicle (VA) of a manned transport vehicle."

The work must be completed from the date of the contract until November 15, 2025. The terms of reference state that the complex should include means for evacuating the crew from the reentry vehicle, means for its primary post-flight service, auxiliary and training means, technical systems. "Established landing areas should have the following characteristics: areas are selected on the land territories of Russia; areas should be limited in size, but not less than the specified accuracy of landing VA; the height of the terrain above sea level [should be] no more than 500 m," - says the terms of reference.

At the same time, the landing areas should be in a deserted place, and rivers, swamps and water bodies should occupy no more than 5% of their territory.

About the ship "Eagle"
On February 12, Aleksey Bogomolov, General Designer of the Center for Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities, announced that the Oryol spacecraft would land in the Orenburg region after a space flight. According to him, the release of the draft design has been successfully completed, which determined the requirements, the composition of the equipment and the technology of work with the reentry vehicle of the ship in the areas of its landing.

The promising manned spacecraft Orel (formerly the Federation) is being created as part of the Russian lunar program. The first launch of the Eagle without astronauts on board is scheduled for December 15, 2023 from the Vostochny cosmodrome; during this flight, the spacecraft docking with the ISS is not envisaged. In 2024, Oryol will perform a second flight (also without astronauts), followed by docking with the station. In 2028, he should make a manned flight around the moon.