Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #4

MOSCOW, July 14 - RIA Novosti. The promising Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will be placed in the same orbit from which the Zeus nuclear tug will send ships to the Moon and into deep space so that astronauts can serve it, Dmitry Rogozin, CEO of Roscosmos, told RIA Novosti.

“If we talk about the final decision on the inclination of the orbit, then it depends on the following chain of factors. First, the orbital inclination of the station must be exactly the same as the inclination of the orbit of Zeus, and the inclination of the orbit of Zeus must be such as is necessary for its have from the point of view of the optimal departure trajectory to the Moon and beyond," Rogozin said .

He clarified that he met with the leadership of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK), which is preparing a draft design of ROSS, and discussed this issue. The new station may not be placed in the 97-98 degree orbit that was previously chosen. The orbit will also be high-latitude, but no longer polar, Rogozin explained.

"In this regard, the station has the functionality to maintain the Zeus, ensuring and opening its panels, and at the same time delivering to it what needs to be towed. Naturally, in a non-operating state for the reactor. Then this station acquires another unique purpose, which we we see, it is very important from the point of view of manned cosmonautics," he added.

Earlier, Rogozin said that cosmonauts would be able to move on a manned spacecraft between the promising Russian orbital station and the Zeus nuclear tug to control the assembly of the tug. Later, he told RIA Novosti that the cosmonauts would not only control the assembly from the ship, but would also be able to go into outer space to intervene in this process if necessary

At present, the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK) is preparing a draft design of the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). The preliminary design should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin. It was reported that the new station will fly in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 96-98 degrees, and not 51.6 degrees, like the ISS .

The nuclear tug has been developed in Russia since 2010. Earlier, Yury Urlichich, First Deputy General Director of Roscosmos , spoke in one of his presentations about plans for the first flight into orbit in 2030 for flight tests. It was reported that the nuclear tug will be designed for flights to the moon and the planets of the solar system. It was named "Zeus", and the research and development work itself is called "Nuklon".

The first Russian Zeus mission to Jupiter will take 50 months and will last from 2030 to 2034. Zeus and the payload module will be launched into orbit from the Vostochny cosmodrome on separate launch vehicles. They will dock, travel to the Moon, fly around it, and return to Earth . Then another payload module will dock to Zeus, after which the station will fly towards Venus, perform a gravity maneuver and head towards the moons of Jupiter. The mission will be fully automatic.

owais.usmani wrote:

https://ria.ru/20220715/roskosmos-1802732670.html

MOSCOW, July 15 - RIA Novosti. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov will replace Dmitry Rogozin as head of Roskosmos, the corresponding decrees were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The documents are published on the Kremlin website.

I suspect PapaDragon will throw in a big party tonight!

owais.usmani wrote:

https://ria.ru/20220715/roskosmos-1802732670.html

MOSCOW, July 15 - RIA Novosti. Former Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov will replace Dmitry Rogozin as head of Roskosmos, the corresponding decrees were signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The documents are published on the Kremlin website.

I suspect PapaDragon will throw in a big party tonight!

Backman wrote:Is Papadragon awake yet ?

kvs wrote:Rogozin was not a technocrat but a fix it man and politician.   He did the job of rescuing Roscosmos from the rot toilet it was in.
Now a non-politician and proven good manager is taking over to do the long term job.  

Mercouris covered this shuffle in his latest video and it appears that the Russian MIC is going onto the command economy rails.
No more fighting over profits at UralVagonZavod.   I fully support this "commie" approach since what we see in NATO proves that
privatization and bidding does not work at all.   In fact, the private US MIC is acting like a shadow government pushing its profit
interests through wars.  

People do not know what a free market it is.   The car industry, the MIC and other "private" enterprise clusters are all oligopolies
and are manipulated markets.    A free market is when no producer can control the price through restriction of supply and collusion.
A handful of megacorps have a clear incentive to collude and manipulate the market.   Combine that with having only one customer,
the government and you get total corruption.

So the Russian "state planning" approach makes more sense since it leaves the government which is the source of all the money for
the MIC in charge.   No corrupt games and buying and selling of politicians for profits.   The Russian taxpayer saves and Russia
follows a stable mode of operation proven by the experience of the USSR.   I would love to see exotic weapons systems make a
come back.   No grossly inflated prices means that they become affordable again.  

Borisov is one of those military-technological, engineering and organization geniuses who are a very rare breed and seldom appear at the highest levels of political power. It is especially true for modern military-industrial complex of any superpower, because huge swaths of those complexes are in effect dual technologies producing industries. Borisov was instrumental in turning Russian military-industrial complex into R&D and manufacturing powerhouse it is today. Moreover, Borisov is a former cadre military, a general, with military academy behind his belt. Him, taking the command of Roskosmos may mean very many things and all of them good for Russia. Remember, it was on Borisov's watch that the Russian Armed Forces started to deploy some extremely advanced weapon system, many of which have no analogues in the West. Some--never will. In other words, Borisov is a specialist in the most advanced military and dual use technologies and bringing them to serial production.

thegopnik wrote:I will be in tears laughing getting myself drunk if Rogozin replaces Zelensky after the war

Maybe Rogozin will become ambassador to the UN.

Right here

I will be in tears laughing getting myself drunk if Rogozin replaces Zelensky after the war

In other words, Borisov is a specialist in the most advanced military and dual use technologies and bringing them to serial production.

If this happened Rogozin would become my favorite person in the whole universe

Martyanov´s take:

About Borisov's New Post.

kvs wrote:Sounds like pulse detonation engine technology has advanced under covers in Russia.   Any talk of transitional air-space vehicles
requires the thermodynamic performance flexibility such engines provide.   No Brayton cycle engine even deserves a mention.