Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #4

https://spaceref.com/newspace-and-tech/improving-the-performance-of-electrodeless-plasma-thrusters-for-space-propulsion/ i wonder how much faster they are to MPD thrusters.

Not really news, but worth highlighting the run of 98 succesful starts.

Borisov announced the successful completion of the launch campaign by Roscosmos

According to the CEO of the state corporation, there were 22 successful launches and 98 accident-free flights.

MOSCOW, 21 December. /TASS/. Roskosmos successfully completed the launch campaign this year, with 22 successful launches and 98 accident-free flights. This was stated by the general director of the state corporation Yuri Borisov on Wednesday on the air of the Russia-24 TV channel .

"We are finishing the year with 22 successful launches and continuing the series of accident-free flights, 98 accident-free flights," he said.

Borisov also noted that special attention will continue to be paid to "questions of the quality and reliability of the creation of rocket technology and automatic satellites."

source

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/73252

The head of Roskosmos, Borisov, said that the nearest future plans are to build 2 new plants in Russia for the mass production of satellites for various purposes.  Previously, plans were announced to significantly increase the satellite constellation, including in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry.

It is certainly good that there are such plans and that such plants will appear.  The significant backlog of the Russian Federation in terms of the number of satellites has been growing in previous years, and this has affected, among other things, the course of the SVO in Ukraine.
The moral is that the factories necessary for the country must be built on time, and not when in times of emergency.

https://ria.ru/20221210/korabl-1837708153.html

MOSCOW, December 10 – RIA Novosti. Immersion of the crew of the Martian mission in artificial sleep would facilitate the interplanetary spacecraft by 50-70%, said Yuri Bubeev, deputy director for research at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems (IBMP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
"According to preliminary estimates, the periodic "shutdown" of the crew will reduce the total mass of the ship by 50-70%, reduce the flight time, provide more reliable protection against radiation, due to the slowdown in metabolism," Bubeev said.
According to him, artificial sleep would allow during the expedition, "for example, to Mars and back" to refuse to provide the crew with tons of cargo for about a year and a half.

Earlier it was reported that "Roscosmos" and IBMP have entered into an agreement according to which by 2025 the possibilities of immersing astronauts in artificial sleep during flights to other planets will be studied. In the course of this work, as the director general of the Institute said in an interview with RIA Novosti, it was planned to study "psychotechnologies that induce altered states practiced in the traditional cultures of the peoples of Asia."

The final stage of preparation of the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which will fly to the ISS without a crew, has begun at Baikonur, by Natalia Yachmennikova for Rossiskaya Gazeta. 01.12.2023.

The final stage of preparation of the Soyuz MS-23 unmanned spacecraft and Progress MS-22 cargo spacecraft for launches to the International Space Station has begun at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Specialists reopened the ships that had been stored since December last year, conducted their external inspection and checked the initial state of the onboard systems.

According to Roskosmos, a scheme of ground-based test equipment was assembled to test the Soyuz MS-23. Comprehensive electrical tests of the ship and its preparation for leak tests in a vacuum chamber are planned in the near future. And on the Progress MS-22, the tightness of the refueling and water supply systems was checked, and the preparation of its cargo compartment for the placement of equipment to be delivered to the station began. The ship's radio equipment and control equipment will be tested and it will be prepared for filling tanks with drinking water.

The launches of Progress MS-22 and Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft by Soyuz-2.1a carrier rockets are planned for February.
Recall: on the eve of Roskosmos, a meeting of the state commission on the situation with the damaged Soyuz MS-22 manned spacecraft docked to the ISS was held. The conclusions of the working groups formed to find out the cause of the depressurization of the outer contour of the ship’s thermal control system radiator on December 15, 2022, the analysis of its technical condition and the development of further actions, as well as the recommendations of the Council of Chief Designers on changing the flight program of the Russian segment of the station in 2023 were considered.

The version of technical damage to the radiator was not confirmed. The conclusion about the breakdown of the radiator pipeline as a result of an impact by a sporadic meteoroid has been experimentally proven.

Based on the analysis of the state of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, thermal calculations and technical documentation, it was concluded that the spacecraft should descend to Earth in an unmanned mode.

To ensure the necessary reliability, taking into account the positive statistics, the state commission decided to launch the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft on February 20 in an unmanned mode with the delivery of cargo to the station. On this ship, the Russians Sergei Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, as well as the American Frank Rubio, will return to Earth. It was previously planned that they would land on the Soyuz MS-22 on March 28. So their stellar trip is extended.

https://rg.ru/2023/01/12/na-bajkonure-nachalsia-zakliuchitelnyj-etap-podgotovki-korablia-soiuz-ms-23-kotoryj-poletit-k-mks-bez-ekipazha.html

Space manager got lost in Cyprus
The former general director of the Khrunichev center is wanted for embezzlement

As it became known to Kommersant, Andrey Kalinovsky, the former general director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center, has been put on the international wanted list. According to investigators, he could steal almost 400 million rubles. when implementing contracts for the supply of cutting tools for an enterprise that is part of the Roscosmos structure. A top manager fled in Cyprus.

The decision to arrest Andrei Kalinovsky in absentia at the request of the investigation was made by the Savelovsky District Court of Moscow. It says that the ex-head of the Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center should be placed in a pre-trial detention center for two months if he is detained in Russia or extradited from abroad. No one appealed against the decision to arrest, and on January 17 it entered into force. Thus, a card with the data of Mr. Kalinovsky should soon appear in the Interpol search database.

According to Kommersant, Mr. Kalinovsky is a defendant in a criminal case that the investigative department of the ICR for the Northern District of Moscow initiated on March 4, 2021 under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale).

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Roskosmos has planned the deployment of the Russian orbital station for 2027, 01.24.2023

Roskosmos CEO Yuri Borisov said that the deployment of the Russian orbital station is scheduled for 2027.

He said this at the plenary meeting of the Royal Readings in Moscow.

“We will create a sovereign infrastructure for space manned flights to low Earth orbit. Its key element will be the Russian Orbital Station, the deployment of which we have planned for 2027, ”TASS quotes him.

Earlier, RSC Energia, which is part of Roscosmos, presented a model  of the Russian orbital station at the Army-2022 forum.

https://russian.rt.com/science/news/1101370-roskosmos-orbitalnaya-stanciya-2027

https://novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/news/85578/

Progress plans to carry out about 20 launches of Soyuz rockets in 2023

The number of launches of Soyuz rockets in 2023 will be about two dozen, Dmitry Baranov, general director of the Progress Rocket and Space Center (RKC), told reporters on Monday, TASS reports.
"Plans for this year, they are about the same - about twenty launches," said Baranov, according to whom there were 19 such launches in 2022. The
general director of the RCC added that the center exceeded the plan by several percent in terms of revenue. “Our economic condition is stable. There is a certain increase in wages, it is not as big as we would like, somewhere in the region of 56 [thousand rubles], maybe a little more,” said Baranov.

Russia to Launch Luch-5 Relay Satellite in March, 02.04.2023.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia's Proton-M carrier rocket carrying a Luch-5 relay satellite will be launched from the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in March, the Yuzhny Space Center of the cosmodrome said on Saturday.

"This is Russia's Luch-5 relay satellite. It was delivered to the cosmodrome this week... In March, it will be launched into space on a Proton," the center said in a video uploaded to its YouTube channel.

Two years ago, sources in the space and rocket industry told Sputnik that the launch of the carrier rocket with the satellite - initially scheduled for 2021 - had been postponed to 2022. However, the satellite has not been launched yet.

Russia's Luch multifunctional space system relay currently consists of three satellite-relays, Luch-5A, Luch-5B and Luch-5V, deployed to orbit from 2011-2014. The satellites relay information to and from spacecraft, other vehicles and ground stations on Earth.

https://sputniknews.com/20230204/russia-to-launch-luch-5-relay-satellite-in-march---1106978095.html

Russia launches the fourth Elektro-L weather satellite with an amazing level of detail, 02.05.2023.

This is the launch of the Proton-M rocket with the fourth Elektro-L satellite on board. This series of geostationary meteorological satellites will provide a complete coverage of the Earth's surface with an amazing level of detail, a resolution of 1 km per pixel and a new image every 30 minutes.

"It will be the first Russian space launch in 2023," announced from the Russian space corporation Roscosmos.

Elektro-L 4 will follow changes in atmospheric conditions to inform airlines about their flight routes, allow meteorologists to study cloud movements at different altitudes and provide beautiful images of the Earth's surface.

The first Elektro-L was launched on January 2, 2011.

Yandex Translate from Spanish

https://sputniknews.lat/20230205/rusia-lanza-el-cuarto-satelite-meteorologico-elektro-l-con-un-asombroso-nivel-de-detalle-1135403765.html

Elektro-L No4 confirmed as delivered to intended orbit

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. The Elektro-L No4 meteorological satellite has been put in orbit, Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos said on Sunday.

"On Sunday, February 5, 2023, the Elektro-L No4 meteorological satellite was put in the designated orbit," it said,

Full Article

100th space launch in a row (starting Oct 2018) without failure!!  

Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with Progress MS-22 launched from Baikonur cosmodrome

KOROLEV / Moscow region /, February 9. /TASS/. The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Progress MS-22 cargo spacecraft took off from pad 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a TASS correspondent reports from the Mission Control Center.

Later, the correspondent reported that Progress MS-22 separated from the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket. The rendezvous with the ISS will take place according to a two-day scheme, docking with the Zvezda module of the Russian segment of the station is scheduled for 11:47 Moscow time on February 11.

The image of the monument "The Motherland Calls!" is applied to the body of the rocket. in honor of the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Progress MS-22 spacecraft is to deliver to the ISS more than 2,500 kg of cargo, including 720 kg of refueling fuel, 420 kg of water, 40 kg of nitrogen, as well as about 1,354 kg of dry cargo - various equipment and materials in the cargo compartment, in including for experiments. In addition, the ship will deliver food for Russian cosmonauts Sergei Prokopiev, Dmitry Petelin, who is a special correspondent for TASS, and Anna Kikina, as previously reported by TASS at the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IMBP) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

source

Launch video

Some details from open sources about the functional features of a space tug with a nuclear reactor:

Note to self: Find time and learn to read Russian...

@Big Gazza Yandex Browser can translate images here's a translation:

Soyuz MS-23 launched into orbit

KOROLEV / Moscow region /, February 24. /TASS/. The Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Friday, was launched into orbit, a TASS correspondent reports from the Mission Control Center.

The rendezvous with the ISS will take place according to a two-day scheme, docking with the Poisk module of the Russian segment of the station is scheduled for 04:01 Moscow time on February 26.

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 03:24 Moscow time on February 24. The flight will take place in an unmanned mode.

Soyuz MS-23 will have to deliver almost 430 kg of cargo to the station, including medical control and examination equipment, station cleaning equipment and atmospheric purity control equipment, gas composition equipment, water, equipment for scientific experiments, as well as linen and food for the crew. As noted on Monday by the head of the flight of the Russian segment of the ISS, the general designer for manned complexes and systems of Russia Vladimir Solovyov, the ship will deliver to the station three times more food than usual. According to him, equipment will also be sent to the ISS, which will increase the ability to control via satellites. Despite the fact that the ship flies in an unmanned mode, it has a weightlessness indicator - a bear cub.

On December 15, 2022, the external contour of the radiator of the thermal control system of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft depressurized. After analyzing the situation, the state commission decided to launch the damaged Soyuz MS-22 in an unmanned mode, and return cosmonauts Prokopiev, Petelin and astronaut Rubio on the Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft, which was originally planned to be sent to the ISS in mid-March with the next expedition. Experts in the rocket and space industry conducted research and came to the conclusion that the Soyuz MS-22 was damaged as a result of a sporadic meteoroid impact.

source

Russian rocket engine makers have tested an innovative type of satellite thruster powered by krypton, a noble gas that is up to 10 times cheaper than the standard xenon, Roscosmos said Friday

"Experimental design bureau Fakel … and Keldysh Research Center have for the first time [in Russia] tested a stationary plasma jet engine, SPT-70M, using krypton as a propellant," the state space corporation said in a statement.

Satellites use thrusters to move around once they are in orbit — to dodge space debris, change altitude and even de-orbit.

Xenon has been the working gas of choice in most electric propulsion engines, where it is converted into a plasma jet to produce thrust. The downside of using xenon is its high cost and, as Fakel CEO Gennady Abramenkov said recently, the fact that it is in short supply.

Roscosmos announced in December that it was looking for an alternative gas to power satellite engines as it seeks to develop communication and Earth remote sensing constellations by 2030 as part of the Sphere (Sfera) national project.

Weaponaising Krypton. Good. In case Superman attacks. 

god what a pain, the Yenisei rocket got cancelled to switch from kerosene to methane, I hope the nuclear space tug project does not get postponed because they found something better again to use for their MPD thrusters instead of xenon.

Russia does not need a super heavy rocket. What they need is Angara A3 and A5V. Just develop the LOX/LH2 upper stage and add the Angara launch pad to Vostochny.
In the long term develop the nuclear upper stage for deep space exploration and launch it out of Angara A5V.

With China pushing ahead with their advanced redesign of LM9 launcher, one could ask why should Russia bother with developing their own SHLV with launch capability beyond A-5V. Combine their manned lunar and BEO programs with the Chinese (as they are tentatively doing with the embryonic lunar base), and Russia launches what few payloads it will have in the 100T+ class from a Chinese launch site.

I'd personally prefer that Russia have her own SHLV but beyond the issue of national pride, what is the driver if China can provide the same capability for much much less and in a quicker timescale? I'd prefer the cash be spent on hard power capabilities to stiffen Russian economic and defense capabilities against the feckless Western pricks and their endless spite-driven subversion efforts.

With nuclear upper stage you simply do not need the SHLV. At best you might need dual launches of Angara. So Russia should have two launch sites for it.
Russia has a highly advanced nuclear industry so it can do these things instead of rehashing Apollo like the US and China are doing.

Launch vehicle "Proton-M" launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, 03.12.2023.

The Proton-M carrier rocket with the Breeze-M upper stage and the Luch-5X spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. This was announced by the state corporation "Roscosmos" on Monday, March 13.

The rocket worked normally, the upper stage separated from the third stage of the rocket and puts the satellite into a given orbit, according to the Telegram channel.

In 2023, this is the fourth launch of Russian launch vehicles. For "Proton-M" the flight was the 115th, for "Breeze-M" - the 107th in history.

Earlier, on February 9, Roskosmos reported that the corporation, for the first time in the history of modern Russia, had completed 100 accident-free launches of space rockets in a row.

Roskosmos also clarified that 82 launches were on Soyuz rockets, 11 launches on Proton-M, four on Angara, and three launches on Rokot launch vehicles.

On February 19 , the Progress MS-21 cargo ship completed its space flight . Unburned elements of its structure fell in the non-navigable area of ​​​​the South Pacific Ocean.

https://iz.ru/1482194/2023-03-13/raketa-nositel-proton-m-startovala-s-kosmodroma-baikonur

The logic behind an SHLV is to be able to rapidly launch a very large item into orbit. So it is really military and not civilian motivation.
As pointed out the job of an SHLV can be done by sending up pieces and assembling them in orbit. This includes any Moon landing mission.

The Soyuz-5 based SHLV is not a waste of resources. It is a modular design using components that serve other purposes (Zenit replacement).
So it fits the military utility in a civilian context. No need for an N-1 or Saturn V.