Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #5

MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/. Specialists from the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INASAN) are discussing with colleagues from China possible cooperation on the Spektr-UV space observatory project, as well as a telescope that the Chinese side plans to launch to its Tiangong space station. This was announced by INASAN director Mikhail Sachkov at the conference “Ultraviolet Universe - 2023”.

“We are trying to establish cooperation with them in two directions,” the scientist said. According to him, the first option of cooperation involves the joint use of two telescopes. “We would like to agree with them, let’s say conditionally, that we have one channel, one filter in common - on Spektr-UV and on the Chinese telescope,” Sachkov explained. He added that this approach will allow data to be brought into one system.

“The second proposal of our Chinese colleagues is to put a small wide-angle ultraviolet telescope on board the Spektra-UV,” the scientist said. According to him, the Chinese instrument could make its own observations without affecting the scientific program of the Russian telescope.

The China National Space Administration (CNSA) expects to launch the autonomous Xuntian module, equipped with a two-meter optical telescope, in 2024. It will go into the same orbit where the Chinese Tiangong space station is currently located and in the future will be able to approach the station for repairs, refueling and maintenance of equipment.

"Spectrum-UV" is an international project aimed at exploring the Universe in the ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is inaccessible for observation from Earth. The lead organization in the project is the Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

The All-Russian scientific conference "Ultraviolet Universe - 2023" is dedicated to astronomical observations in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The conference takes place from October 16 to 19 under the auspices of the Russian Academy of Sciences in honor of the celebration of its 300th anniversary.

The head of Roscosmos said that the project to create a Russian orbital station has been approved

Korolev (Moscow region). 27th October. INTERFAX-AVN - At a meeting on the development of the space industry led by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the project for the creation of the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) was approved and funding was allocated, said Roscosmos General Director Yuri Borisov.

“The decision has been made unequivocally - instructions have been given to approve the federal project for the manned program, for the creation of the Russian orbital station,” he told reporters on Friday following the meeting.
“Funding has been allocated, the main indicators for this project have been determined,” Borisov said.
Russia is considering the possibility of creating a new national station that will replace the ISS. The first stage of the formation of the ROS is scheduled for 2027-2030, construction is planned to be completed in 2032.
On April 10, First Deputy General Director of Roscosmos Andrei Elchaninov said in an interview with Interfax that the construction of the ROS is tentatively estimated at more than 600 billion rubles. According to him, the specific amount will become known based on the results of the preliminary design.

There is no point in this

GarryB wrote:A little off topic but very important news for those complaining about the state of Russias space programme... it seems ESA... the European Space Agency is not very happy because now that they can no longer use Russian rockets to get their payloads to space they have had to use American commercial rockets to launch payloads, but of course the Americans are not as accommodating as the Russians so all launches have to take place from US territory, which costs more and is a bit of a blow to the ESAs pride because they are not launching from ESA facilities... they are clearly getting the Americans to launch things for them.

Before they were launching from sites they controlled so they could simply not mention all the rockets getting their stuff into space was Russian.

They have a new rocket of their own but that is years away and the costs of Ukraine war and now war in Israel they will likely contribute to as well it might be some time before they have the funds to support such things.

GarryB wrote:A little off topic but very important news for those complaining about the state of Russias space programme... it seems ESA... the European Space Agency is not very happy because now that they can no longer use Russian rockets to get their payloads to space they have had to use American commercial rockets to launch payloads, but of course the Americans are not as accommodating as the Russians so all launches have to take place from US territory, which costs more and is a bit of a blow to the ESAs pride because they are not launching from ESA facilities... they are clearly getting the Americans to launch things for them.

Before they were launching from sites they controlled so they could simply not mention all the rockets getting their stuff into space was Russian.

They have a new rocket of their own but that is years away and the costs of Ukraine war and now war in Israel they will likely contribute to as well it might be some time before they have the funds to support such things.

Scorpius wrote:

Big_Gazza wrote:
they don't spend money on deep space exploration

Spektr-R and Spektr-RG, the launch of Luna-25, the ExoMars program, all these Russian scientific instruments on the Martian, lunar, Mercury missions of ESA and the USA - yeah, of course it's "not spending money on deep space exploration"

lancelot wrote:Well they did this to themselves because of their nearsightedness and constant money pinching.

BAIKONUR COSMODROME /Kazakhstan/, December 1. /TASS/. A Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Progress MS-25 resupply ship blasted off from the Baikonur spaceport to the International Space Station (ISS), a TASS correspondent reported from the scene on Friday.

In about nine minutes, the space freighter separated from the rocket’s upper stage. The Progress cargo craft will approach the orbital outpost two days after its blastoff. Its docking with the Russian Poisk mini-research module is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. Moscow time (11:15 a.m. GMT) on December 3.

The Progress MS-25 resupply ship will deliver 2,528 kg of cargo to the orbital outpost, in particular, 515 kg of refueling propellant, 420 liters of potable water, 40 kg of compressed nitrogen in cylinders and about 1,553 kg of various equipment and materials in the cargo hold, among them medical and hygienic items and outfits.

The space freighter will also bring a trophy of the Games of the Future tournament to the orbital outpost. The trophy will return to Earth in 2024 and will be presented at the tournament. The space freighter will also deliver food for Russian cosmonauts, in particular, mandarins, which the Research Institute of Food Concentrate Industry and Special Food Technology earlier told TASS about.

The rocket is decorated with depictions devoted to the 35th anniversary of the flight by a Buran reusable space shuttle and the centenary of the birth of First Head of the USSR Defense Ministry’s Main Space Systems Department Alexander Maksimov, the decade of science and technology and the Games of the Future tournament.

The ISS crew psychological support service also told TASS earlier that the Progress MS-25 resupply ship would deliver New Year gifts to the space station prepared by the crewmembers’ relatives and friends. There are also dragon keychains inside gift bags.

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. The Progress MS-25 cargo spacecraft, which was launched on Friday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, docked with the Poisk module of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), follows from the Roscosmos broadcast.

The ship moored to the station in automatic mode. The process was controlled from Earth by specialists from the Mission Control Center, and from on board the ISS by Roscosmos cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko (TASS special correspondent), Nikolay Chub and Konstantin Borisov.

Progress MS-25 delivered 2,528 kg of cargo to the ISS, including 515 kg of refueling fuel, 420 liters of drinking water, 40 kg of compressed nitrogen in cylinders and about 1,553 kg of various equipment and materials in the cargo compartment: medical control and sanitary equipment -hygienic provision, clothing items. The station also received the Future Games tournament trophy, which will return to Earth in 2024 and be presented at the tournament. In addition, the ship delivered food for Russian cosmonauts, including tangerines, oranges, lemons and grapefruits, as previously reported to TASS by the Research Institute of Food Concentrate Industry and Special Food Technology.

Progress MS-25 is also bringing New Year's gifts to the station, which were prepared for the crew members by their relatives and friends, the ISS crew psychological support service told TASS. Keychains with dragons are included in the gift bags.