Rockets and satellites were produced on assembly lines like cars. At least close to that. They had to keep the factories busy, that´s why "cheaper" and "simpler" satellites were preferred. For them it was better to build 50 or 100 satellites a year and launch them instead of a handful extremly expensive ones every few years.
Today, the Soyuz-2.1b space rocket with the Meteor-M hydrometeorological spacecraft No. 2-4 and 18 Russian and foreign accompanying small satellites was transported to the launch complex of pad 1C of the Vostochny cosmodrome.
After installing the rocket in a vertical position at the launch complex, specialists from the enterprises of the Roscosmos State Corporation continued preparing it for launch.
The launch of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Fregat upper stage, the Meteor-M spacecraft No. 2-4 and 18 Russian and foreign accompanying small satellites is planned on February 29 at 08:43:26 Moscow time.
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Meteor-M satellite launched from Vostochny spaceport reaches orbit
MOSCOW, February 29. /TASS/. The Meteor-M No. 2-4 weather satellite launched from the Vostochny spaceport has been put into orbit by the Fregat booster, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a statement.
"The new satellite has reached the designated orbit and separated from the booster. Fregat is now delivering 18 Russian and foreign-made small satellites into their designated orbits," the statement reads.
The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle carrying the satellites blasted off from the Vostochny spaceport at 8:43 a.m. Moscow time (5:43 a.m. GMT).
The Meteor-M satellite is designed to explore the Earth's natural resources, monitor the helio-geophysical situation in near-Earth space and receive information from automatic data collection measurement platforms. The spacecraft is also equipped with the tools of the COSPAS-SARSAT search and rescue system.
source
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Fregat booster puts 17 Russian satellites, one Iranian satellite into orbit
As many as 16 of them will join the constellation of the SITRO-AIS automatic identification system designed to track sea vessels
VOSTOCHNY SPACEPORT /Amur Region/, February 29. /TASS/. The Fregat booster launched from the Vostochny spaceport has put 17 Russian satellites and a small Iranian satellite into orbit as a secondary payload along the Meteor-M No. 2-4 weather satellite, Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos said in a statement.
"Iran’s small spacecraft Pars 1 - a demonstration satellite designed to practice remote Earth sensing technologies - was put into orbit on behalf of the Iranian Space Agency along with the Meteor-M No. 2-4 satellite," the statement reads.
In addition, 17 small satellites made by the Russian private company Sputnix (part of the Sitronics Group) were also delivered to orbit. As many as 16 of them will join the constellation of the SITRO-AIS automatic identification system designed to track sea vessels, while the Zorky-2M spacecraft will join the constellation of ultra-small Earth remote sensing satellites.
The launch vehicle carrying the satellites blasted off from the Vostochny spaceport at 8:43 a.m. Moscow time (5:43 a.m. GMT). In nine minutes and 23 seconds, it delivered the Fregat booster with the spacecraft to low Earth orbit. It took about an hour to deliver the Meteor-M satellite to the 820-km orbit and after that, the Fregat booster started putting the smaller satellites into their designated orbits.
The Pars 1 spacecraft was made by the Iranian Space Research Center. The contract for its launch was signed as part of efforts to implement the Russian-Iranian agreements reached during Roscosmos Director General Yury Borisov’s meeting with head of the Iranian Space Agency Hassan Salarieh on the sidelines of the Iran Air Show 2022.
https://tass.com/science/1753777
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Roscosmos approved the preliminary design of a promising Russian orbital station
MOSCOW, April 2. /TASS/. Roscosmos approved the preliminary design of the promising Russian Orbital Station (ROS). The state corporation reported this.
“The preliminary design of the Russian orbital station received a positive conclusion and was approved by the Roscosmos state corporation,” the statement says. It is noted that Roscosmos and the lead contractors are currently working to conclude government contracts for the creation of the station.
Roscosmos recalled that the promising station is intended to become the base for the domestic manned cosmonautics after the International Space Station (ISS) completes its work. The core of the station will be a node module with six docking ports, to which other modules are connected. Each of the station modules can be replaced if necessary - this will extend the service life for decades.
The state corporation also noted that the station will fly in a polar orbit with an inclination of up to 97 degrees. “This will give an overview of the entire earth’s surface, including the Northern Sea Route, which is strategically important for our country. Now cosmonauts on board the ISS can see about 60% of the earth’s surface, of which only about 10% is the territory of Russia,” they said, adding, that the polar orbit will provide guaranteed stable communication with the Earth.
The high energy output of the station, Roscosmos emphasized, is one of the main advantages of the ROS - it will allow testing and testing the technologies of popular equipment, radars and high-power antenna systems. The station's energy will be provided, among other things, by gyroscopic complexes, which make it possible to maintain the station's orbit without engines and significantly save fuel.
The deployment of the new station, as previously reported, is planned for the period from 2027 to 2032. “First, the scientific and energy, hub and gateway modules will be launched into space, then the base module will be launched, which will take over the station’s control functions. Then the development of the station will be continued by the target modules,” Roscosmos noted. They recalled that, unlike the ISS, the new station will be able to operate without the constant presence of astronauts.
About the Russian orbital station
The idea of Russia creating its own orbital station was announced in April 2021. In October 2023, the head of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, announced that the cost of the station was estimated at 609 billion rubles until 2032, of which 150 billion are planned to be spent in the first three years. According to him, the project is open to international cooperation - an offer has been made to African and BRICS countries to participate in the creation of the station
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Sounds like they are going to end up with a space station that is rather more useful for Russia and also other countries around the world.
The flightpath should allow excellent coverage of the entire planet surface and from the sounds of things the use of gyros for station keeping is rather clever.
I remember an experiment when a satellite released a cable with copper and other elements and hung it down below the satellite.
With the satellite going round the earth in orbit this long wire was dragged through the earths magnetic field and generated quite a significant electric current... no moving parts or volatile chemicals and no nuclear materials... just a very long metal weave cable.
Not sure of the physics of how to get it to hang like that as things at different orbital heights move at different speeds so the bottom end of the cable has to move at the same speed as the satellite at the top, which means it will rise up to the satellites orbit... I guess they worked out some solution... Maybe the cable went sideways rather than vertically... it is still moving through a powerful magnetic field.
With the orbit of this new station going from pole to pole it might be even more energetic and generate even more power.
When you hear stories about the traitorous 'stans... keep in mind that it is in western interests for Russia to have a hissy fit and break all relations...
Putin will be in power till 2030 now with 6 more years so there is potential to expand the Russian Federation, but equally there is potential to not expand much further.
I need to ask did Russia have these satellite resolution capabilities or did they just acquire this capability as of now? and were they fighting this entire war without those resolution capabilities while Ukraine was given all coordinated attack from NATO intelligence using their satellites? The sanctions from 2014 did not allow them get satellite parts and usually the service life of their LEO sats are at 5 years.
thegopnik wrote:I need to ask did Russia have these satellite resolution capabilities or did they just acquire this capability as of now? and were they fighting this entire war without those resolution capabilities while Ukraine was given all coordinated attack from NATO intelligence using their satellites? The sanctions from 2014 did not allow them get satellite parts and usually the service life of their LEO sats are at 5 years.
Russia had some satellites. Just not enough to have frequent coverage over the target.
The West has a lot of "commercial" recon satellites. Including whole constellations. So they have more timely data.
Russia unfortunately never got into the recon constellation business. They only have a couple large recon sats like other governments.
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On April 24, ART-XC completed its fifth full survey of the entire sky.
The Spektr-RG Observatory conducted four complete studies from December 2019 to March 2022, each in about six months. This strategy was not chosen by chance — by combining the maps obtained for each individual survey, you can "accumulate" more useful signals and see weaker objects, and comparing them with each other, find variable sources. In addition, this approach allows you to smooth out the consequences of unforeseen and unpleasant events.
Unlike previous reviews, the work program has now been changed so that the project team has the opportunity to take a break and observe interesting objects: supernova SN2024ggi, millisecond pulsar SRGA J144459.2-604207.
The next full sky survey is expected to begin in about 10 days, in early May.
https://t.me/roscosmos_gk/13402
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