Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #1

Can't believe I haven't posted this already...  (I'd typically would put this article in the news section, but I think this one deserves "better".)

Russia to allocate $8.2 billion for ISS development up to 2025 — deputy PM

Dmitry Rogozin clarified that the spacecraft to be maintained at the International Space Station was intended for experiments carried out in the conditions of deep vacuum

STAR CITY (Moscow region), September 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia plans to allocate 321 billion rubles ($8.2 billion) for developing the International Space Station (ISS) up to 2025, Russian Deputy Prime Minister  Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday. “The 2016-2025 draft of the target federal program provides for allocating 321 billion rubles for the ISS development and operation, including the creation of new modules for unmanned spacecraft,” Rogozin said during a visit to a cosmonaut training center. “Russia channels considerable funds into development of this area of Russian space science. We are now thinking of research projects designed to explore outer space, as well as new projects in manned cosmonautics,” Rogozin said. Rogozin clarified that the spacecraft to be maintained at the International Space Station (ISS) was intended for experiments carried out in the conditions of deep vacuum. “All space experiments onboard the International Space Station are being conducted under Russia’s existing long-term program of applied scientific research,” Rogozin said. These experiments include applied scientific research; the study of physical and chemical processes; materials in space conditions; the study of Earth from outer space; man in space; space biology; biotechnologies and space exploration technologies.

 - Sooooooo.... This one comes as a shocker to myself!  The planned obsolescence date of the ISS is said to be 2020, with 2028 being a "best case scenario".... With OPSEK and an ambitious space program coming up, why would they put that much money into the already "overused" ISS? That money is enough to fund the entire super-heavy program, plus a couple A5 launches! I understand that they want to do more experiments up there, but that extra money could go into speeding up the assembly of OPSEK, allowing Russia to complete the same experiments while being 100% space independent! Now that the US is officially going to use their own lifters and spacecraft, Russia's dominance over the ISS project will begin to shrink... Might as well jump ship and reassemble the (going to be used on OPSEK) Russian craft that are part of the ISS! - It would further slow down the US ISS program, is that is desirable... Anyway, if they reuse some sections of the ISS, Russia can then launch the Node Module in 2016 and start assembly! It would be in operation by the scheduled obsolescence of the ISS, wouldn't be expensive (they'd probably save money, as the ISS program isn't cheap), and as mentioned before, would be a Russia-only project. OPSEK should also be able to accommodate any Russian sections/crafts that were planned for the ISS as well.... IMHO, there is no downside to doing this, and no upsides in continuing the ISS program! - Get it together Roscosmos!

First manned spaceship to be launched from Vostochny onboard Angara rocket — Roscosmos

BAIKONUR, September 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The first manned spaceship will be launched from the Vostochny space facility onboard the Angara rocket, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) Oleg Ostapenko said on Friday.

“This will be the Angara rocket. Everything has been spelled out. We’re working on that basis,” Ostapenko said.

Ostapenko said other carrier boosters would be launched from the Vostochny space facility as well. “We don’t rule out that more powerful boosters will be launched,” he said.
Preparation of first Angara launch goes as scheduled — deputy minister

Media reports said earlier that the creation of a super-heavy missile system would be included in the federal space program for 2016-2025. Roscosmos asked to provide over 200 billion rubles (over $5 billion) to create such system at the Vostochny space facility.

According to earlier reports, the first manned launch from Vostrochny Cosmodrome is scheduled for 2018.

On September 23, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said the first manned spaceship would be launched from the new Vostochny space facility in the Russian Far East on time and without delay. “I would like to fix one very vital date which no one should call into question. I mean the year 2018 and the first manned launch from Vostochny (which is still under construction).”

On September 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a resolution to create a commission for the construction of Vostochny Cosmodrome. Rogozin was appointed as chairman of the commission.

Vostochny should become operational in 2015 and start sending manned missions in 2018.

The cosmodrome is intended for launching automatic and piloted space missions under national, international and commercial programs. Its construction started in 2012 and the first launch is expected to be carried out in by 2015 on board Soyuz-2 light carrier rockets. By 2018, it will be ready to launch heavy Angara-5A rockets. The cosmodrome will also have infrastructure for future piloted missions.

More than 400 social, engineering and transport infrastructure facilities, 115 km of roads and 125 km of railroads will be built at the cosmodrome.

Experts say that the commissioning of the cosmodrome will allow Russia to carry out independent and more effective space activities, launch more space vehicles, reduce environmental impact, facilitate economic development of the region, create new jobs in related industries, and make the region more attractive to investors.

Launch was success

I wonder if that satellite may be one from Liana constellation

Russian communications satellite "Ray" into its target orbit

Well, what do you know!!!

Space Station Partners in No Rush To Decide on Extension

TORONTO — The heads of three space agencies said Sept. 29 that their governments may not make decisions until 2016 on whether to continue to participate in the international space station beyond 2020.
In a “Heads of Agencies” panel session that kicked off the 65th International Astronautical Congress here, and a press conference that followed, the leaders of the Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said they had near-term priorities to address first, including maximizing the current use of the ISS, before considering the extension proposed by the United States earlier this year.
“In Japan, the government hasn’t decided to join in this program after 2020,” said Naoki Okumura, president of JAXA, when asked about the government’s support for an extension during the panel session. He said discussion would continue within the government until a 2016 meeting of the ISS partners in Japan.
One factor in that decision, he suggested, was finding ways to reduce costs of running the station’s Kibo laboratory module. “We have to tackle that,” he said.
At a press conference after the panel, Okamura’s Canadian and European counterparts also said they were not planning an immediate decision on an extension to at least 2024. ESA director general Jean-Jacques Dordain said his “number one” priority regarding ISS at the agency’s ministerial meeting in December is funding Europe's contribution to the ISS to 2020.
“We are preparing some principal decisions for what’s next after 2020, but there will not be any funding commitment,” he added. “The member states will be invited to give their views on what’s after 2020.”
“Our focus is to maximize the use of the international space Station,” said Walter Natynczyk, president of the Canadian Space Agency. “And then, we will have a look at the entire value proposition when we put a case [for an extension] before the government of Canada.”
In January, the White House and NASA announced that the United States would seek an extension of ISS operations from 2020 to at least 2024. Agency officials have indicated that, from a technical standpoint, the ISS could continue operating to 2028.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, who was also present at the panel session and press conference, did not comment on the statements by his counterparts. In a speech at a Federal Aviation Administration commercial space transportation conference in February, William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for human exploration and operations, said he expected the international partners would take “several years” to decide on the proposed extension, but would eventually approve it.
Geopolitical tensions this year involving Russia, while not affecting near-term ISS operations, have cast a shadow on the station’s long-term future. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said earlier this year that Russia would end its participation in the ISS in 2020, although since then Roscosmos has indicated they are considering plans for an extension beyond 2020.
Denis Lyskov, deputy head of Roscosmos, was scheduled to appear on the panel at the conference. However, he was one of a number of Russian and Chinese delegates who were unable to attend because of visa problems.

Nice

RF beginning to replace foreign satellite components long before sanctions

Russia postpones automatic lunar exploration program until 2018

Russian scientists will focus on Moon and Mars exploration and repeat the Phobos-Grunt mission in the next decade

MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russia has postponed the start of its automatic lunar exploration program from 2016 until 2018, Space Research Institute Director Lev Zelyony said on Friday.

“They [the timelines] have been changed from 2016 to 2018. These are Luna Globe and orbiting Luna [program],” he said, adding that there should be no further delays.
“We want to implement three lunar projects this decade: Luna-25, Luna-26 and Luna-27,” he said.
Zelyony said these timelines have been set in the Federal Space Program proposed by the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
Russian scientists will focus on Moon and Mars exploration and repeat the Phobos-Grunt mission in the next decade, Zelyony said earlier.
“The Moon and Mars are our priority for 2016-2025,” he said.

The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) in partnership with the European Space Agency will be carrying out two stages of the ExoMars mission in 2016 and 2018.

In 2016, Roscosmos is planning to join Europe and Japan in the BepiColombo project.
In 2017, it will orbit the Spektr-RG telescope and send a Russian rover, Luna-Globe, to the Moon in 2019, for the first time in years.
A UV observatory is to be launched in 2020; an orbiting module and a dropship are scheduled to be sent to the Moon in 2012 and 2023, respectively.
After thoroughly testing lunar and Martian technologies, approximately in 2024, Russia, may repeat its Phobos-Grunt mission to Mars’ satellite Phobos to collect its soil and bring it back to Earth.
 
- In all honesty, this is probably a good thing... It gives em' more time to perfect their technology, and reduces the stress load... 

Morpheus Eberhardt wrote:

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Vann7 wrote:Nice movie.. thanks for sharing! very informative..

Thank you.

Russian space agency to present space programme for 2016-2025

http://en.itar-tass.com/non-political/752757

http://en.itar-tass.com/non-political/753382

What did I tell you!

ISS operation not officially discussed between Russia-US

The ISS was not needed anymore, for all its resources and functions had already been employed in all kind of experiments at the near-Earth space

MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. The American space agency NASA has not officially offered Russia to extend the service of International Space Station (ISS) until 2024, Russia’s space agency expert Yury Makarov told TASS on Friday.
“We are now considering possible extension of the ISS operation, which is to be finished by 2020. Our American partners have not made any official claims regarding the issue yet, though they have suggested extending ISS operation during the talks”, he said.
The expert said that ISS was not needed anymore, for all its resources and functions had already been employed in all kind of experiments at the near-Earth space. “The station can still be used for other experiments in the interests of various economic sectors, but the question is whether such experiments are profitable and efficient”, Makarov said. The expert stressed that around one third of funds allocated for Russia’s Federal Space Program 2006-2015, were spent on ISS. Earlier, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, said that over 30% of the country’s federal budget is wasted to sustain the station; therefore, Russia does not consider it profitable to continue participating in the project after 2020.
Makarov added that the decision regarding the ISS operation would be thoroughly discussed between all participants of the project.