Russian Space Program: News & Discussion #5

Soyuz launches from Baikonur with spacecraft delivering New Year's gifts to the ISS

KOROLEV /Moscow Region/, November 21. /TASS/. The Soyuz-2.1a launch vehicle with the Progress MS-29 cargo transport ship launched from pad No. 31 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a TASS correspondent from the Mission Control Center reports.

In about nine minutes, Progress MS-29 will separate from the third stage of the rocket, which bears the Year of the Family logo. The flight to the ISS is expected to take about two days. In 50 hours, the cargo ship will approach the International Space Station (ISS). Docking with the Poisk module is scheduled for 17:36 Moscow time on Saturday.

Progress MS-29 will deliver 2,487 kg of cargo to the ISS, including 869 kg of refueling fuel, 420 liters of drinking water, 43 kg of nitrogen compressed in cylinders, as well as about 1,155 kg of various equipment and materials in the cargo compartment: food for the crew, clothing, and kits for scientific experiments.

In particular, the Progress will send equipment and hardware for the station's systems to the ISS, including for the following experiments: Vampire (growing crystals in an electric vacuum furnace), BTN-Neutron-2 (studying the neutron spectrum), 3D-printing (three-dimensional printing from polymers), etc.

https://tass.ru/kosmos/22463451

Progress MS-29 docked with the ISS

KOROLEV /Moscow Region/, November 23. /TASS/. The Progress MS-29 cargo ship, which was launched on Thursday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, has docked with the Poisk module of the Russian segment of the ISS, a TASS correspondent from the Mission Control Center reports.

The ship docked with the station in automatic mode. The process was controlled from Earth by specialists from the Mission Control Center, and from the ISS by Roscosmos cosmonauts Ivan Wagner (special correspondent for TASS), Alexey Ovchinin and Alexander Gorbunov.

Progress MS-29 delivered 2,487 kg of cargo to the ISS, including 1,155 kg of equipment and hardware for the station's systems, including for the experiments: Vampire (growing crystals in an electric vacuum furnace), BTN-Neutron-2 (studying the neutron spectrum), 3D-Printing (three-dimensional printing from polymers), and others. Progress also has 869 kg of fuel, 420 liters of drinking water, and 43 kg of nitrogen on board.

As Andrei Vedernikov, head of the space food department at the Research Institute of Food Concentrates Industry and Special Food Technology, told TASS earlier, the Progress MS-29 transport ship will carry dried venison and horse meat, canned fish, meat and vegetables, horseradish, adjika and mustard for them, soups, cottage cheese, porridge, coffee, cocoa, tea drinks, as well as fresh fruits and sweets for the cosmonauts. According to Ovchinin, the ship will also deliver New Year's gifts to the station

https://tass.ru/kosmos/22480311

Borisov: the main cooperation for the creation of the ROS has already been contracted

The Director General of Roscosmos recalled that the station project was approved in 2023, and full-scale work on its creation began in 2024

MOSCOW, November 22. /TASS/. The bulk of production cooperation for the project of the prospective Russian orbital station (ROS) has already been contracted. It includes hundreds of enterprises, said Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov.

"Today, all the main cooperation that will work [on the station] has been contracted. These are hundreds of enterprises, this is a very ambitious project, and the general plan for its creation has been signed," Borisov said in an interview with Marina Kim for the "Novy Mir" project on the " Soloviev Live " TV channel.

He recalled that the ROS project was approved last year, and this year full-scale work on its creation has already been launched. "Everything, of course, will depend on the rhythm of financing. As always, there are problems with money, with finances, they are present, but we will solve them," the head of the state corporation added.

Currently, work is underway in the Russian Federation to create a Russian orbital station - according to the approved general schedule, the deployment of the ROS in a near-polar orbit is expected in the period from 2027 to 2033. The planned cost of the project is 608.9 billion rubles, 150 of which are planned to be spent in the first three years.

https://tass.ru/kosmos/22472247

s always, there are problems with money, with finances, they are present, but we will solve them,

Put the finance minister in the next Soyuz and send him away if he makes trouble.

Putin names date of first space launch from Baiterek, by Olga Ivanova for VZGLYAD. 11.27.2024.

Putin: Moscow expects first space launch from Baiterek to take place in 2025.

Russia expects to conduct the first space launch from the Baiterek complex in 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.

"It is important that we have managed to maintain and increase close cooperation in the field of space research with our Kazakh friends. The Baikonur Cosmodrome continues to be used. The Baiterek project is being implemented, which envisages the creation of a new rocket and space complex for the launch of the promising Russian Soyuz-5 launch vehicle. We expect that the first launch from Baiterek will take place, as planned, next year [2025]," RIA Novosti quotes him as saying .

The Baiterek space rocket complex is a joint project of Russia and Kazakhstan to create a new launch pad at Baikonur. The design capacity will be six to eight launches per year.

Earlier, the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, signed a joint statement on further deepening the strategic partnership between the two countries. Let us recall that Putin is on a state visit to Kazakhstan, which is taking place from November 27 to 28.

https://vz.ru/news/2024/11/27/1300309.html

The Kondor FKA2 radar imaging satellite is successfully launched.

https://tass.com/science/1879417
Design of super-heavy rocket to be finalized based on new technologies — Roscosmos
"The development of a super-heavy class rocket exposed a need for introducing innovative solutions, including new materials and engines," the press service said
MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. The approved preliminary design of a super-heavy class space rocket, which Russia plans to use for manned flights to the Moon, will be finalized during the technical design stage, the press service of Roscosmos corporation told the media.

On Thursday morning, Oleg Gorshkov, an adviser to the Roscosmos CEO, said that Russia’s crewed flights to the Moon were being postponed due to the lack of funds for creating a launch vehicle. Earlier, plans for sending Russian cosmonauts to the Moon between 2031 and 2040 were mentioned.

"The development of a super-heavy class rocket exposed a need for introducing innovative solutions, including new materials and engines. It was decided to finalize the previously approved preliminary project at the stage of technical design," the press service said in a news release.

Peculiar that there is a "need" for new technology. They already had Energiya in the 1980s. The RD-170 engines and the hydrogen
engines. They also had all the necessary materials. I don't see how a Sunkar (Soyuz-5) URV needs so many new components.

I think it could be less than 50 years depending on the economic outlook.
https://www.rbc.ru/technology_and_media/22/11/2024/674099409a79476b04968f22
Borisov named the launch date of Zeus for deep space research
Roscosmos CEO: Manned Flights to Mars Could Begin Within 50 Years
Manned flights to Mars could begin within the next 50 years, and in the 2030s and 40s Russia will begin using Zeus nuclear tugs for deep space exploration and other scientific programs, the head of Roscosmos said
Manned flights to Mars could begin in the next 50 years, while Russia will begin using “nuclear tugs” to explore deep space within a few decades, Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov said in an interview with Soloviev Live.

"I think that maybe even faster, in the next 50 years. <...> The corresponding technologies will be accumulated, tested, new carriers will be created that will allow us to get to this distant planet much faster. And, of course, then the mission becomes more realistic. But, at least for [American entrepreneur Elon] Musk, it is in the next few decades - visiting Mars," Borisov said, answering a question about the timing of flights to Mars.

The head of Roscosmos also said that the nuclear tug Zeus, which is being developed in Russia, is planned to be used for the exploration of deep space. Its prototype is planned to be created in 2030. “We are doing this project on our own for now, and it is going quite well. The corresponding reactor capacities have been achieved. And I think that we will not stop work in this direction, and somewhere in the 2030s–40s the product will already be practically used for the exploration of deep space, for scientific programs,” Borisov said.

The problem with these plans is that their pacing is idiotically slow. They should be planning to launch the initial prototype of Zeus
early in the 2030s. Not in the late 30s or 40s. There is a need to create real prototypes and not paper fiction to engage real world,
empirically driven innovation. The sort of thing that was happening in the 1950s and 60s. The current mentality is why progress since 1970
has been trivial. The money gets spent but we are spinning our wheels.

PapaDragon wrote:Anyone remember PTK-NP?

Seriously? A little more than a month has passed since the display of several samples that are being prepared for testing:
https://vk.com/photo-36969581_457248326

Also, right now, the construction of infrastructure for manned launches at the Angara launch complex at the Vostochny cosmodrome is underway, this is also news this year.
Do you have such a short memory?

Russia has launched the second satellite of the Kondor-FKA series into orbit, completing the formation of a space system capable of observing the planet's surface at any time of day and in any weather conditions. The new orbital grouping provides opportunities for obtaining detailed images of the Earth and significantly expands the potential of radar monitoring.

It is worth starting with the fact that the basis of the Kondor-FKA satellites is a radar with a synthetic aperture, which sends electromagnetic pulses and then catches their reflection from the earth's surface. This technology allows obtaining high-precision images even through clouds, ice or fog, which is inaccessible to optical observation methods.

Russian satellites can record surface areas with a resolution of up to one meter in detailed mode and cover zones up to 120 kilometers wide in the overview format. The launch of the second device has significantly increased the monitoring accuracy.

The first satellite of the system, launched in 2023, has already proven its effectiveness, and the second took into account all the features of its predecessor.

It is worth noting that the idea of ​​​​equipping orbital vehicles with radar equipment is not new and is used by many countries. About 30 such systems are already operating in the world. However, only modern artificial intelligence technologies and accumulated data arrays make it possible to decipher radar images quickly and with minimal errors.

To date, radar equipment has repeatedly proven its value in research and military operations. For example, in 2016, the European satellite Sentinel-1A measured soil displacement in North Korea after nuclear tests, and was also used to track Russian military facilities.

In turn, Soviet intelligence reported back in the 20th century that American aircraft could determine the location of Soviet submarines located at depth. Today, such tasks are solved using satellite technologies.

The Russian Federation uses the Kondor-FKA system not only to monitor military facilities, but also to analyze the ice situation on the Northern Sea Route.

It is also important that with the launch of the second Kondor-FKA satellite, our country is not stopping there. In 2026, the third device in this series is planned to be launched into orbit, and right now, a modernized version of the Kondor-FKA-M with a resolution of up to 40 cm is being developed.

https://topcor-ru.translate.goog/54668-nabljudenija-v-ljuboe-vremja-sutok-rossija-zavershila-formirovanie-novoj-sputnikovoj-gruppirovki.html?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en

Russian cosmonauts complete spacewalk, installing X-ray spectrometer on Zvezda module

The instrument will be able to monitor 84% of the celestial sphere and help scientists determine the number of supermassive black holes in the Universe

MOSCOW, December 20. /TASS/. Russian cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner (TASS correspondent aboard the ISS) closed the exit hatch of the Poisk module of the International Space Station, completing their spacewalk.

The extravehicular activity began at 6:36 p.m. Moscow time on Thursday. The cosmonauts were expected to spend six hours and 43 minutes in space, but their mission lasted 7 hours 17 minutes instead.

Their primary goal was to install and connect the SPIN-X1-MVN X-ray spectrometer on the Zvezda Service Module. The instrument will be able to monitor 84% of the celestial sphere and help scientists determine the number of supermassive black holes in the Universe.

Besides, Ovechkin and Vagner also dismantled research equipment from the Poisk module. Ovchinin then positioned himself in the ERA's portable manipulator arm workstation and flung the dismantled items away from the ISS. The garbage will soon burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

This EVA was the first in Vagner career. He was wearing Orlan-ISS spacesuit No. 4 with blue stripes. Alexey Ovchinin, who was wearing Orlan-ISS spacesuit No. 5 with red stripes, was in outer space for a second time (for the first time during the current 72nd long expedition to the orbital outpost).

About the spectrometer

The spectrometer for the experiment All Sky Monitor was delivered to the station on the cargo spacecraft Progress MS-28 in August. In September, the Deputy Director of the Space Research Institute (SRI) under the Russian Academy of Sciences, associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Lutovinov told TASS that the device would go operational immediately after installation and perform 15 sky surveys in three years.

Lutovinov noted that the instrument would help scientists determine the number of supermassive black holes in the Universe and their contribution to its history by measuring the cosmic X-ray background - radiation made up of a huge number of distant objects that are almost impossible to view individually.

https://tass.com/science/1890669

A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket has delivered Resurs-P Earth remote sensing satellite No. 5 into orbit

https://tass.com/science/1892975

George1 wrote:A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket has delivered Resurs-P Earth remote sensing satellite No. 5 into orbit

Launch of the 2000th R-7 derived carrier rocket.  17th launch for the year. 125 successful launches without loss since the last aborted launch (Soyuz MS-10 in 2018) 

Launch of Russia’s Bion-M biosatellite scheduled for March 25 — manufacturer

https://tass.com/science/1893503

Roscosmos buys Earth observation satellite data from private company for first time

The Sputnix Group confirmed that the contract had been signed

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos has concluded the first forward contract with the private space company Sputnix on buying Earth remote sensing satellite data, Roscosmos said on Saturday.

"In 2024, up to 1.4 billion rubles [around $14.285 million] were allocated in budget funds to conclude forward contracts with private companies on buying out Earth’s remote sensing data obtained from their satellites and created under the federal project ‘Developing the Advanced Space Systems and Services High-Tech Sector.’ The first contract on buying out data has been concluded with the Sputnix Group of Companies," Roscosmos said in a statement.

The Sputnix Group confirmed to TASS that the contract had been signed.

"Under the contract, the data already loaded into the database were bought out. We hope that next year we will be able to sign a forward contract as part of implementing the roadmap for the ‘Advanced Space Systems and Services’ project," the company said, emphasizing that cooperation with Roscosmos remained a priority for Sputnix.

Deputy Director of the Roscosmos Department of Automated Space Complexes, Navigation Systems and Earth’s Remote Sensing Valery Zaichko announced plans in 2023 to purchase data from private companies. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law in April 2024 vesting an exclusive right in Roscosmos to sell remote sensing data to customers, including government agencies.

In the summer of this year, Roscosmos Head Yury Borisov said that the federal space agency was interested in concluding forward contracts with some private companies, including Sitronics Space (the former name of Sputnix). Borisov announced in early December that the contract was expected to be signed by the end of the year.

https://tass.com/science/1894855

Russia needs far better earth remote sensing capabilities for better coordinated strikes for their 100-200km shells, drones and rockets in Ukraine like blowing up ATACM launchers before they can be used.



https://rg.ru/2024/12/30/proekt-sfera-kakie-novye-sputniki-gotoviatsia-k-zapusku-v-2025-godu.html?ysclid=m5anrjwz3o673331650

"Marathon" refers to unpressurized microclass satellites. Its mass is less than 100 kg. To form a full-scale orbital constellation, group launches of 44 vehicles by one launch vehicle are provided.

What will the full-scale orbital constellation "Marathon IoT" look like? It will allow providing data transmission services throughout the Earth. The satellites will operate in a low circular orbit at an altitude of 750 km, where they will be distributed in 12 planes with a circumpolar inclination.

In addition, in the outgoing year, tests of four experimental optoelectronic satellites "Gryphon" were completed. Their launch is also scheduled for next year. And starting from 2026, it is planned to deploy an orbital constellation of serial satellites "Sphere-Griffin" with bringing them to the standard composition: 132 spacecraft. They will allow you to receive data every 30 hours from the territory of Russia and at least 38 hours around the world. They will analyze data to identify changes in natural phenomena and man-made processes, regulate traffic flows and monitor mining.

Sphere is one of the key projects of Roscosmos, aimed at developing space information technologies and eliminating the so-called "digital divide": providing Internet access via satellites where it is impossible to lay fiber optics. For example, in high latitudes, taiga, tundra and permafrost zones.

They can see everything from above: the new Resurs-PNo 5 satellite has begun to be prepared for launch
Society
They can see everything from above: the new Resurs-PNo 5 satellite has begun to be prepared for launch
A state-of-the-art communications and monitoring system is being created, including both existing and future space infrastructure. The project includes orbital constellations of communications and remote sensing spacecraft.

According to Roscosmos, in order to carry out priority work on the Sphere project in 2021, 7 billion rubles of subsidies were allocated from the federal budget to Roscosmos organizations: the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering - to carry out research work "Laser", "Digital", "Typoryad", to the company "ISSFETNEV" - for work on the "Skif" and "Marathon" systems. The results achieved, according to experts, are not just positive but fundamental.

So, in the direction of "Typoryad" in 2024, a scalable scalable unified space platform of the same name was developed. On its basis, small satellites for various purposes will be created in a short time. The resulting experimental sample and its components will be used in ground testing of two experimental optoelectronic remote sensing satellites "Berkut-VR" and one experimental radar remote sensing satellite "Berkut-RSA" being created at NPO Lavochkin (part of Roscosmos). Their launches are planned for 2026-2027.

In the future, an increase in groupings is expected: Berkut-VR - up to 30 spacecraft, Berkut-RSA - up to 24.

In the direction of "Digital", the key elements of an experimental sample of a flexible digital payload have been created. And in the direction of "Laser", in order to increase the speed of information transmission, experimental samples of ground and onboard terminals of high-speed space laser communication have been developed, manufactured and successfully tested. In the future, it is planned to conduct flight experimental studies of the onboard terminals as part of Berkut-BP.

Within the framework of the Sphere project, by 2027 it is planned to deploy conveyor production of Marathon data transmission satellites at ISS-Reshetnev and Berkut optoelectronic and radar satellites at NPO Lavochkin.

In May 2024, a contract was signed for the creation of four Skif broadband Internet access spacecraft. Together with the two previously ordered, it is planned to launch them into orbit in 2027-2028. In the future, this constellation will increase to 12 satellites.

The creation of highly elliptical communication satellites "Express-RV" continues: in 2026, an orbital constellation of 4 spacecraft should be formed. In the same year, the launch of the telecommunications Express-AMU4 and Yamal-501, as well as two experimental optoelectronic remote sensing satellites Pixel-VR is expected.

In addition, work has begun on the creation of a demonstration optoelectronic remote sensing spacecraft "Berkut-VD" with an ultra-high linear resolution of 0.5 meters. For the Sphere project, two promising Yamal telecommunications satellites and nine Smotr optoelectronic and radar satellites will be created.

The cornerstone.

Today is Sergey Korolev's birthday

He was a lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He is regarded as the father of practical astronautics. Korolev was involved in the development of the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, launching Laika, Sputnik 3, the first human-made object to make contact with another celestial body, Belka and Strelka, the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space, Voskhod 1, and the first person, Alexey Leonov, to conduct a spacewalk.
- FRWL