Cosmonautics
By Dennis Newkirk
COPYRIGHT 1994 by CSPACE PRESS INC. All rights reserved
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Nov/Dec. 1994
Mir Mission News
A lot of attention has been given in the end of 1994 to the problems
of docking Progress M-24 to Mir, and the power system failure of the Mir
core during the Euromir mission, so I won't waste space here repeating
stories already carried in the popular press. I prefer to use this space to
present stories and details not carried in the popular media in the USA.
Comments on this selection are welcome, please send you suggestions to
Countdown.
International Space Station News
One report which has not seen much attention in the USA is that on
October 15, Lockheed and Khrunichev State Space Research and Scientific-
Production Center finally signed a contract for the so called FGB
(Functional Auxiliary Block) which will be the first component of the
international space station. $17 Million was handed over by Lockheed at
the time of signing to start the work but NASA is still having problems
negotiating a final price for the module.
By Jan. 15, 1995, the decision will be made to build one or two of
the modules, presumably to use as a primary and backup. NASA is having
trouble accepting the $200+ Million cost of the modules, in 1990 the cost
for an FGB was roughly estimated at 500 Million Roubles. Considering
dollar inflation and no doubt added NASA requirements it would appear
that the Russian price is within reason. NASAšs reluctance to pay may be
more to make a point on taking a hard line in future negotiations with the
Russians, but the Russians know NASA has to give in eventually
as the launch date draws near.
The FGB is based on the 77KM spacecraft design which also served as
the basis for the Mir modules Kristall and Kvant 2. The FGB will provide
propulsion and power for the station as it is assembled and will be
refuelled to support the station indefinitely. The module will have a
similar interior volume to Kristall and will have 6 docking ports and solar
arrays. Over 60 plants in Russia and Ukraine are participating in the
project, the design of which was due to be completed in September 1994,
followed by construction ending in the third quarter of 1995. The module
is scheduled to undergo tests by December 1995. After launch, it will
receive a Soyuz/Progress variant which will carry a multiple docking node
to leave attached to the 'rear' end of the FGB. This will be followed by the
old Mir-2 core module, which is very similar to the current Mir core
module. It will dock to the added node at the rear of the FGB. At this point
Russian manned flights to the station will begin as NASA starts docking
its hardware to the 'front' port of the FGB. The advantage of this plan for
the Russians is that by providing propulsion, power and life support to the
international space station they are not at risk of loosing this investment
in the event of NASA troubles with the US portion of the station. In the
event of a US pullout or delay in the plan, the Russians could basically
continue their old Mir-2 plans without significant losses.
Baykonur News
In June, the Duma approved with several reservations the Baykonur
lease agreement on its second vote. The reservations included a 20 year
plan for developing cosmodrome facilities. President Boris Yeltsin's
decree on continued use of the Baykonur cosmodrome was ratified by the
presidium on August 4. Major points include the transfer of funding for
16,000 military personnel at Baykonur and Leninsk to the RSA (but they
still report to their military commanders). 12,000 other military
personnel remain funded and administered by the military. The approval of
the decree made it possible for the Russian-Kazak agreement of March 28
to be approved. Yeltsin decided that the agreement needed to be ratified by
the Federal Assembly, but they informally agreed to support the
agreement and returned it to Yeltsin before recessing for vacation. Yeltsin
then sent it to the Federation Council for consideration due to the fact
that Russian military forces were involved outside of Russia. A
parliamentarian reportedly commented that the paperwork shuffle was to
delay the document while minor problems were being solved. On August
29, Russian Federation Decree No. 996 signed by Premier Chernomyrdin and
on Sept. 1, Chernomyrdin released $115 Million toward carrying out the
agreement. The draft of the lease for Baykonur was to be completed by the
RSA by September 29.
Meanwhile, its reported that the Duma is still waiting to get a
report on the 20 year plan on cosmodrome development which was a
condition on its approval and technically the funds can not be released
without its approval. On Oct. 5, the Federal Council voted to ratify the
agreement, and the funds are reported to be on their way including the
$115 M for rent to Kazakstan, 191 Billion Roubles for military and 179
Billion roubles to the RSA for their shares of cosmodrome maintenance.
Lockheed-Khrunichev-Energia's Russian partners have been investing
their own money in Baykonur. As estimated $1.5 Million has been spent to
improve the transportation and propellant systems for payloads, and
improve living standards at Baykonur. A Proton launch of a
communications satellite on Oct. 26 was postponed due to the lack of
propellant at Baykonur. The supplier was demanding advance payment
before delivering the propellant. The launch was rescheduled for sometime
several days later.
Khrunichev News
In an unusual comment on Oct. 11, General Director of Khrunichev
said that he would like to build Proton-M launch facilities at the Kourou
space center in French Guyana. Kourou is currently used by Aerospatiale
for Ariane launches and Khrunichev's Proton and the planned Proton-M are
among the most threatening rivals to the Ariane launch service. This
follows the proposals to launch Protons from Australia, and then Papua
New Guinea. But, Aerospatiale isconsidering the proposal in a broad
negotiation which includes the possible useof the new hydrogen-oxygen
upper stage being built for the Proton-M and Angara-24 on the Ariane-5.
Khrunichevšs proposal also includes the possibility of an international
consortium to develope new boosters as an alternative to increased
Russian competition which would drive launch prices lower. It
wasannounced on Nov. 11 by Khrunichev Director Anatolii Kiselev that an
agreementin principle had indeed been signed with Aerospatiale.
Cosmodromes & Angara-24
Space Forces commander Ivanov lead a group to Plesetsk in
September to make arrangements for the transfer of launch facilities
from Baykonur. New launch sites are being constructed for the Zenit and
Rus boosters. On Nov. 11, President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree officially
making Plesetsk a cosmodromereportedly clearing the way for manned
launches which will be possible as soon as Rus booster facilities are
completed. Combined with the new Svobodnyy complex (often cited by its
official name the "Main Center for Testing and Utilizing of Space
Apparatus") currently under construction, most if not all booster projects
now underway (funded and in production) will soon have launch facilities
at Plesetsk or Svobodnyy except for the Proton. The Proton is due to be
replaced by the Angara-24 in the future, but so far funding for
establishing Angara launch pads at Svobodnyy is being denied by the
Russian parliament defense committee due to plans for continued use of
Baykonur. New military personnel are arriving at Svobodnyy and
construction of new housing in addition to 33 existing buildingsis
expected soon. A 10 to 12 year program costing up to 4.5 Trillion Roubles
to construct 2 new facilities at Svobodnyy for the Angara was rejected by
the Defense Committee of parliament on Oct. 24, but the decision was not
final.
The Angara booster project was begun by the military in late 1992
and is in a detailed study phase which will last until early 1996. The first
flight may be before 2000 if the project continues without delay.
Financing for the project is being devised by Khrunichev and Energia who
will also build the major components. The Angara's purpose is to provide
Proton class payload capability from Plesetsk and use less toxic
propellants. Some articles also mention the possibility of 100 ton payload
capacity in some version of the booster. It is believed that the Ministry of
Defense will have to finance the project but the manufacturers hope a
cooperative agreement like that which created the Lockheed-Khrunichev-
Energia firm can be made to provide some western funding for the project.
Industry News
RSA head Yuri Koptev said that by November a decision would be
made on commercialization of space industries. Government support would
be continued to 40% of the industry. Other firms would be left to fend for
themselves for commercial contracts. Meanwhile, in September, the
Avtomatika plant in Yekaterinburg which once produced avionics for Buran
was forced to close most of its operations due to a 20 Billion Ruble debt
owed by the Russian government. About 7000 employees were sent home
or went to work on the fall harvest. A similar story is being played out
across Russia, the aircraft plant Yuri Gagarin (the only reason I mention
it) in Komsomolsk-on-Amur also forced about 70% of its workers into a 2
month lay-off after the a suspension in the production of Su-27 fighters.
Japanese officials are reported to be exploring the possibility of
flights to Mir to prepare for their part in the international space station
project. Four flights to Mir were projected and may include some overlap
with NASA's planned flights to Mir.
Talks have also been underway for the launch of the Arabsat-2 on a
Proton booster provided by LKE, but no conclusions have been reached due
to booster spacecraft interface concerns. The Ariane may yet be used as
an alternate.
Military Space News
The Strategic Rocket Troops Central Command Post in Moscow was
cut off from the Moscow power company on Sept. 21 for 4 hours. The
Moscow Military District was at that time 50 Billion Roubles in debt to
the power supplier with the Command Post accounting for 1.5 to 2.5
Billion of that total. Backup power systems at the site were activated in
time to prevent "considerable complications" to the rocket forces. Premier
Viktor Chernomyrdinpromised punishment to the company because the
power cut violated a 1994 decree of the Russian government. The head of
the budget and finance department for the defense ministry said funding
was not adequate and money is borrowed from all over the country to
support military needs. The Minister for Energy and Fuel was directed to
make a formal report on the incident. The Interdepartmental Commission
on Defense and Security of the National Security Council has also reported
that the military has received only 40% of the fundsallotted for it this
year under current Russian law. In October it was reported that the
military was owed 9 Trillion Roubles for this year by the Ministry of
Finance. Military funding prospects for next year also look grim.
The weapons and facilities of the Rocket Forces are also in a crisis.
Nearly half of the missiles are beyond their specified lifetimes. The
launch centers are typically 25 to 30 years old and spare parts and tools
are being used up and not replaced. In somecases there is only a few month
supply left. Nuclear security is in question because of thefunding
problems. In a related move in late November, to improve the security of
nuclear material, the US Dept. of Defense gained ownership of several
hundred kilograms of highly enriched Uranium from Kazakstan and
transported it secretly to the USA for storage along with hugh US
stockpiles of Uranium. Someday it may be un-enriched for use in US
nuclear reactors.
[Information for this article comes from publicly available sources
including the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Joint Publications
Research Service, BBC Monitoring, and the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Daily Report. Also, special thanks to Rex Hall.]
Cosmonautics News is reprinted here with permission from CSPACE PRESS
INC.
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