RKK Energia, Russia's chief manufacturer of the manned spacecraft, reiterated on January 26, 2010, that the first unmanned launch of the new-generation spacecraft intended to replace Soyuz would take place in 2015.
Speaking at the 34th Korolev Readings in prestigious Bauman Technical University in Moscow, the head of the company Vitaly Lopota said that the new vehicle would likely make its maiden voyage into space from the yet-to-be-built Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region of Russia, however if the facility would not be ready, the mission would originate from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.
Lopota did not elaborate, when RKK Energia would have to make a commitment to one launch facility or another and which launch vehicle would be used for possible missions from Baikonur. The Rus-M rocket, whose development officially started in 2009, was specifically designed to support the new manned space program and it was to be based exclusively in Vostochny, but not in Baikonur.
Therefore, even for temporary missions from the Kazakh launch site, yet another newly developed vehicle or an existing rocket would have to be adapted to carry the new-generation spacecraft, known as PTK NP, into orbit. The Ukrainian-built Zenit launcher or a similar Russian-built vehicle would be a likely candidate, as it has the payload capacity of up to 13 tons, needed to lift the future spacecraft and the Zenit has an operational launch pad in Baikonur.
The Soyuz rockets, which currently launch seven-ton Russian manned spacecraft from Baikonur, are not powerful enough to carry future ships. Although the 2015 launch date for the PTK NP, was announced back in 2007, Lopota's statement was the first to disclose the possibility of using Baikonur, as a launch site for the new-generation spacecraft. Previously, Russian prime-minister Vladimir Putin, admitted that the construction of a brand-new launch facility in Vostochny in Russia's remote far-eastern region was more difficult than originally expected.
Unofficial reports also said that the completion of the launch center by 2015 was impossible due to lack of funds. The Russian government has planned the development of a launch site for the manned space program on the Russian territory ever since the disintegration of the Soviet Union left Baikonur in the newly independent republic of Kazakhstan.
Previously, Russian industry sources cited the possibility of adapting the veteran Soyuz spacecraft for possible lunar missions, in case current efforts to develop PTK NP stall. A three-seat Soyuz first flew in 1966 and was originally intended to beat US Apollo missions to the Moon. In the past several years, Russian space officials have promised to prepare for possible manned lunar missions within a timeframe of the NASA effort to return to the Moon around 2020.
Building a nuclear-powered spacecraft
In addition to ambitious plans to develop the new-generation spacecraft, Lopota added his voice in support of an aggressive Solar System exploration program in Russia with the use of nuclear-powered spacecraft. Echoing a number of Russian space officials before him, the head of RKK Energia promised the development of a powerful space-based nuclear power source in the next 10-15 years.
According to Lopota, the nuclear energy would provide electricity to large communications platforms, Earth-watching radar and optical satellites and even early-warning network of spacecraft designed to protect the Earth from dangerous asteroids. However, the ultimate goal of the nuclear power sources in space would be to support the most ambitious goals of deep-space exploration, such as missions to the Moon and planets of the Solar System. Lopota cited a possible use of nuclear energy to power a permanent human base on the Moon.
Last November, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in a televised address to the Federal Council, endorsed the development of a space-based nuclear power system as a high-priority national goal.
