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Russian space program

Russian Ministry of Defence spokesperson said that the second new-generation GLONASS-K Russian navigation satellite has been put into orbit.
MOSCOW, December 1 (Sputnik) – The second new-generation GLONASS-K Russian navigation satellite has been put into orbit, a Defense Ministry spokesperson told RIA Novosti Monday.

"The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket…has successfully put the new-generation Russian navigation satellite 'Glonass-K' into orbit," Col. Alexei Zolotukhin, a spokesperson for Russia's Aerospace Defense Forces, said.

The satellite was launched from the Russian Plesetsk space center on Monday, December 1, at 00:52 Moscow time (21:52 GMT Sunday, November 30).

Plesetsk has been the site of Russia's GLONASS satellite launches since February 26, 2011, when the first new-generation GLONASS-K spacecraft was put into orbit by the Soyuz 2.1 medium-class carrier rocket.

GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), which was launched in 1993, is considered to be Russia's answer to the American Global Positioning System (GPS).

There are currently 24 operational GLONASS satellites in orbit. The network provides real-time positioning and speed data for surface, sea and airborne objects around the globe.

Perhaps we can Integrate our 2 systems in future
 
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Russia's future Moon rocket

During 2014, the concept of a Moon rocket proposed at RKK Energia around a year earlier continued to evolve. By that time, the project had received the designation Energia-5KV, where "V" stood either for "Vostochny launch site" or "vodorod," a Russian term for hydrogen. In the latter case, the name would emphasize more reliance on hydrogen fuel in the latest incarnation of the vehicle.

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Above: RKK Energia's concept of the Energia-5KV rocket as of 2014.

In the 2014 configuration, the lower stages of the Energia-5K rocket remained largely unchanged -- four boosters of the first stage with RD-170MV engines and a core booster of the second stage with an RD-171MV engine. All five boosters still shared a diameter of 4.1 meters. (The boosters were now distributed evenly around the core, instead of being attached in pairs as in the 2013 version of the rocket.)

However the rest of the vehicle saw a major revamp. The third stage was enlarged and switched from kerosene to the more potent hydrogen fuel. It would now be powered with four 40-ton-thurst engines instead of a single one, producing a total thrust of 160 tons. Possibly, these powerplants would derive from the 11D57M engines developed in the Soviet period.

This upgrade alone increased the vehicle's payload to be delivered into a low Earth orbit from 75 tons in the original concept of the vehicle to 93 tons. Further improvements apparently promised to bump the payload to 95 tons.

The latest configuration of the orbital section of the rocket entering an initial parking orbit now included a two-stage space tug attached to a manned PTK NP spacecraft. The lower (fourth) stage dubbed Impuls-V relied on hydrogen fuel, even though its architecture was clearly inherited from RKK Energia's veteran Block-D upper stages. It would be equipped with a single 40-ton engine.

The Impuls-V stage would have the job of accelerating the PTK NP spacecraft from the low Earth orbit in the direction of the Moon or towardother destinations in deep space.

Following the Earth orbit escape maneuver, the Impuls-V stage would separate. It would leave the PTK NP spacecraft with a smaller fifth stage still attached. Known as Impuls-T, where "T" stands for "tormozhenie," Russian for "braking," the fifth stage would be used for a braking maneuver near a destination, for example, for inserting the PTK spacecraft into its lunar orbit. Unlike the two lower stages, Impuls-T would burn the easy-to-store kerosene fuel.

In 2013, RKK Energia unveiled the 11D58MF engine, which could propel the Impuls-T stage. The actual development work on the engine started in 2010 with the goal of upgrading the veteran Block-DM upper stage on the Proton rocket.

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Above: RKK Energia's concept of the Energia-5K

 
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Construction of "Vostochny" cosmodrome. One year left till the first launch.

 
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Angara-5's maiden voyage

During its first test launch, Angara-A5 is expected to demonstrate its ability to deliver cargo into geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Equator, the destination for most communications satellites. However, the maiden mission will only carry a payload simulator, rather than an operational spacecraft. After reaching its target, the dummy satellite will be boosted into a safe "burial" orbit, away from heavy space traffic.





Previous chapter: History of the Angara-5's first mission

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Above: The flight profile and a ground track of the Angara-5 launches from Plesetsk.

Pre-launch process

Preparations for the launch of the first Angara-A5 rocket were conducted largely in secret, however postings on the online forum of the Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine based on the information from the launch of the Angara-1.2PProcket in July 2014, allowed to assume following details from the final countdown preceding a scheduled liftoff on Dec. 23, 2014, at 08:57:25 Moscow Time (12:57 a.m. EST):

December 22

23:57 Moscow Time (T-9 hours): Preparations of the launch complex' hardware for the fueling of the launch vehicle and the retraction of service access bridges to the vehicle. The Pre-launch Preparation Program, PSP, is activated.

December 23

00:02 Moscow Time (T-8 hours 55 minutes): Beginning of preparation for the propellant loading into the launch vehicle's main tanks.

Around 05:00 (T-4 hours): Beginning of the cooling of the liquid oxygen fueling system for loading cryogenic oxidizer of the launch vehicle's third stage. Beginning of the kerosene fuel loading into the main tanks and the engine's bottles; filling of pneumatic systems with nitrogen and helium.

Around 06:00 Moscow Time (T-3 hours): Beginning of the cooling of the launch vehicle's oxidizer tanks, filling of the helium bottles inside the tanks. The completion of fuel loading onboard the rocket.

Around 07:00 Moscow Time (T-2 hours): The completion of oxidizer loading onboard the rocket.

Around 08:00 Moscow Time (T-1 hour): Refilling of the oxidizer tank on the third stage.

08:42: Pre-launch operations with the flight control and propulsion system of the launch vehicle.

08:54: Drainage of the oxidizer from launch vehicle's supply lines. Pre-launch pressurization of the first and second stages.

08:54:40: Undocking and retraction of oxidizer umbilicals.

08:57:25 LIFTOFF!

URM-1 boosters, acting as the first stage, and a single "core" URM-1, performing the role of the second stage. All five URM-1s ignite on the ground, however the core module operates at lower thrust during the middle part of the flight. As a result, the four first-stage boosters consume their propellant and separate first, while the core URM-1 booster can continue to fire.

According to a known flight profile, after 47 seconds of ascent at full thrust, the RD-191 engine on the central booster throttles down to 30 percent of its thrust capability. The four boosters of the first stage separate 213 seconds into the flight at an altitude of around 82 kilometers and impact the ground from 850 to 890 kilometers downrange in the Sosnogorsk Region of the Komi Republic.

The core stage returns to full thrust and fires for a total of 325 or 329 seconds. It separates from the third stage at an altitude of 148 kilometers with the help of small solid motors installed "backwards" at the very top of the rocket's transfer compartment. The stage then crashes in the Tomsk Region, around 2,300 kilometers from the launch pad. The epicenter of the impact site for the second stage is located in the Kargasok Region, 70 kilometers southeast of the border with the Parabelsk Region.

Following the separation of the core stage, the URM-2 ignites its RD-0124 engine to accelerate the payload section to nearly orbital speed. In a typical mission, the URM-2 fires until T+750 seconds in flight then separates and splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Philippines, 7,775 kilometers from the launch site.

The upper (fourth) stage completes the orbital insertion process with a short firing of its engine to enter an initial parking orbit with an altitude ranging from 180 to 250 kilometers. In the first Angara-5 mission, this job will be performed by the Briz-M upper stage, previously employed on the Proton rocket. As a result, the subsequent flight scenario will likely resemble that of a typical Proton mission to the geostationary orbit.

During a nine-hour period, the Briz-M usually conducts five engine firings to enter an initial parking orbit and then to climb to a geostationary transfer orbit with its apogee (highest point) at an altitude of around 36,000 kilometers. The final maneuver is also used to do most of the orbital inclination adjustment to match the plane of the Equator.

Given the fact that Russian satellites are traditionally delivered directly into geostationary orbit rather than being dropped at an intermediate orbit like it is usually the case with many Western satellites, Briz-M will likely make another maneuver at the apogee of the elliptical geostationary transfer orbit to make it circular at an altitude of around 36,000 kilometers.

After the separation from its payload, Briz-M usually maneuvers itself into a "burial" orbit, where its tanks are depressurized to avoid an accidental explosion producing space junk. During Angara-5's test flight, Briz-M can take its dummy cargo with it, instead of releasing it into the busy geostationary orbit.

URM-1 boosters were to be dropped during the first launch of the Angara-5 rocket, deemed them unacceptable for the mission. The group discovered that an extremely dense forest at those sites would make it impossible to recover the remnants of the boosters.
 
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It is very interesting that the Russians still assemble rockets (R22 to Angara) horizontally whereas the US assemble them vertically. Is there any engineering advantage to assembling horizontally?
 
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Russia, US Sign $1Bln Contract on RD-181 Rocket Engine Deliveries
Russian rocket producer Energiya President Vladimir Solntsev and US Orbital Sciences Corporation General Director David Thompson signed a direct contract worth around $1 billion on the delivery to the United States of engines produced by Energomash (a subsidiary of Energiya).
MOSCOW, January 16 (Sputnik) – Russian rocket producer Energiya has signed a $1 billion contract with US Orbital Sciences Corporation for the delivery of 60 RD-181 engines, the company's press service said Friday in a statement.

"Energia President Vladimir Solntsev and Orbital Sciences Corporation General Director David Thompson signed a direct contract worth around $1 billion on the delivery to the United States of engines produced by Energomash [a subsidiary of Energia]," the statement says.
According to the press release, the contract also includes a provision on a range of services including flight training, installation of the engine on the rocket and engine tests. The contract, that took Energia three years to prepare, envisages cooperation to last 15 to 25 years, according to Solntsev.
The first two engines, which are used on carrier rockets to deliver cargoes to the International Space Station, will be delivered in June 2015.
This is the second large-scale deal Energomash has made with a US company. In the late 1990s, the company won a contract with United Launch Alliance to supply RD-180 engines for Atlas rockets. This contract, also valued at about $1 billion, is still functional.
In October, the Antares rocket, which was supposed to deliver over two tons of cargo to the ISS, exploded six seconds after launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Russia, US Sign $1Bln Contract on RD-181 Rocket Engine Deliveries / Sputnik International
 
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Russia, US Sign $1Bln Contract on RD-181 Rocket Engine Deliveries
Russian rocket producer Energiya President Vladimir Solntsev and US Orbital Sciences Corporation General Director David Thompson signed a direct contract worth around $1 billion on the delivery to the United States of engines produced by Energomash (a subsidiary of Energiya).
MOSCOW, January 16 (Sputnik) – Russian rocket producer Energiya has signed a $1 billion contract with US Orbital Sciences Corporation for the delivery of 60 RD-181 engines, the company's press service said Friday in a statement.

"Energia President Vladimir Solntsev and Orbital Sciences Corporation General Director David Thompson signed a direct contract worth around $1 billion on the delivery to the United States of engines produced by Energomash [a subsidiary of Energia]," the statement says.
According to the press release, the contract also includes a provision on a range of services including flight training, installation of the engine on the rocket and engine tests. The contract, that took Energia three years to prepare, envisages cooperation to last 15 to 25 years, according to Solntsev.
The first two engines, which are used on carrier rockets to deliver cargoes to the International Space Station, will be delivered in June 2015.
This is the second large-scale deal Energomash has made with a US company. In the late 1990s, the company won a contract with United Launch Alliance to supply RD-180 engines for Atlas rockets. This contract, also valued at about $1 billion, is still functional.
In October, the Antares rocket, which was supposed to deliver over two tons of cargo to the ISS, exploded six seconds after launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
Russia, US Sign $1Bln Contract on RD-181 Rocket Engine Deliveries / Sputnik International
interesting, so no sanctions and business as usual where they need Russian tech.
 
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The Angara is a little different from the old Russian launch rocket. It has a single engine for each of the external modules and one for the central core. This is in essence simpler if the engines are reliable. By now I would imagine that the engines are well tested.
 
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