Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russia. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Russia's First Angara 5 rocket blasts off

The Angara 5 rocket on the launch pad before Tuesday’s liftoff. Credit: Spetsstroy.ru

A new Russian rocket designed as a successor to the workhorse Proton booster lifted off Tuesday on a maiden test flight that could signify Russia’s shift away from launching satellites at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The 180-foot-tall Angara 5 rocket ignited five kerosene-fueled RD-191 booster engines and lifted off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, a military-run spaceport 500 miles north of Moscow, at 0557 GMT (12:57 a.m. EST) Tuesday, according to the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported the Angara 5 rocket’s lower stages, comprising the new technologies to be tested on Tuesday’s flight, performed as designed and released a Breeze M upper stage to begin a series of engine firings to put a dummy satellite into geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator.

The Russian Ministry of Defence confirmed the Angara booster worked as expected before deploying the Breeze M stage 12 minutes after liftoff.

Russian President Vladimir Putin watched the launch via video conference, RIA Novosti reported. The launch was not broadcast live to the public.

Weighing 773 metric tons (852 tons) when filled with kerosene, liquid oxygen and hypergolic propellants, the Angara 5 is the biggest Russian launcher to debut since the Energia rocket for the Soviet Union’s Buran space shuttle flew in the late 1980s.

The rocket’s kerosene-fueled RD-191 engines, made by NPO Energomash of Khimki, Russia, generated roughly 2 million pounds of thrust at maximum throttle to drive the launcher into the sky. Engineers derived the single-chamber RD-191 engine from the four-nozzle RD-171 and dual-chamber RD-180 engines flying on the Zenit and Atlas 5 launchers.

Russia tested a smaller version of the Angara rocket in July on a suborbital flight powered by a single RD-191 engine. Engineers designed the Angara 5 booster to use five RD-191 engine cores bolted together to put Russia’s heaviest satellites into orbit.

The five engines were supposed to fire in unison for more than three minutes, when four of the outboard boosters were expected to shut down and fall away from the launcher.

The core RD-191 engine, operated at a partial thrust throttle setting in the first phase of the flight, was programmed to ramp up to full power and continue burning until it consumed all of its kerosene and liquid oxygen propellant supply.

A second stage RD-0124A engine and a Breeze M upper stage, borrowed from Russia’s Soyuz 2-1b and Proton rockets, were to finish the job.

The Angara 5’s five-meter (16-foot) diameter payload shroud was also armed to jettison once the rocket flew out of the dense lower layers of the atmosphere.

The flight’s Breeze M main engine was expected to ignite four times over several hours to reach the mission’s targeted orbit.

Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported the test launch was aiming for a geostationary orbit 22,300 miles over the equator with a dummy satellite weighing about two tons.

The end of the test flight was scheduled for 1457 GMT (9:57 a.m. EST) with a simulated separation of the mock-up payload, according to RIA Novosti.

Monday, November 24, 2014

Russian Soyuz Delivers Crew of 3 to International Space Station

A Russian Soyuz TMA-15M spacecraft carrying three new members of the Expedition 42 crew approaches the International Space Station ahead of docking on Nov. 23, 2014.

Credit: NASA

Three new crewmembers arrived at the International Space Station late Sunday (Nov. 23), doubling the orbiting lab's population back up to its full six-person strength.

NASA astronaut Terry Virts, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov blasted off atop a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 4:01 p.m. EST (2101 GMT, 3:01 a.m. local time in Baikonur).

The trio reached the space station about six hours later after a quick trip through space.

Virts, Cristoforetti and Shkaplerov's Soyuz spacecraft linked up with the space station at 9:48 p.m. EST (0248 GMT).

Virts is planning on sharing his experiences in space via social media websites like Twitter. The NASA astronaut is planning to take photos of his views of the planet to help people experience a little bit of what spaceflight is like.

"It's such a unique experience and such a small number of people ever get to leave Earth, so I'm going to be using Twitter and Instagram to share pictures," Virts told reporters before launch.

"@AstroTerry is the call-sign [Twitter handle]. And hopefully I can just share the adventure that I'm going on with as many people as possible around the world."

Russia's Soyuz spacecraft are currently the only spaceflight vehicle that can transport NASA astronauts to the space station.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Russia Ratifies Cuba Space Deal

Russia's Federation Council has ratified the intergovernmental agreement with Cuba on cooperation in exploring and using space for peaceful purposes on Wednesday.

The agreement was signed on February 21, 2013 in Havana, Cuba and is aimed at creating organizational and legal foundation for the formation and development of cooperation projects between Russia and Cuba in the field of satellite communications, broadcasting and satellite navigation.

The cooperation between the two countries will also relate to space geodesy and meteorology, and remote sensing of the Earth from space.

A number of issues on using the results of the joint activities towards the creation of new space equipment and technologies in other areas of economy are currently under discussion.

Issues, relating to the protection of intellectual rights, exchange of information, the procedures for resolving disputes between the parties as well as those pertaining to accountability and compensation for damage are also under discussion.

It has been reported that the goods to be specially designated for the purpose of cooperation within the agreement will be exempt from tariffs and taxes when transported through the Customs.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

Russia's Cosmos 2495: Fiery Fall of Russian Spy Satellite Debris



A global network of skywatching detectives has pieced together the strange story of a Russian military spy satellite that re-entered Earth's atmosphere earlier this month, the leftovers of which sparked a spectacular sky show over five U.S. states.

Observers across parts of Montana, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico caught sight of debris from the military satellite via a fireball on Sept. 2 around 10:30 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, reporting their observations to the American Meteor Society.

The focus of attention is Russia's Cosmos 2495, an Earth-imaging reconnaissance (Kobalt-M) satellite. It was a hefty spacecraft, in the Kobalt-M series, a family member of the Yantar chain of Russian satellites. Russia launched the satellite on its intelligence-gathering mission on May 6 of this year. [Photos: Declassified U.S. Spy Satellites]

The resulting fireball from parts of the Cosmos 2495 spysat's re-entry was not only spotted by skywatchers. It was also caught that night by a number of all-sky cameras, including the Cloudbait Observatory  here in the central Colorado Rocky Mountains.

An on-line buzz about the occurrence found a home at SeeSat-L, the mailing list for visual satellite observers, which has become an invaluable tool to study all manner of spacecraft events. So here's what happened with Cosmos 2495.

Satellite tracker Thomas Ashcraft, of Heliotown in Santa Fe, New Mexico, captured this long-exposure view of the brilliant fireball created by debris from a suspected Russian spy satellite on Sept. 2, 2014. 

Credit: Thomas Ashcraft/Heliotown

Graphic shows the actual time and track of the suspected piece of Russian Cosmos 2495 debris in relation to sightings.

Credit: Ted Molczan

Russian spysat falls from space

This multipart Cosmos 2495 consists of an equipment module, an instrument module, a camera re-entry vehicle and a large sun shade with additional antennae and sensors.

It is designed to re-enter Earth's atmosphere so that its camera canister can be retrieved by a recovery crew.

At the end of its mission on Sept. 2, the Russian spysat fired its engine to begin its return to Earth. Its fiery re-entry was witnessed and videoed from a large part of western Kazakhstan.

The module carrying the cargo of exposed film and a reusable camera separated, and is believed to have landed near the city of Orenburg in Russia. The remainder of the spacecraft, meanwhile, burned up as planned.

Now, it appears that the slow-moving fireball spotted over the U.S. on Sept. 2 — some 10 hours after Cosmos 2495's intelligence camera module had safely touched down — was due to a lingering leftover from the Soviet military spacecraft.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Russia Launches Proton-M with Military Satellite payload

Russia on Sunday successfully launched a Proton-M rocket carrying a satellite into orbit in the first such launch since one of the rockets fell back to Earth soon after liftoff in May.

The Proton-M rocket lifted off on schedule from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 12:23 am Moscow time (2023 GMT Saturday), carrying a Russian communications satellite, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

"At 09:26 Moscow time (0526 GMT), the satellite separated from the Briz-M upper-stage rocket and reached the set orbit," Roscosmos said.

Russia had suspended launches of Proton-M rockets after one carrying one of the country's most advanced communications satellites failed less than 10 minutes after liftoff on May 16 and burnt up in the upper layers of the atmosphere.

The Proton is the workhorse of Russia's space industry, earning tens of millions of dollars a year by launching Western and Asian satellites.

The upgraded M version of the Proton has experienced a string of problems that have threatened Russia's reputation as a reliable and cost-effective alternative to US and European rockets.

This image describes the trajectory of the Luch-M data relay network, a previous Proton launch mission.

Credit: RussianSpaceWeb

Sunday’s payload is a Russian Aerospace Defence Forces' geostationary satellite known as Olimp-K (Luch).

According to a Komersant report, the satellite will serve a dual role: One being electronic intelligence (SIGINT) and the other is providing secure communications for governmental use.

The Luch designation has historically been used for satellites with a data relay role. Therefore, the Olimp-K designation might relate to the ELINT payload while the Luch designation relates to the data relay payload.

The Proton-M was previously grounded in July 2013 when it crashed back to Earth with three Russian-made Glonass navigation satellites.

The Proton-M which lifted off Sunday is making use of a Briz-M fourth stage.

The Briz-M consists of a central propulsion unit with a detachable torus-shaped propellant tank mounted around it.

All four of the Proton’s stages burn unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel, oxidised by dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4).

This propellant combination is hypergolic, meaning the propellants will spontaneously ignite on contact, however it is also highly toxic which has led to calls for the Proton to be withdrawn from use.

It is expected that the Angara rocket, which is currently undergoing testing, will eventually replace Proton.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

3 Meteorites from 2013 Chelyabinsk Explosion Over Russia, for Sale

A fragments of the Feb. 15, 2013, Russian meteorite will hit the auction block this month.

Credit: Heritage Auctions

When a meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia on Feb. 15, 2013, many of world's most avid meteorite collectors were gathered on the other side of the world, in Arizona, at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.

"A lot of the meteorite guys were scrambling to leave the show early to go to Russia," said Craig Kissick of Heritage Auctions.

This month, Heritage Auctions is selling three pieces of the Chelyabinsk space rock as part of its latest natural history sale.



The meteor blast produced a shockwave that shattered windows and injured more than 1,000 people in Chelyabinsk region.

Scientists who have analyzed samples of the Chelyabinsk meteorite have said it appears to be an ordinary chondrite, the most common type of meteorite found on Earth.

"I wouldn't consider it that attractive," Kissick said, but the fragments have stirred up interest among collectors because they are tied to the biggest meteorite blast in more than a century, and perhaps the most witnessed one on record.

Opening bids for the three Chelyabinsk meteorite fragments start at $500, $2,500 and $4,000. The sale will take place on Sept. 28 at Heritage Auction's Nature and Science Signature Auction in Dallas, Texas.


Thursday, September 4, 2014

SCANEX Unique Database of Satellite Images of Russia Exceeds 3.5 Mln Items

SCANEX is the only company in Russia that has licensing agreements with the world's top remote sensing operators, including the SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre)FORMOSATEROSUK-DMC2, and RADARSAT satellites series as well as UniScan ground stations.

A database of images of Russia made from space has reached more than 3.5 million pictures, a representative of Russia's SCANEX Research and Development Center told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

"A unique archive of the space images of territories of Russia consists of more than 3.5 million scenes. The volume of the received and stored information hasreached 400,000 gigs," she said.

According to the representative, the company started to archive its own Earth remote sensing data in 2004, when the UniScan ground stations network made it possible to receive space information throughout the entire territory of Russia.

The archive contains very high-definition satellite images, which is widely used in Russia and globally via the catalogs of international satellite data providers.

SCANEX Research and Development Center is Russia's leading remote sensing company providing a full range of services from acquisition to Earth observation space images processing.

SCANEX is the only company in Russia that has licensing agreements with the world's top remote sensing operators, including the SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre), FORMOSAT, EROS, UK-DMC2, and RADARSAT satellites series as well as UniScan ground stations.

A significant portion of the most recent data in the archive, received in 2013 and 2014, is a series of images made by the SPOT 5/6 satellite from the Airbus DS company.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Russia's Space Geckos Found Dead After Landing

Russia's Foton M4 satellite landed back on Earth on Sept. 1, 2014 after a 1.5-month trip into space to study the mating habits of geckos and other experiments. The geckos did not survive.

Credit: Roscosmos

A group of geckos sent to space so that scientists could study the mating habits of lizards in weightlessness have died.

Scientist discovered that the small reptiles didn't survive their outer space trek after the Russian satellite housing them landed back on Earth this weekend.

Researchers still aren't sure when or how the intrepid space geckos died, according to a statement released by Roscosmos, Russia's space agency, on Monday (Sept. 1).

Although the five geckos didn't survive the trip, the Foton spacecraft kept a group of flies alive for the duration of the 1.5-month space journey.

One of the geckos blasted into space onboard the Foton M4 satellite.

Credit: Roscosmos

"After extraction of biological objects from the lander to carry out the initial evaluation, it was found that the fly Drosophila moved spaceflight well, successfully developed and bred," according to a translated version of the Roscosmos statement.

The Foton carrying the geckos, and other experiments, launched to space on July 18. Shortly after the satellite made it to orbit, officials found that the craft wasn't responding to commands from the ground. Mission controllers re-established contact with the animal-filled spacecraft a few days after losing touch with it.

The interior of the Foton M4 spacecraft back on Earth. 

The satellite housed a group of five geckos that died at some point during the space trip. 

Credit: Roscosmos

The geckos got a lot of attention during their time in orbit. Comedian John Oliver even launched a "#GoGetThoseGeckos" campaign on his show "Last Week Tonight" to stage a rescue for the lizards.

"Star Trek's" Sir Patrick Stewart, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and other famous stars lent their support to the mock campaign as well.

"Maybe, just maybe, if we could come together and accomplish one thing as a civilization, we could then build on that progress," Oliver said during a broadcast in July.

"And I think rescuing these space sex geckos might just be that thing. And that is why, I'm issuing a challenge to humanity: Go get those geckos."

This wasn't the first experiment launched to study animal sex in space. Scientists have sent frogs, mice and salamanders into orbit to learn more about sex in weightlessness. In 1994, Japanese killifish became the first vertebrates to reproduce in outer space.

Thursday, August 21, 2014

Russian cosmonauts have found sea plankton on outside of ISS

The International Space Station is featured in this image photographed by an STS-132 crew member on board the Space Shuttle Atlantis after the station and shuttle began their post-undocking relative separation. 

Credit: NASA/Crew of STS-132

The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS is claiming that Russian officials have confirmed that Russian cosmonauts have found sea plankton on the outside of the International Space Station.

The news agency reports that the cosmonauts have also found traces of other organisms on the outside of the station as well.

To date, no other news group has been able to confirm the report and thus far it appears no other agency, including NASA has been able to confirm the claims made by the Russians.

Finding sea plankton on the outside of the ISS would be remarkable, as the outside of the station is of course exposed to space, a hostile environment, to say the least.

NASA officials reported that they were aware that Russian cosmonauts were conducting experiments on the exterior of the space station (primarily on windows known as illuminators), but were unaware of what they entailed.

They note that cosmonauts have conducted such experiments as recently as this past week. The same officials report that they have not heard the results of any findings regarding the experiments from the Russian scientists directly, and thus, cannot comment on what the Russians are claiming.

One scientist with NASA, Lynn Rothschild, suggested that if the claims turn out to be true, the plankton likely made its way to the ISS aboard a space station module.

Reports of the sea plankton findings have come, ITAR-TASS reports, from Vladimir Solovyev, chief of the Russian ISS orbital mission, he's also reporting that the type of plankton found is not native to the parts of Russia where spacecraft are launched, he theorizes that air currents could have pushed the plankton to the station (plankton is known to make its way into the atmosphere).

The findings, he continues, confirm that organisms can live on the outer surface of the space station, something Russian scientists have apparently been studying for over a year, though he didn't actually come right out and say that the specimens found were still alive.

He also reports that the outside of the space station is covered with material from spacecraft engines that is emitted as they come and go. Of concern are the illuminators, which now need to be polished.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Russia Angara Rocket Booster: Successful Launch

A Russian-built Angara medium-lift rocket launches on its maiden test flight from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome on July 9. 2014.

Credit: Russian Ministry of Defense

Russia's recent maiden launch of its new Angara rocket is a harbinger of bigger boosters to come.

The successful test flight also marked the country's first new launch vehicle to be built from scratch since the fall of the Soviet Union.

The July 9 suborbital flight of the light-lift Angara-1.2ML rocket lifted off from Russia's Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the country's northern Arkhangelsk region. (The "ML" stands for "maiden launch.")

The test flight, which lasted roughly 21 minutes and was not intended to reach orbit, launched the Angara rocket over Russian territory on a ballistic trajectory.

A "mass/dimensional payload simulator" topped the Angara, attached to the rocket's second stage.

That booster ultimately fell back to Earth over a targeted impact area of the Kura Range on the Kamchatka Peninsula over 3,500 miles (5,700 kilometers) from the launch site.

An Angara rocket, the first in Russia's new launch vehicle family, soars skyward after a July 9, 2014 launch from Plesetsk Cosmodrome during a test flight

Credit: Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

Russia's Angara rockets are being developed by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center in Moscow.

The two-stage Angara-1.2ML runs on "ecologically clean components," oxygen and kerosene, according to Khrunichev representatives.

According to Khrunichev, the family of Angara rockets includes a range of light-, medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles based on generic modules.

The modular principle supports the buildup of various launch vehicle classes by using generic boosters: one for the light-lift, three for the medium-lift and five for the heavy-lift.

Russia has deemed the Angara Space Rocket Complex (SRC) one of the priorities in the country's national program to develop launch systems by tapping domestic research and development, along with production potential.

The nation views building the Angara SRC as a task of national importance. When the Angara SRC becomes operational, "Russia will be in a position to launch all types of satellites from its own territory, thereby gaining a guaranteed independent access to outer space," according to a Khrunichev press statement.

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Russia GONETS: Development of New Satellite Communication System

A scaled model of the Gonets-M satellite in orbital configuration. 

Credit: Anatoly Zak / RussianSpaceWeb.com

The new secure communication system is to be used by the country's leaders and the military, according to the newspaper. 

The system will be based on the Gonets-M1 and Gonets-M2 communication systems.

Russia intends to create a new powerful satellite communication system that will provide global coverage and communication security, Izvestia newspaper reported Thursday.

A cluster of Gonets satellites. Credit: ISS Reshetnev

The development of such a system will require the launch of a space complex ordered by the Russian Defense Ministry and the Russian Federal Space Agency.

The budget for the project is estimated at 65.6 billion rubles ($1.8 billion).

The system throughput is expected to reach 80 gigabits (Gb) by 2020, and 120 Gb by 2025. That will allow the simultaneous coverage of about a million high-speed terminals.

A Gonets-M satellite released on July 2, 2014. 

Credit: Roskosmos

The new secure communication system is to be used by the country's leaders and the military, according to the newspaper.

The system will be based on the Gonets-M1 and Gonets-M2 communication systems.

The space complex will consist of four satellites weighing up to 2.5 tons and equipped with transponders and air traffic control systems.


Wednesday, August 13, 2014

NASA Modis Image: Russian Smoke pollution over the Arctic Sea

Credit: NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team.

Numerous wildfires have dotted the Russian landscape this past summer fire season.

Although not quite as the adage says, although still true, where there's fire there's smoke.

The smoke in this image has drifted from the Eastern Russian wildfires to the Arctic Sea.

Other images that have been collected over the summer show both the fires that have broken out and the accompanying smoke.

The blaze of a fire is dangerous enough but smoke is an insidious by-product of fires as well. Winds carry the smoke out of the immediate area to other parts of the world not affected by the direct fire.

That smoke can cause multiple problems in the areas that it is carried to. The smoke released by any type of fire (forest, brush, crop, structure, tires, waste or wood burning) is a mixture of particles and chemicals produced by incomplete burning of carbon-containing materials.

All smoke contains carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter (PM or soot).

Smoke can contain many different chemicals, including aldehydes, acid gases, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), benzene, toluene, styrene, metals and dioxins.

The type and amount of particles and chemicals in smoke varies depending on what is burning, how much oxygen is available, and the burn temperature. As always, exposure to high levels of smoke should be avoided.

This natural-colour satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite on August 12, 2014. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Russia threatens to cancel Baikonur finance in 2016

Baikonur, an international spaceport, was built in 1955.

Russian Ministry of Finance are threatening to stop financing Baikonur cosmodrome in 2016, Izvestia newspaper reported Friday citing a source in Roscosmos.

An official from the Federal Space Agency was quoted as saying "In previous versions of draft budget for 2016 it was planned to allocate a $705 million (2.5 billion rubles) subsidy for Baikonur maintenance."

"The money was supposed to be spent on salaries and field maintenance. We asked for more. But when our representative in Ministry of Finance was shown the final draft there was zero."

According to the newspaper, this could mean the specialist teams at Baikonur will be left without financing.

The report also said that Ministry of Finance allegedly made the decision due to the construction of the new Vostochniy cosmodrome, which will now receive the money that previously went to Baikonur.

Baikonur, an international spaceport, was built in 1955. Russia leases Baikonur from Kazakhstan for $115 million annually. The current lease contract between the two countries expires in 2050.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst on the ISS

ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst floats through the International Space Station. 

As part of his Blue Dot mission he will perform many scientific experiments in weightlessness that could not be done on Earth.

The International Space Station is a partnership between 15 countries, including Russia, USA, Canada, Japan and ESA member states.

Credits: ESA/NASA

Friday, July 25, 2014

Oko-1 Replacement: Russia to launch new missile-attack warning satellite

After years of delay, Russia plans to deploy this year the first satellite of its new constellation replacing the space component of the early warning system, Russian media reported. It will also double as an emergency communication satellite.

The satellite was developed for the military, so naturally little is known about it.

Identified by disambiguation 'product 14F142', it is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to Kommersant newspaper.

The spacecraft will be the first in a constellation, aimed to replace the old Oko-1 early warning system, which allows Russia survey countries possessing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles and detect possible launches.

Oko-1 is currently in bad shape. To be fully operational, it needs four 73D6 satellites in placed in a highly elliptical orbit, dubbed 'Molnya' (lightning) orbit, to provide full-time coverage of the area of interest, and an additional backup satellite in a 71X6 geosynchronous orbit.

Russia lost the last of the 71X6s in April this year and has not launched replacements for the 73D6s since 2008, with only two still operational.

The Russian military assured that the ground-based network of early warning radar stations, which the country considerably upgraded in the past years, is robust enough to compensate for the blind spot in the space component, but they may not be completely earnest.

A replacement for Oko-1, the EKS (Unified Space System), has been in development since at least 2000 and was initially expected the star space tests in 2009, but the project faced a set of delays and a round of public bickering and a court battle between the Defense Ministry and Energia space corporation, which builds the platforms for the satellite.

Now Kommersant says all the disputes and setbacks are in the past, with the spacecraft almost ready for launch.

The 14F142 is to be launched by a Soyuz-2.1b rocket and a Fregat third stage to a Tundra orbit, a highly elliptical orbit similar to Molnya, but with twice its period.

The newspaper source says the instruments build by Kometa Corporation will be able to detect launches of submarine-launched ballistic missiles and launches of some cruise missiles.

In addition to detecting a launch, the spacecraft will be able to calculate the projectile's flight parameters, which will be handy for ground radar stations locking on it.

It will also provide communication functions for the military, allowing commands for a retaliatory nuclear strike to be transmitted, should things really go that far south, Kommersant said.

Amid preparation for the launch the military are upgrading Oko-1 ground station in Serpukhov-15 to take control of the 14F142.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Russia Launches Foton M4 Satellite: Live Animals on Two-Month Space Mission

A Russian Soyuz rocket launched a group of animals to space on July 18.

Credit: Roscosmos

A high-flying package of live animals, plant seeds, and materials samples shot into space Friday (July 18) aboard a retrievable Russian Foton satellite, launching a two-month mission focusing on microgravity research into biological and physical sciences.

The workhorse launcher fired its kerosene-fueled engines and lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 2050 GMT (4:50 p.m. EDT), rocketing into a clear sky over the historic spaceport.

Launch occurred at 2:50 a.m. local time at Baikonur.

The three-stage Soyuz 2-1a rocket, a modernized version of the venerable launch vehicle, put the Foton M4 space capsule in orbit less than 10 minutes later.

The Russian Federal Space Agency, or Roscosmos, declared the launch a success on its website.

Foton M4 space capsule
The more than 15,000-pound Foton M4 space capsule launched by the Soyuz rocket is due to spend up to 60 days in orbit, hosting 22 experiments supplied by Russian and German institutions probing questions in biological and materials sciences.

When the mission is complete, the spacecraft will break apart and its spherical landing capsule, fitted with a heat shield, will return to Earth with a parachute-assisted landing in Russia.

The re-entry capsule's design is based on the Vostok spacecraft that carried Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961 on the first human spaceflight.

It carries experiments to study the effects of the harsh environment of space on organisms, manufacturing materials, plus other investigations.

According to information posted on the Roscosmos website, the Foton M4 space capsule carries nearly 1,900 pounds of research hardware inside and outside the capsule.

A joint Russian-German experiment will study the growth of semiconductor crystals in microgravity, an investigation scientists hope will lead to advancements in solar cells, light emitting diodes, transistors and other applications in the electronics industry.

"The goal is to produce crystals with the highest possible quality," said a statement by DLR, the German space agency.

Polizon-2 furnace
Three types of materials will be heated up inside a Russian-made Polizon-2 furnace housed inside the Foton M4 spacecraft.

Once melted, the samples will crystallize as scientists study the influence of magnetic fields and vibrations on their growth.

The materials samples will be divided among Russian and German scientists at the end of the mission.

The gecko habitat on Earth before launching to space.

Credit: Roscosmos

Geckos and plant seeds are also flying inside the pressurized Foton M4 space capsule.

Researchers will monitor the effects of microgravity on the adult geckos, including their sexual behaviour and embryonic development, according to Roscosmos.

Scientists will have a continuous video recording of the gecko habitat aboard the spacecraft.

Dried seeds and silkworm eggs inside the Foton space capsule will be studied to determine their response to cosmic radiation, and the satellite carries several experiments for research into microbes.

The mission marks the 16th flight of a recoverable Foton spacecraft since 1985.

The Foton M4 mission carries several upgrades to extend the duration of its flight, including solar panels to generate electricity and a new propulsion module to adjust its altitude.

Roscosmos says landing in southern Russia is scheduled for September.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Russia reports successful launch of new Angara rocket

Russia successfully test-launched its new Angara rocket on Wednesday after a planned maiden flight overseen by President Vladimir Putin had to be aborted last month.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told Putin that the next-generation Angara rocket was launched from Plesetsk at 1200 GMT, Russian news agencies reported, citing a defence ministry spokesman.

Twenty-one minutes after the launch, the rocket reached its planned target in the Far Eastern region of Kamchatka 5,700 kilometres (3,540 miles) away from the launch pad, the spokesman said.

"Yes to Angara!" deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin exclaimed on Twitter.

The Angara was initially scheduled to blast off from Plesetsk late last month when officials reported a sudden automatic launch abort in an embarrassing glitch broadcast live on national television.

Designed to succeed Soviet-era launchers, Angara is the first rocket to have been completely built after the collapse of the Soviet Union and it is designed to reduce Russia's reliance on other former USSR countries.

Officials say it is more environmentally friendly than its predecessors because it is fuelled by oxygen and kerosene rather than hugely toxic heptyl.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Russia Next-Generation Angara Rocket: Maiden Launch Scrubbed

Artist's concept of Russia's new Angara rocket on the launchpad.

Credit: Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

A glitch has forced Russia to postpone today's (June 27) highly anticipated first flight of its new Angara rocket, according to media reports.

The Angara was scheduled to blast off today from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, but automated control systems detected a problem of some sort and aborted the launch during the final countdown, the news agency Reuters reported.

The launch has been delayed by at least 24 hours.

Russia has been working on the Angara rocket for more than 20 years, with the goal of securing the nation's access to space with a truly homegrown rocket.

"This is the first launch vehicle that has been developed and built from scratch in Russia," said Igor Lissov, an expert with the trade journal Novosti Kosmonovatiki, according to Reuters.

"Everything else we have is a modernization of our Soviet legacy."

Angara is designed to lift off from Plesetsk as well as Vostochny Cosmodrome, a facility now under construction in the Russian Far East. Russia wants to reduce its dependence on Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome, currently the site of all of the nation's manned space launches and many of its unmanned efforts. (Russia has had to rent Baikonur since the Soviet Union dissolved in the early 1990s.)

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

First test launch of Russia's Angara rocket June 27

The first test launch of Russia's Angara light-weight rocket, initially set for June 25, may be conducted from the Plesetsk Cosmodrone in the Arkhangelsk region on June 27, a Russian space rocket industry source told reporters.

"Tomorrow the state commission is supposed to make a final decision concerning a date for the Angara launch. It is expected to set the launch for June 27, instead of June 25, as was planned earlier," the source said.

He blamed organizational reasons, not technical difficulties, for the possible postponement.

A universal family of light, medium and heavy-lift Angara launchers is being developed for lifting into orbit practically the entire range of payloads of the Russian Defense Ministry in the designated range of altitudes and orbit inclinations, including the geostationary orbit, and for guaranteeing the genuine independence of Russian military space programs.

Angara launchers will not be using aggressive or toxic fuel, which will significantly improve environmental safety both in the areas around the spaceport and in the zone where rocket fragments fall.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Russia supplies KH-35 cruise missiles to North Korea

North Korea appears to have acquired a sea-based copy of a Russian cruise missile, the latest step in an effort to enhance its maritime strike capability, a US think-tank said Tuesday.

A state propaganda film disseminated on social media sites, including YouTube, provides a very brief glimpse of the missile being launched from a naval vessel.

Writing on the closely watched 38 North website of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, arms control expert Jeffrey Lewis said the missile would mark "a new and potentially destabilising addition" to North Korea's military arsenal.

Lewis identified the weapon as a copy of the Russian-produced KH-35, a sea-skimming anti-ship cruise missile developed during the 1980s and 90s.

Although the range and payload of the KH-35 fall below the threshold set by the Missile Technology Control Regime, any export of cruise missiles to North Korea would be a violation of UN sanctions.

"Although direct sale from Russia seems most likely, it is possible that North Korea obtained them from a third party like Myanmar," said Lewis, who is director for East Asia at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

As well as Myanmar, Russia has exported sea- and land-based cruise missiles to Algeria, India, Vietnam and Venezuela.

"The possibility that North Korea might sell KH-35 technology to others ... is not a happy thought," Lewis said.

The development of the North's conventional weaponry has largely been overshadowed by concerns over its nuclear weapons programmes.

Last month, 38 North published satellite photos showing two new North Korean warships, the largest it has constructed in 25 years.

The website said the two helicopter-carrying frigates represented an "important wake-up call" about the effectiveness of sanctions.

The flip-side of the North's naval capability was shown in pictures released Monday by the official KCNA news agency, showing supreme leader Kim Jong-Un riding in the turret of a rusted Romeo-class submarine developed by the Soviets in the 1950s.

"The submarines that our Navy holds are far superior," commented South Korean Defence Ministry spokesperson Kim Min-Seok.