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will spontaneously ignite on contact, however it is also highly toxic which has led to calls for the Proton to be withdrawn from use.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

TechDemoSat-1 in orbit Snaps Soyuz Launch Companion - video

Video taken in-orbit on 8 July 2014 using an inspection camera on-board the TechDemoSat-1 satellite starting about 30 seconds after separation from the launcher.

At 6 seconds the Sun appears at the top of the frame as a very bright white flare, before the rotation of the satellite reveals a view of Earth below, of the Pacific Ocean south of French Polynesia.

At 25 seconds, the Fregat upper stage of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle appears as a gold object passing left to right at a distance of approx 60 metres.

At 34 seconds a white dot crosses the frame left to right, this is almost certainly one of the other satellites that shared the ride into orbit with TechDemoSat-1.

The inspection camera which took the video footage is there to monitoring the behaviour of key mechanics, including the Antenna Pointing Mechanism which is in view for the duration of this video.

ESA Fifty Years of European Cooperation in Space

A new book by eminent historian John Krige details fifty years of European collaboration in space, from the origins of the space programmes of the early 1960s, to the many activities and rich complexity of ESA today.

The book, Fifty years of European cooperation in space: Building on its past, ESA shapes the future, charts the early moves by pioneering European scientific statesmen and governments to establish not one, but two organisations, European Space Research Organisation (ESRO) for science and later applications, and European Launcher Development Organisation (ELDO) for launchers.

The tight financial constraints on ESRO, the tribulations of ELDO's launcher, and a major tilt towards close technological cooperation with NASA in the early 1970s led to the formation of a single organisation in 1975, the European Space Agency, ESA.

EADS Ariane-5

As ESA embarked on developing a new European launcher under French leadership (EADS Ariane), and a human-rated laboratory for scientific experiments to fit in the US Space Shuttle's cargo bay under German leadership (Spacelab), its science programme was put on a secure institutional footing and it launched a number of applications programmes.

Early sketch of ESA Spacelab

The 1980s were marked by the spectacular success of Ariane, the consolidation of a human presence in space through Spacelab and collaboration in the International Space Station (ISS), the development of a new framework for rationalising space science and bruising disputes over engaging users to operate application satellites.

The global upheavals of the 1990s, the interest of the private sector in space, and an awareness of the value of space-based systems to civil society and military action on the ground obliged ESA to refashion itself again.

Russian Soyuz TMA-9M

New partnerships were forged. ESA's launcher fleet was expanded to include the Russian Soyuz and the Italian-led Vega.

A single European Astronaut Corps was created, and major new programmes for Earth observation; Copernicus - Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and the European GPS satellite navigation (Galileo) were created in cooperation with the European Union.

The history of Europe's presence in space is above all a history of political will, of industrial development, and of the consolidation of extensive scientific, technological and managerial competencies to construct a global space power; one that could compete and collaborate from a position of strength with the US and the USSR/Russia, while adapting to the changing demands of a new geopolitical world order in the 21st century.

Fifty years of European cooperation in space: Building on its past, ESA shapes the future (EAN/ISBN: 97820701020297) is published by Les Editions Beauchesne (June 2014).

Russian Soyuz Foton-M Satellite fails to respond to commands

Soyuz engineers at Progress were trying to save a research satellite after it failed to respond to commands, which has left it in an improper orbit, Russian news agencies said.

The Foton-M satellite was launched on July 19 on a two-month mission to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects.

The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.

There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.

The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.

Containers with biological experiment equipment being loaded into the Foton-M satellite. 

Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems. 

ESA Astronaut Alexander Gerst greets Soyuz Progress M-24M cargo spacecraft

A still image taken June 13, 2014 from a NASA video shows US astronauts Reid Wiseman (L) and Steve Swanson (R) and German astronaut Alexander Gerst at the International Space Station.

Credit: NASA

A cargo craft successfully docked with the International Space Station, the Russian space agency Roskosmos said Thursday.

Meanwhile controllers encountered problems with a separate research satellite when its engines failed to fire, Russian news agencies reported.

The Russian Progress M-24M cargo craft automatically docked with the International Space Station at 0331 GMT with more than 2.3 tonnes of supplies after having lifted off from the Baikonur space centre in Kazakhstan six hours previously.

The ISS currently hosts a crew of three Russian cosmonauts, two US astronauts, and one German.

Separately, engineers at Progress were trying to save a research satellite after it failed to respond to commands, which has left it in an improper orbit, Russian news agencies said.

The Foton-M satellite was launched on July 19 on a two-month mission to study the effect of weightlessness on plants and insects.

The satellite carries containers with living organisms, including five geckos, fruit flies and fungi, which are supposed to be jettisoned after two months in orbit and land in Russia.

There is no update on the status of the living cargo, since the containers are not designed to broadcast any telemetry while in space.

The mishap is the latest in series of setbacks that has plagued Russia's once-famed space programme.

Containers with biological experiment equipment being loaded into the Foton-M satellite. 

Photo by the Institute for Biomedical Problems. 

Russian Soyuz spacecraft to get new Kurs-NA ISS docking system in 2015

Russian spacecraft performing flights to the International Space Station will be equipped with a new automated approach and docking system starting next year, the manufacturer of the system said Monday, RIA Novosti reports.

"All Kurs systems will be replaced with Kurs-NA equipment in 2015," the Izhevskiy Radiozavod company said in a statement.

The unmanned Progress M-21M resupply vehicle currently docked with the station successfully tested the new system last week.

The cargo ship undocked from the ISS in an automatic mode using the new Kurs-NA system on Wednesday and re-docked Friday.

The Kurs-NA system boasts advanced electronics, a fully-digitized control system and increased docking precision compared to its predecessor.

The improved system will be used on all upgraded Progress and manned Soyuz spacecraft in the future.

The Kurs-NA was first tested in space in July 2012, but the Progress cargo ship in that test failed to re-dock with the station due to an apparent failure in the system's sensors.

During a second test in November, the Progress M-21M resupply craft was forced to dock in a manual mode due to another failure of the Kurs-NA system.

Russian Soyuz Launch unmanned cargo spacecraft Progress M-22M

A Russian Soyuz-U booster carrying an unmanned cargo spacecraft Progress M-22M is transported to a launch pad at the Russian leased Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome early on February 3, 2012

Russia successfully launched an unmanned cargo ship to the International Space Station on Wednesday evening after a spaceship carrying three astronauts experienced a technical glitch last month.

"At 19:35 Moscow time (15:35 GMT), the cargo ship separated from the third-stage booster rockets on schedule," the Russian space agency said in a statement on its website after the Progress M-23M ship blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The ship carrying 2.5 tonnes of supplies including oxygen, containers of food and water and parcels for the crew is due to dock with the ISS at 01:16 am Thursday (21:16 GMT Wednesday).

The spaceship is following a fast-track route to the international space laboratory that takes just six hours.

Last month, a Soyuz spaceship carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut, was unable to follow the fast-track route to the ISS after a technical glitch in approach.

The astronauts were forced to spend two days en route to the ISS.

Russia insisted that the glitch was minor and would not prevent future missions from using the fast-track route to the ISS.

NASA has been wholly reliant on Russia for delivering astronauts to the space station since the US retired its space shuttles.

Americanised Ariane 5: Game-changing Scenarios Rocket Execs

Commercial launch service providers on March 11 raised the possibility of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket becoming American, the international Sea Launch becoming Russian and the high-cost Japanese H-2A rocket becoming cost competitive.

All three scenarios would mean radical changes for the current systems and address problems that each of them has in maintaining or establishing a position in a market characterized by no more than 20-25 geostationary-orbiting commercial telecommunications satellites being competed for launch in a given year.

The most surprising of the declarations came from Arianespace Chief Executive Stephane Israel, whose Evry, France-based company sees an opening to the now out-of-reach U.S. government market in the U.S. Air Force deliberation over whether U.S. government space system managers should seek a diversity of launch options.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket is bidding to launch military satellites and is on a path toward U.S. Air Force certification.

Israel, whose high-cost Ariane 5 industrial supply chain is already preparing for a Big Bang-type reorganization as it prepares for the next-generation Ariane 6 vehicle, would be obliged to share its work with U.S. contractors if Ariane 5 were to be eligible to launch U.S. government payloads.

“As far as the employment aspect, we are ready to see how we could Americanize our rocket in return for U.S. government business,” Israel said, adding that U.S. rockets occasionally launch European government satellites.

Members of the 20-nation European Space Agency (ESA) are encouraged to use the heavy-lift EADS Astrium Ariane 5, the medium-lift Europeanized Russian Soyuz and the light Ariane Vega rockets for all their government missions. With few exceptions, most do this.

The most recent example of an exception is the German government’s second-generation radar reconnaissance satellite system, SARah-2.

The two SARah-2 and -3, satellites are scheduled for launch on two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets.

But the launch contract is not with the German government, but with OHB AG of Bremen, Germany, which is the SARah prime contractor and was given leeway in determining who would conduct the launches.

The first-generation constellation, the five-satellite SAR-Lupe system, was launched aboard Cosmos-3M Russian vehicles.

Read more on this article here

ESA Video: Soyuz undocking, reentry and landing explained

How does an astronaut return to Earth from the International Space Station? What does it feel like to re-enter the atmosphere? How does the Soyuz capsule function? Watch and find out. 

This video is based on an actual lesson delivered to the ESA astronaut class of 2009 (also known as the #Shenanigans09) during their ESA Basic Training. 

It features interviews with astronauts who have flown on the Soyuz and dramatic footage of actual landings.

Produced by the ESA Human Spaceflight and Operations (HSO) Astronaut Training Division, Cologne, Germany, in collaboration with the HSO Strategic Planning and Outreach Office, Noordwijk, The Netherlands, with special support from Roskosmos.

Soyuz cosmonaut Valery Kubasov dies at 79

Soviet cosmonaut Valery Kubasov is seen floating in space during the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project first joint American-Soviet mission. Kubsaov died on Feb. 19, 2014.

Credit: NASA

Soviet cosmonaut Valery Kubasov, who took part in the first docking of a US Apollo spacecraft with a Soviet Soyuz, has died aged 79, the Russian spacecraft corporation said Thursday.

Valery Kubasov was one of two crewmembers of the Soyuz 19 spacecraft that docked with the US Apollo spacecraft on July 17, 1975, marking both a technical breakthrough and a rare relaxation in Cold War tensions.

He died suddenly on Wednesday after a short illness, the Russian space corporation RKK Energiya said in a statement on its website.

Alexei Leonov

The historic docking saw Soyuz commander Alexei Leonov shake hands with American astronaut Thomas Stafford, a gesture that was watched on television around the world.

Leonov said that when the US astronauts crossed into the hatch, they saw an inscription from Shakespeare: "Brave new world that has such people in it." The teams then worked together for two days.

Four original crewmembers including Kubasov, who was the flight engineer, met in Moscow in 2010 to mark the 35th anniversary of the docking.

Kubasov recalled that the US crewmembers had surprised the Soviet cosmonauts by connecting them by radio with US President Gerald Ford who spoke to both of them, Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily reported.

The docking of the two crafts tested out pioneering technology that paved the way for the International Space Station.

Kubasov was twice decorated as a Hero of the Soviet Union, the country's top honour.

After training at Moscow's aviation institute, he began working as an engineer involved in spaceship construction before becoming a cosmonaut in 1966.

On his first space flight in 1969, he was the first ever to experiment with welding in open space. The Soyuz mission was his second space flight.

His third and last space flight was a 1980 mission to a Soviet orbital space station, Salyut 6.

Kubasov was a "strong personality, a man out of the ordinary," said the RKK Energiya statement.

He was a "brave instructor, cosmonaut and test pilot who made a significant contribution to studying space and learning the secrets of the Universe."

Valery Kubasov was married to Lyudmila Kurovskaya, with whom he had a daughter, Ekaterina, and son, Dmitry.

Read more about Valery Kubasov here

ESA GAIA Launch: SOYUZ VS06 - Time Lapse Video

ESA Gaia space observatory aboard Soyuz VS06, lifted off from Europe's Spaceport, French Guiana, on 19 December 2013.

This time-lapse movie shows Gaia sunshield deployment test, the transfer of the Soyuz from the assembly building to the launch pad and the lift off.

ISS Crew Change: Soyuz reaches International Space Station in under six hours

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three new Expedition 37 crew members is seen approaching the International Space Station on Sept. 25, 2013. 

The Soyuz ferried American astronaut Mike Hopkins and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy to the space station.

A Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts linked up with the International Space Station late Wednesday (Sept. 25), doubling the orbiting lab's crew size after an express trip to orbit.

A Soyuz capsule carrying two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut arrived at the station at 10:45 p.m. EDT (0245 GMT Thursday), less than six hours after launching into space from Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan.

The two spacecraft were sailing 261 miles (420 kilometers) over the southern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Peru, during their rendezvous.

The hatches between the two spacecraft are slated to open at 12:25 a.m. (0425 GMT) Thursday, at which point cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy and NASA's Michael Hopkins can join the three crew members of the current Expedition 37 already aboard the $100 billion orbiting lab.

Returning ISS Astronauts 'flew blind' after Soyuz sensors failed

The three crew of the International Space Station (ISS) who returned to Earth this week endured a hair-raising descent after their height sensors failed, a Russian cosmonaut revealed on Friday.

Pavel Vinogradov said that he and the two other crew of the Soyuz capsule which touched down in Kazakhstan Wednesday had groped their way through the landing after they lost all data about their height from the ground.

"There were problems. For some reason after the undocking all our parameters disappeared. Essentially, after the undocking, we flew blind," he said at the Star City cosmonaut training centre outside Moscow, quoted by Russian news agencies.

He said that the only data the crew could receive about their approach to the earth -- crucial for knowing when to fire the engines to soften the landing -- came from the salvage team on the ground.

He said the rescue teams were able to radio to the crew that they were 300 metres (1,000 feet) and then 100 metres (330 feet) from the ground in the Soyuz capsule, which lands vertically with the help of a parachute after reentering the atmosphere.

"I managed to count eight seconds and we touched down very softly," he said, adding that aside from the usual G-forces and jolting "everyone felt normal".

Vinogradov, fellow Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and NASA astronaut Chris Cassidy touched down on the Kazakh steppe on Wednesday morning, in a landing that at the time seemed hitch-free.

Russia is currently the only nation capable of transporting humans to the ISS in its Soyuz rocket and capsule system after the withdrawal of the US shuttle.

UPDATE
However, the head of Russia's Federal Space Agency denied the cosmonaut's claim Friday, RIA Novosti reported.

"It wasn't a blind landing," Vladimir Popovkin said, explaining mission control simply switched off an information display in the landing module of the Soyuz TMA-08M spacecraft.

The cosmonauts still had enough readings to complete the landing procedure without problems, he said.

"Two dates simply overlapped in a program, and we had to turn off the [information] display so that [the readings] would not be patchy on the screen," Popovkin said.

Four O3b Network satellites integrated to Arianespace Soyuz launcher

The fifth Soyuz to be launched from French Guiana is now complete following the integration of its upper composite consisting of four O3b Networks satellites, their protective payload fairing and the Fregat upper stage.

This activity was performed at the Spaceport's ELS launch complex near the town of Sinnamary, beginning with the composite's transfer on a special transporter, followed by hoisting to the upper level of a purpose-built mobile gantry.

Final checkout of the Soyuz is now underway, leading to the Arianespace liftoff planned on Monday, June 24 at precisely 3:53:51 p.m., local time in French Guiana.

The cluster of four O3b Networks satellites to be orbited on Arianespace's upcoming flight will initiate the creation of a next-generation satellite network for telecommunications operators, Internet service providers, enterprise and government customers in emerging markets.

A total of 12 O3b Networks satellites are to be orbited by Arianespace in groups of four, with the next mission planned for later this year, and another in 2014.

These Ka-band relay platforms are produced by Thales Alenia Space, and have a liftoff mass of 700 kg. each.

Russian Soyuz Progress 51 cargo spacecraft leaves ISS

Credit: NASA

The Russian Progress 51 cargo spacecraft, now filled with trash, separated from the aft-end port of the Zvezda service module of the International Space Station on June 11, 2013. 

The Progress 51 will orbit Earth for a few days while controllers in Moscow perform engineering tests.

Then, the cargo craft will re-enter the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, and burn up.

First woman in space ready for 'one-way flight to Mars'

Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova is seen during a training session aboard a Vostok spacecraft simulator on January 17, 1964.

Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space, said on Friday she was ready to score another coup and fly to Mars, even if it would be just a one-way trip.

Russia's Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to go to space, said on Friday she was ready to score another coup and fly to Mars, even if it would be just a one-way trip.

"Mars is my favourite planet," the 76-year old told a news conference in Zvyozdny Gorodok (Star City) outside Moscow, home to a cosmonaut training centre.

Tereshkova, who became a national heroine at the tender age of 26 when she made a solo space flight in 1963, said she had been part of the group who studied the possibility of going to the Red Planet.

"But we know the human limits and for us this remains a dream. Most likely the first flight will be one way. But I am ready," she said.

Under the call sign Chaika (Seagull), Tereshkova during her three-day mission circled the Earth 48 times, her flight becoming a major propaganda coup for the Soviet Union.

On June 16, Russia will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tereshkova's historic flight.

In 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to go to space.

Soyuz, TMA-09M docked with International Space Station

Soyuz, TMA-09M docked with International Space Station.

It brought Expedition 36 crew safely to the ISS three days ago and will remain docked until it takes crew back to earth in November.

Image: Karen Nyberg

Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft is captured landing with Expedition 35 crew on board

The Soyuz TMA-07M spacecraft is seen as it lands with Expedition 35 crew.

On board was Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), NASA Flight Engineer Tom Marshburn and Russian Flight Engineer Roman Romanenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). 

The module landed safely in a remote area near the town of Zhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. 

Hadfield, Marshburn and Romanenko returned from five months onboard the International Space Station where they served as members of the Expedition 34 and 35 crews.

Image Credit: NASA/Carla Cioffi

Space Station Expedition 35 Crew Return Safely to Earth

A Soyuz Progress space capsule carrying a three-man crew returning from a five-month mission to the International Space Station has landed safely on the steppes of Kazakhstan.

Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, American Thomas Marshburn, and Russian Roman Romanenko landed as planned south east of the town of Dzhezkazgan.

Live footage on NASA TV showed the Soyuz TMA-07M capsule slowly descending by parachute onto the sun-drenched steppes under clear skies. Russian search and rescue helicopters hovered over the landing site for a quick recovery effort.

Rescue teams moved quickly to help the crew in their bulky spacesuits get out through the narrow exit hatch of the capsule. They were then put into reclining chairs to start adjusting to Earth's gravity after 146 days in space.

The three astronauts smiled as they chatted with space agency officials and doctors who were checking their condition. Mr Hadfield, who served as the space station's commander, gave a thumbs-up sign. They then made quick phone calls to family members and friends.

NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said by telephone from the landing site that the three returning astronauts were doing very well.

Cmdr Hadfield, 53, an engineer and former test pilot from Milton, Ontario, was Canada's first professional astronaut to live aboard the space station and became the first Canadian in charge of a spacecraft. He relinquished command of the space station on Sunday.

"It's just been an extremely fulfilling and amazing experience end to end," he told Mission Control.

"From this Canadian to all the rest of them, I offer an enormous debt of thanks." He was referring to all those in the Canadian Space Agency who helped make his flight possible.

He bowed out of orbit by posting a music video on YouTube on Sunday - his own version of David Bowie's Space Oddity. It is believed to be the first music video made in space, according to NASA.

Russia to Deorbit ISS Pirs Module in 2013

The ISS currently has five Russian-built modules: the Zvezda service module, the Zarya cargo block, the Pirs docking module, the Poisk ("Search") research module and Rassvet ("Dawn") research module.

Russia plans to deorbit and sink its Pirs docking module of the International Space Station later this year, a high-ranking official with the Russian space corporation RKK Energia said on Friday.

Alexander Kaleri, the head of the company's scientific technical center, said undocking and deorbiting Pirs will take place before a new Russian module docks with the station.

Alexander Kaleri

Alexander Derechin, RKK Energia deputy chief designer said in late March the launch of the multirole laboratory module (MLM) is tentatively scheduled for the end of 2013.

"The final spacewalk [by Russian members of the present ISS crew] is scheduled to take place before the arrival of the new multirole laboratory module (MLM) and will be devoted to the "departure" of the Pirs docking module. It should be de-orbited and sunk prior to MLM arrival," he said.

He said that Russian cosmonauts are scheduled to make six spacewalks this year, one of them is currently underway. The six-hour spacewalk by Flight Engineers Pavel Vinogradov and Roman Romanenko is due to end by midnight Moscow time [8:00 p.m. GMT].

Russia is planning to launch four new ISS modules - MLM, a node module and two science-power modules - by 2020, when the time comes to de-orbit the existing international outpost in space.