credit Federal Space Agency / caption: Russian Federation's deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov speaks
To date I have only read about a new unnamed human rated launcher operating from the new Russian spaceport in Vostochny. But according to this report on Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) website the Russian Federation's deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov said in a speech at Roscosmos' annual board meeting that, "[the] Vostochny project [has] started. The first spacecraft or ISS cargo supply spaceship is to fly from this spaceport in 2015; human space vehicle launch is to occur in 2018"
Cargo spaceship from Vostochny in 2015? I've been wandering around the forums of Novosti Kosmonautiki care of Google translation but couldn't find anything to explain it, sometimes they do
I guess it just means they will recreate the Khrunichev Space Center Proton rocket's launch pads at Baikonur at Vostochny, another example of how the Russians are getting out of Kazahkstan as fast as they can. I hadn't heard that that was going to happen, the Proton move, hadn't asked before either but come the Paris air show this year I'll arm myself with plenty of questions about it
As for "human space vehicle launch" launching in 2018 that seems a little late. The "human space vehicle launch" is an obvious reference to the Energia Soyuz follow-on, the Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS), and a timeframe of 2018 is odd as Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov has already given a 2016 launch date for ACTS
The big question for me is what rocket for ACTS?
I guess it just means they will recreate the Khrunichev Space Center Proton rocket's launch pads at Baikonur at Vostochny, another example of how the Russians are getting out of Kazahkstan as fast as they can. I hadn't heard that that was going to happen, the Proton move, hadn't asked before either but come the Paris air show this year I'll arm myself with plenty of questions about it
As for "human space vehicle launch" launching in 2018 that seems a little late. The "human space vehicle launch" is an obvious reference to the Energia Soyuz follow-on, the Advanced Crew Transportation System (ACTS), and a timeframe of 2018 is odd as Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov has already given a 2016 launch date for ACTS
The big question for me is what rocket for ACTS?
on January 29, 2009 8:46 PM | Reply
How do you derive from this quote: "[the] Vostochny project [has] started. The first spacecraft or ISS cargo supply spaceship is to fly from this spaceport in 2015; human space vehicle launch is to occur in 2018" that Proton is going to fly from Vostochny. They are taking about Progress on the Soyuz rocket or their new ship.
on January 30, 2009 3:15 AM | Reply
Probably Angara-3.
No Protons ... in case you didn't know it is VERY expensive to build rocket launch-pads. No-one does it for fun.
Maybe Angara-1 could launch from there in 2015 (dear Uncle Sergei could have got the date wrong) but it would be a surprise considering they have been trying to build the pad at Plesetsk for 15 years (and starting from an existing Zenit pad at that!)
Maybe now you see the dangers of discussing paper airplanes (or launch-pads)?
Me.
on January 30, 2009 9:34 AM | Reply
You're right the Krunichev Space Center's Progress is launched by Samara Space Center Soyuz U. What the hell was I thinking? So Vostochny is going to have Soyuz launch pads. I think part of my thinking was that previously Soyuz seemed to be being shifted to French Guiana with Angara for Plesetsk and this unkown new launcher for Vostochny. Maybe Proton's days are numbered? That's the one thing about journalism, your mistakes are very, very public.