Ars Technica reports, “A Progress cargo supply spacecraft launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on Thursday, local time. The mission was successful, and Russia has launched hundreds of these spacecraft before. So it wasn’t all that big of a deal, except for one small detail: This was just Russia’s ninth orbital launch of the year. At this pace, it appears that the country’s space program is on pace for the fewest number of Russian or Soviet space launches in a year since 1961.”
Full Story (Ars Technica)
Tag: Russia
Russian Space Officials Abort Planned Test Launch of New Heavy-lift Rocket
The Associated Press reports that a Russian Angara-A5 rocket was set to launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome at 5:00 AM ET Tuesday, but the launch was scrubbed just two minutes before liftoff. “Yuri Borisov, head of Roscosmos state space corporation, said the automatic safety system canceled the launch after registering a flaw in the oxidizer tank pressurization system.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Russia Agrees to Stay Aboard ISS through 2028
SPACE reports that Russia has agreed to remain onboard the ISS through 2028, which is a clarification from last year’s announcement of a departure sometime after 2024 following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. The vague pronouncement has now been firmed up considerably, with the other major ISS partners – the space agencies of Europe, Canada and Japan – having “signed on through 2030, the update added, joining NASA in committing to the orbiting lab through the envisioned end of its operational life.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Russia to Launch Another Soyuz Craft to Rescue ISS Crew
Reuters reports that Russia said Wednesday that “it would launch another Soyuz spacecraft next month to bring home two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut from the International Space Station after their original capsule was struck by a micrometeoroid and started leaking last month.” The leak came from “a tiny puncture – less than 1 millimetre wide – on the external cooling system of the Soyuz MS-22 capsule, one of two return capsules docked to the ISS that can bring crew members home.” Russia said a new capsule, Soyuz MS-23, “would be sent up on Feb. 20 to replace the damaged Soyuz MS-22, which will be brought back to Earth empty.” Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin and U.S. astronaut Francisco Rubio “had been due to end their mission in March but will now extend it by a few more months and return aboard the MS-23.”
Full Story (Reuters)
US, Russia to Continue Ride-Sharing Agreement; Roscosmos Gains New CEO
The AP reported that NASA astronauts “will go back to riding Russian rockets under an agreement announced Friday, and Russian cosmonauts will catch lifts to the International Space Station with SpaceX beginning this fall.” The ISS will “always have at least one American and Russian on board to keep both sides of the orbiting outpost running smoothly, according to NASA and Russian officials.”
Full Story (Associated Press)
Russia Launches Cargo Mission to ISS
SPACE reports that Russia launched the Progress 81 freighter “atop a Russian-built Soyuz rocket at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT) from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the local time was 2:32 p.m. in the afternoon.” Progress 81 “is carrying about three tons of food, propellant and equipment up to the International Space Station (ISS)” where it will dock at 9:02 a.m. EDT. NASA spokesperson Sandra Jones said, “It was a perfect launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.”
Full Story (SPACE)
Video
Progress 81 Cargo Ship Launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome – June 3, 2022 (NASA via YouTube)
China, Russia, and US Expected to Renew Long-Range Bomber Fleets
Aviation Week reports, “As of 2022, only three countries continue to operate dedicated long-range bombers – China, Russia and the U.S. – with 518 aircraft in service around the world.” Aviation Week Network “projects the number will increase over the next decade to 574 aircraft as the same three operators modernize and expand their fleets.” The next generation of bombers includes “the Air Force’s B-21 and China’s H-20,” while “the largest single family of bombers in service around the world is the Xian H-6 operated by China, itself a platform that can trace its lineage back 70 years to the first flight of the Tupolev Tu-16 just 12 days after the B-52.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Angara 1.2 Rocket Makes First Operational Launch
Aviation Week reports that the Russian Aerospace Forces “conducted the first operational launch of a light Angara 1.2 rocket from Plesetsk spaceport in the northern part of the country on April 29. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the launch vehicle successfully orbited the Cosmos-2555 military satellite.”
Full Story (Aviation Week)
Video
Russian Angara 1.2 carrier rocket Moved to LaunchPad
Russia to Cease ISS Cooperation Over Sanctions
Business Insider reports that the “head of Russia’s space agency on Saturday said that the country would leave the International Space Station, which Moscow said is the result of economic sanctions imposed as a result of the country’s conflict in Ukraine.” In an interview with two Russian state news agencies — Tass and RIA Novosti — Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin reportedly said that “the decision has been taken already, we’re not obliged to talk about it publicly.” According to the article, NASA plans to continue running the space station through 2030.
Full Story (Business Insider)
AIAA Statement on New U.S. Position on Destructive Direct-Ascent Anti-Satellite Missile Testing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 19, 2022 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Executive Director Dan Dumbacher made the following statement:
“We applaud the administration’s commitment to not conduct direct-ascent anti-satellite (ASAT) missile tests and call for other spacefaring nations to follow this new international norm for responsible behavior in space. This comes following the Russian Federation’s reckless and irreversible ASAT test last fall, which created more than 1,500 pieces of debris that threatens national security and commercial assets and those aboard the International Space Station. Such a declaration will help preserve the security and sustainability of space going forward. The United States is leading by example, and we hope other nations will make the same commitment to work together and conduct space activities in a responsible, peaceful, and sustainable manner.
AIAA continues to call on the U.S. Congress to address the worsening orbital debris problem, as well as establish a domestic civil space traffic management function before a catastrophic event takes place. We believe this would provide stability and certainty so that the commercial sector can continue to innovate and experiment with new ventures that create a robust space economy.”
Media Contact: Rebecca B. Gray, AIAA, [email protected], 804-397-5270 cell
About AIAA
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is the world’s largest aerospace technical society. With nearly 30,000 individual members from 91 countries, and 100 corporate members, AIAA brings together industry, academia, and government to advance engineering and science in aviation, space, and defense. For more information, visit aiaa.org, and follow AIAA on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.