Proton

Nomenclature

Following standard practice, the name Proton comes from the name of the vehicle’s first payload. Proton was also referred to as UR-500 (series 500 of the Universal Rocket family) by its manufacturer. The initial two-stage version of Proton has been replaced by the three-stage Proton K, which is also available with the Block DM upper stage. The Proton K is now being replaced by the improved Proton M, which was the Breeze (or Briz) M upper stage.

Block DM Nomenclature

The upper stage of the Proton K is the Block DM. The term Block, also transliterated as Blok, translates roughly as stage. Because the stage was first used as the fifth stage of the N-1 lunar launch vehicle, it is given the letter D, the fifth letter of the Cyrillic alphabet. The letter M indicates that it has been modernized. Specifically, the Block DM has its own onboard avionics, while the older Block D, which is still used periodically for planetary missions, is controlled by the spacecraft above it. Several different versions of the Block DM are currently in use.

Cost

The trends in Proton pricing are interesting in part because they may be indicators of the price trends of other Russian launch vehicles. Proton launch prices started out to attract customers to an unfamiliar launch vehicle. As Proton became more accepted by satellite operators, and as services improved to match Western practices, prices matched market conditions. Proton was first offered commercially in the mid 1980s by Glavkosmos, the Soviet agency responsible for marketing space services. Glavkosmos announced prices of $28–35 million for GTO or GEO launch services on Proton, but was unable to sign any launch contracts. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, a few Western customers such as Inmarsat and Iridium began purchasing Proton launch services. These initial contracts were reportedly priced in the $35–50 million price range. As Proton became more established in the commercial market, and as Khrunichev began marketing Proton in partnership with Lockheed Martin through ILS, prices began to rise to roughly $60–75 million. This may also have been driven by Russia’s anti-dumping agreements with the United States, which required that Proton prices not undercut those of other commercial launch services by more than 15%. According to Russian press reports, RSC Energia released prices for several contracts that took place during this period, including the 1997 launches of Telstar 5 and PanAmSat 5 for $47 million each, and the 1998 launch of Astra 2A for $57 million. With increasing demand for launch services, and with Proton now fully established in the commercial launch services market, prices continued to rise. According to filing documents with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company Sirius Satellite Radio was offered prices from $90 to 95 million per launch for a multiple launch contract for launches occurring around 2000. ILS reported in 2000 that typical prices for Proton K/Block DM launch services were between $90–98 million, and prices for Proton M/Breeze M launches are typically $100–112 million.

Availability

The Soviet Union attempted unsuccessfully to sell Proton launch services beginning in early 1983 with an offer to Inmarsat. This prompted the United States to forbid U.S.-built payloads from being launched on Soviet vehicles because of technology transfer concerns. Moreover, the Soviets were hesitant to reveal previously secret designs and capabilities, making it difficult to attract customers. The situation improved in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, when a few Western customers including Iridium and Inmarsat ordered Proton launches. In 1992 Lockheed formed a joint venture with Khrunichev and Energia, called LKE (for Lockheed–Khrunichev–Energia International), to market Proton launches commercially. Following the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta, LKE became a subsidiary of ILS, which markets both the Proton and Lockheed Martin’s Atlas. The partnership with a Western aerospace company has helped Proton become a mainstream commercial launch vehicle, and it is now a common choice for satellite operators around the world. A system of international quotas was put in place in 1996 which limited the number of Russian launch vehicles that could be sold commercially and constrained how low they could be priced, in order to protect western launch vehicles from low cost Russian competitors. The quota system expired in 2000, and there are currently no such restrictions on quantity or price of Russian vehicles.

The Proton K/Block DM is no longer being marketed by ILS, which has transitioned to the Proton M/Breeze M.

Site 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome is used for Proton launches. It consists of two launch pads, areas 39 and 40. Area 39 is currently (as of 2019) used for Proton-M launches, including commercial flights conducted by International Launch Services. Area 40 is currently (as of 2019) inactive, as it was slated to be rebuilt as a launch site for the Angara rocket. Although the project was relocated to Site 250, Area 40 was not put back into service.