Russia Roundup: Vostochny, Consolidation & Lunar Base
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin. (Credit: A. Savin)
As another Russian space mission went haywire this week, there was plenty of other news about that nation’s struggle space program. Here’s a summary of major news from the past week.
VOSTOCHNY
- Roscosmos chief Igor Komarov said that an additional 22 billion rubles (~$430 million) to complete work on the troubled Vostochny cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East.
- Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that 58 million rubles (about $1 million) in back wages owed to Vostochny workers will be paid by April 30. Unhappy workers have gone on hunger strikes and appealed to President Vladimir Putin with a message written on the roofs of their dorms.
- Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the head of one of the project’s contractors, Roman Suvorov, for allegedly failing to pay 16 million rubles ($320,000) over the past four months.
- Investigators also have launched a criminal probe into the alleged embezzlement of 300 million (~ $6 million) from the Vostochny project.
INDUSTRY CONSOLIDATION
- Efforts to consolidate the Russian space industry under Roscomos continued. Putin submitted a draft law to the State Duma that would establish a space corporation on the basis of Roscosmos and the United Rocket and Space Corporation.
- As part of the consolidation, Roscosmos is drafting a proposal to combine all of Russia’s rocket engine and launch vehicle manufacturers as part of a single holding company.
LONG RANGE PLANS
- Roscosmos plans to begin development work on a new medium launch vehicle called Fenix in 2018. The new rocket would replace the venerable Soyuz family of boosters.
- In a meeting with Chinese officials, Rogozin proposed that the two countries work together on a permanently crewed base on the moon. Russian is aiming to establish a lunar facility around 2030.
2 responses to “Russia Roundup: Vostochny, Consolidation & Lunar Base”
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That last one bugs me. We should continue with the iss crew to go to the moon in another 5-7 years.
The Fenix proposal looks interesting-the fact that it’s to be Metholox and built by TsSKB Progress strongly suggests that it’s an attempt to preserve the technology developed for Progress’ SHLV proposal for better economic times, similar to how Energia-M was to preserve Energia technology while replacing Proton. The figure of 9 tons to LEO matches reasonably well with their proposed Soyuz 5.1 rocket, which would share a common booster design with their SHLV.