DATELINE: BAIKONUR Aug 24

Five more Proton-M heavy-class carrier rockets will be launched from Baikonur in the third and fourth quarters of 2010, a source in Baikonur told Interfax.

“One launch will be carried out each in September, October and December, and two in November. Three launches will be under a commercial program and two under a Russian civilian program. But more Protons may be launched with Russian military satellites,” the source said.

Launches of Proton-M carrier rockets with DM-2 and DM-03 upper stages have been set for September 2 and November 30, which will put six GLONASS-M satellites into space, each rocket will carry three satellites, for the Russian global navigation satellite system.

On October 14, a Proton-M rocket with a Briz-M upper stage will carry a six-tonne satellite, the XM-5, for the American Sirius XM Radio satellite communication operator. The satellite was made by Space Systems/Loral on a LS-1300S base and has a service life of 15 years.

On November 25, the same rocket upper stage tandem will carry the telecommunications satellite KA-SAT for the international satellite operator Eutelsat to a geo-transfer orbit. The satellite is being developed and made by EADS Astrium on the basis of a Eurostar-3000 base.

It weighs 5.8 tonnes and has a service life is 15 years.

The launch of the SkyTerra 1 communications satellite (formerly known as MSV-1) for the American-Canadian operator with the same name has been tentatively set for December 28. A Proton-M with a Briz-M upper stage will lift the 5.4 tonne satellite with a service life of 15 years to a geo-transfer orbit.

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 26

The Federal Space Agency approved on Wednesday a preliminary design of the new Russian space delivery vehicle, Rus-M, which would be launched from the Vostochny spaceport in the Amur region.

“Federal Space Agency Director Anatoly Perminov summed up the results of a meeting of the Academic and Technical Council, which had considered the preliminary design of the medium-class rocket with an increased lifting capacity, and generally supported the project and its planned phases,” the agency’s website said.

Perminov ordered the swiftest possible submission of rocket technical specifications.

Decisions necessary for starting the construction of the Vostochny spaceport in 2011 have been made, Perminov said.

He recalled that the contract on the drafting of the preliminary design of the rocket was signed with CSKB-Progress in keeping with technical terms approved by the Federal Space Agency and the Space Forces

DATELINE: MOSCOW Aug 16

Russia and South Korea will continue to investigate the abortive launch of the KSLV-1 delivery vehicle, whose first stage was made in Russia, Khrunichev Aerospace Center press secretary Alexander Bobrenyov told Interfax-AVN.

“The joint commission has approved additional tests for exposing reasons of the unsuccessful rocket launch,” he said. “The commission did not discuss the possibility of an additional launch.”

Meanwhile, an aerospace industry representative told Interfax-AVN that additional tests were a compromise that satisfied both countries.

Telemetric data convinced Russia that the first stage of the rocket had nothing to do with the accident.

“The entire information was spelled out to the Korean partners, but they demanded an additional probe,” he said.

The commission studying the KSLV-1 failure held the third meeting in the South Korean city of Taejon.

Khrunichev General Director Vladimir Nesterov said on July 15 that the commission had not found any problems with the rocket’s first stage.

The first launch of a KSLV-1 took place at the Naro Space Center in South Korea on August 25, 2009. The first stage created at the Khrunichev operated normally. Yet half of the nose fairing failed to separate and the satellite was not put into the designated orbit.

The second launch was done on June 10, 2010. It was also a failure.

DATELINE: KYIV Aug 13

Ukraine has endorsed an agreement with Russia on cooperation in the utilization and development of the Russian global navigation satellite system GLONASS.

The agreement was signed in Kyiv on May 17, 2010 following negotiations that have lasted since 2008.

The main aspects of the cooperation agreement are as follows: the construction of functional supplements for the GLONASS system in Ukraine to enhance the system’s efficiency for Ukrainian customers; the use of information, provided by Ukrainian ground infrastructure, for research and development projects, and in applied research; the creation of payloads and its deployment on a geostationary satellites for the purpose of creating a Ukrainian satellite supplement to GLONASS; the creation of user navigation systems, using standard GLONASS signals and signals of other satellite navigation systems and their functional supplements.

Under the agreement, Russia will give Ukraine access to standard GLONASS signals on an uninterrupted, global and unlimited basis in accordance with the current needs of GLONASS.

Ukraine signed an agreement with the European Union in December 2005 on cooperation in the development of the pan-European satellite navigation system Galileo. The Ukrainian parliament rarified the agreement in 2007. The agreement has also been ratified by 17 of the 27 EU countries.

In some estimates, GLONASS could become compatible with Galileo in the future.

DATELINE: KOROLYOV, near Moscow July 27

Plans for building up Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) involve putting five satellites in orbit next year, the general director of Russian satellite manufacturer Information Satellite Systems said on Monday.

“This year we are launching six GLONASS-M satellites for replenishing the orbital group. In December, a new generation satellite, a GLONASS-K, is planned to be launched. Next year, five satellites are planned to be launched simultaneously with flight tests of the GLONASS-K satellite,” Nikolai Testoyedov told reporters.

Three of the five GLONASS-M satellites due to be added to GLONASS next year would be put in orbit via a triple launch by one Proton rocket. Each of the other two would be launched individually. “In other words, this is the start of the precision replenishment of the group through individual launches,” Testoyedov said.

The latest series of GLONASS replenishment has been carried out through triple launches.

Information satellite Systems is based in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk region.

DATELINE: MOSCOW July 26

Russian Soyuz-2-1V light-class carrier rocket that will liftoff from Plesetsk Cosmodrome does not require construction of a separate launch pad, Space Troops commander Oleg Ostapenko said at a session of the Space Troops Military Council.

“No construction of a separate launch pad is required for operating the Soyuz-2-1V carrier rocket. One of the existing launch pads will be reequipped for this rocket’s liftoffs,” the commander was quoted as saying in the Russian Defense Ministry’s Space Troops press release obtained by Interfax-AVN.

The first launch of the Soyuz-2-1V “is due to take place from Plesetsk Cosmodrome as and when the launch pad and the carrier rocket itself are ready,” he said.

The Space Troops Military Council focused on prospects for developing an orbital group for military and dual purposes, spacecraft launch and control vehicles, missile attack warning systems and outer space control and missile defense systems for the 2011-2020 period.

DATELINE: MOSCOW July 26

A new building for the Russian global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) information analytical center is due to be built in the town of Korolyov near Moscow.

“The groundbreaking ceremony for the GLONASS information analytical center will be held on July 26,” the Federal Space Agency said in a statement posted on its website.

Currently, there are 23 Glonass-M satellites in the orbit, 21 of them are operational and the other two are in reserve.

Three more launches of seven satellites atop carrier rockets are due before the end of 2010 under the program to increase the GLONASS orbital grouping. Proton-M rockets with DM-type upper stages and six Glonass-M satellites (three satellites atop each rocket) are due to lift off from Baikonur Cosmodrome on September 2 and November 10.

On December 25, the Soyuz-2-1A will lift off from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome with a Fregat upper stage that will deliver first new- generation navigation satellite Glonass-K to the earth orbit.

Glonass-M and Glonass-K satellites were designed and made by Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev Company based in Zheleznogorsk.

DATELINE: FARNBOROUGH July 26

Construction of the new Russian cosmodrome, Vostochny, in the Far East, will begin in 2011, deputy chief of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) Vitaly Davydov told journalists at the Farnborough airshow.

“Russia’s space prospects are largely dependent on the construction of a new cosmodrome in the Russian territory. The government decided to begin construction in 2011, which is very important for us,” he said.

“The government will allocate over 24.7 billion rubles over the next three years for these purposes,” Davydov said.

First, a construction base will be created for building the cosmodrome proper, he said.

The Vostochny Cosmodrome construction sub-program will be added to the Federal Target Program for developing Russian cosmodromes before the end of 2010.

DATELINE: FARNBOROUGH, UK July 26

Specialists from Russian aerospace company NPO Lavochkin are certain that Russian research satellite Phobos-Grunt will be launched in 2011, NPO’s Deputy General Design Engineer Maxim Martynov told journalists at the Farnborough 2010 airshow.

“Preparations for the liftoff are going to plan. Of course, one cannot say for sure, anything might happen. But for now I have no doubt that it will be launched next year,” Martynov said.

Before sending the spacecraft so far it would be right to fly this platform near Earth, but Russia’s Federal Space Program does not involve the spacecraft’s flight tests, he said.

“We are making a new craft under this project, because we have no old platforms left. After the collapse of the Soviet Union part of our cooperation remained abroad, while several Russian companies underwent conversion because we have not been flying anywhere for a long time,” Martynov said.

Due to this, NPO Lavochkin had to form new cooperation to create a modern space platform, he said. “[Cooperation] has by now been formed, so we are now able implement the planetary research program,” he said.

DATELINE: FARNBOROUGH July 26

The Russian government plans to allocate 75 billion rubles from the budget for implementation of the federal space program in 2011, deputy chief of the Russian Space Agency Vitaly Davydov told Interfax-AVN.

“The budget planned for 2011 will involve additional spending of over 20 billion rubles for the industry, taking the overall spending on the federal space program to more than 75 billion rubles,” said Davydov, who led the Roscosmos delegation at the Farnborough 2010 international airshow.

The spending planned for the space industry in 2010 is 67 billion rubles, he said. “Thus, it will be more than a 15% increase in funding,” Davydov said.

These sums are not included in spending on the GLONASS federal target program and the federal target program to develop Russian cosmodromes, he said.

Under the approved program, space spending will continue to rise in subsequent years, Davydov said.