Status and prospects of space activity in
Russia Nikolay F.Moiseev Federal
Space Agency Russia Russian space activity
is directed to the most complete fulfillment of the state structures
requirements as well as those of the country population in space means and
services. Already at present no large-scale social-economic, or scientific, or
defensive program is being solved without using space engineering which
provides for the common information area in this country, exploration and
exploitation of natural resources, ecology and extreme situations monitoring,
and much the other. Cosmonautics is particularly prominent in the distant
regions of the North, Siberia, and Far East. The real creation of
space means over the different directions of Space Activity (SA) at the period
until 2006 is implemented in accordance with the now active Federal Space
Program of Russia for 2001-2005 period stated by the decree of the Government
of Russian Federation by March 30, 2000 No.288. This Program is the basis for
the planning of the rocket-space engineering and is directed to the progress of
space technologies and services through the SA trends. The space activity is realized on
the technical background in the form of orbital constellations of different
application space systems or specific spacecrafts solving the applied problems
in the social-economic range, science, and national security. On the whole, the world-wide orbital
constellation currently numbers more than 800 spacecrafts of different
application and has been increased about 2.5 times over the last 10 years. In
Russia the orbital constellation of science and social-economic application by
the 31st July, 2005 included 39 spacecraft. Over the last years (2001-2004) the
significant improvement of the orbital constellation technical state is reached
on account of involving newly developed spacecrafts. As a result, the portion
of spacecrafts operating within the limits of the established guaranteed life
increased from 21% in 1999 to 60% in 2005. Currently operating Russian orbital
satellite constellation provides for solving the following problems through the
use of domestic space means. Within the range of communication and broadcasting. There are 25 communication and
broadcasting spacecrafts in operation in GEO: "Gorizont" (6 spacecrafts),
"Express-A" (3 spacecrafts), "Express-AM22" (2 spacecrafts), "Yamal-100" (1
spacecraft), "Yamal-200" (2 spacecrafts), two NTV satellites: "Ekran-M" (1
spacecraft) and "Bonum-1" (1 spacecraft), 9 "Gonets-D1" spacecrafts for
personal satellite communication of the store-dump type. These devices provide
the transmission of two central and four commercial television programs over
all the territory of Russia and for the CIS countries; international, trunk and
zone communications; communication with the mobile objects; governmental
communication. Russian space system of the Remote Earth Monitoring (REM) is intended for
solving a wide range of economy problems in such fields as agriculture,
climatology and weather forecasting, cartography, efficient land tenure,
forestry, water resources inspection, extreme situations monitoring, etc. At this time operation of the
"Meteor-3M" No.1 meteorological satellite is in progress. It is planned to finish preparation
works for launching the "Monitor-E" spacecraft and the "Resource-DK"
spacecraft. The operation of these spacecrafts will essentially improve the
situation for consumers of space information about natural-resources and
oceanography application on the federal and the regional levels. For the sake
of obtaining data on meteorology and oceanography the development of two
advanced meteorological satellites will be continued: medium orbit "Meteor-M"
spacecraft and "Electro-L" geostationary spacecraft. Fundamental space research allows one to obtain basic data for study of processes proceeding in the
Universe and estimation of their effect on the Earth. In 2004 the program of experimental
research was carried out mainly in the direction of studying Sun-Earth relations
and cosmology taking advantage of "Coronas-F" satellites as well as the
gamma-burst registration equipment of "Conus-A" operating in the framework of
the "Conus-Wind" project (the joint project with the USA). In particular,
notable scientific results have been obtained in the course of flashes on the
Sun. Joint works have been continued with
the European "Mars-Express" spacecraft aboard of the orbital module of which 6
instruments are installed, developed and manufactured by specialists of the
Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). In the framework of international
collaboration over the international research program, Russian Federation
conducts works on studying space sources within gamma and roentgen wavelength
bands using the European scientific space observatory of "Integral" wherein
Russia shares 25% of the exposure time. Nowadays the space segment of the international Search and Rescue
Satellite-Aided System (COSPAS-SARSAT) includes 3 Russian operating
"Nadezhda" spacecrafts one of which is out of its guaranteed service life (GSL)
and used only on the lit parts of the orbit; the other spacecraft has worked
out its GSL and is used only for some measuring. Federal Space Agency conducts works
on development of the specialized small spacecraft (SSC) named "Sterkh". This
will make it possible for Russian Federation to meet one's international
engagements via launching "Sterkh" spacecraft instead of "Nadezhda" spacecraft,
and installing the search and rescue equipment on the "Electro-L" spacecraft,
"Lutch-5A" spacecraft, and "Glonass-K" spacecraft. The manned-mission program. According to
the "Long-term program of scientific and applied research and experiments
planned on the Russian Segment of the International Space Station" (the SAR
program), about 300 space experiments within the wide range of scientific and
applied research are to be realized through the ISS service life to the
interest of RAS organizations, industry and other consumers. Over the expired period Russian part
on the ISS program met one's engagements before the foreign partners. Further
steps in the Program realization include launching of "Soyuz-TM" spaceships and
"Progress M (TM)" transport vehicles. Coordinate-temporal and navigation provision is based on using the global navigation system
of "Glonass". At present 11 spacecrafts are operating in the system
composition. To provide the navigation field continuity with the given 95%
accessibility 18 spacecrafts are required within the orbiting constellation,
which is scheduled by the end of 2007. By 2012 within the program of "Glonass"
24 spacecrafts will operate which will provide the global navigation field
continuity all over the Earth with the given accuracy of coordinate-temporal
determinations. Researches on the "Space technology" direction are
conducted making use of the automatic spacecraft of the "Photon" series - the
only one in the world being used on the regular basis for microgravity studies. At this time works are carried out
to prepare the flight of "Photon-M" spacecraft, and on the further transition
to the space complexes of "OKA-T-ISS" and "Vozvrat-MKA". Russia possesses the necessary launch
vehicles assortment that provide launching payloads with masses from
several hundreds of kilograms to 25 tons into the Earth orbits. Thanks to
reliability and relative cheapness Russian launch vehicles successfully compete
with the foreign ones in the world market of launch services. Nowadays works
are conducted on modernization of operating launch vehicles and creation of
future ones, above all with the aim of providing independent and guaranteed
access to space. The rocket-carriers (RC) of "Soyuz-2" (successfully launched
in 2004), "Proton-M", and "Angara" family are among them. Russia performs international cooperation within the range of Space on the
following main directions: -
using
domestic launch vehicles for launching foreign payloads; -
joint
development of rocket engines, in particular RD-180 for RCs of "Atlas" type; -
search
of possibilities for realizing Russian RCs to be launched from near-equatorial
launch sites (the "Soyuz at Kourou" project); -
realizing
the project of "Spectrum" in the framework of fundamental space research with a
wide cooperation of foreign partners (ESA, DLR, NASA); -
partnership
within the creation of International Space Station and carrying out scientific
research aboard; -
participation
in the project of "Integral"; -
evolution
of the international space rescue system "COSPAS-SARSAT" ("Nadezhda"). On the whole, owing to the active governmental support and international
collaboration, space activity in the interest of economics, social-economical
realm, and science has durable prospects. In 2015 there will be 71 spacecrafts
in the composition of Russian orbital spacecraft constellation operating for
scientific and social-economic applications. Near-term
tasks of the Russian space activity progress are connected with the
social-economical sphere and science requirements, provision for correspondence
to the world standard of space means, undoubted meeting of international
engagements and extension of international integration in solving vital
problems of mankind. The unique conditions which can not be obtained on the Earth occur on
the launched spacecrafts. We gain the possibility to receive totally unique
materials and substances with specific properties. They can be used in micro-
and nanotechniques, optical techniques, medicine etc. There is need in research
of the processes which take place in such conditions and also of the properties
of the gained products and materials and their producing technologies. Information gained from the spacecrafts during the scientifically
planned experiments is very important not only from scientific point of view.
The study of planets, their satellites and other celestial bodies widens our
knowledge about the Earth and processes acting on it; contributes to the
discovery of basically new power sources and to the prevention of the possible
space catastrophes, for example of an impact of the Earth with comets or big
asteroids. This leads to the needed development of new space techniques for the
human space flights towards the planets of Solar system. In
this context the aim of the Federal
space program of Russia over 2006-2015 is the fulfillment of increasing
requirements of the state structures, regions as well as those of the country
population in space means and services. FSP-2015 envisages modernization, extension, and effective utilization
of space potential through all areas of the country activity, undoubted meeting
of Russian engagements on international collaboration. For
the part of space means of
communication, broadcast and retransmission the tasks are set to keep the united informative sovereignty of
Russia, increase of competitiveness based on widening the range of offered
telecommunication services, refinement and decrease of maintenance costs. To settle the tasks it is supposed to create new generation space
complexes of fixed, mobile, and personal communication, wide-band communication
and retransmission of data from spacecrafts. In the future (till 2020) the
significant increase of requirements for space means and services is predicted.
It will be necessary to operate up to 950 fixed communication channels, up to
130 direct telecasting channels and to supply up to 0.5-1.0 subscribers with
mobile communication. The key projects
within that direction are the ones of "Express-AM, -MD, -AMU", "Lutch-M
(Lutch-5A, 5B spacecraft)", "Gonets-M", "Express-AT1, -AT2". Implementation of the assumed program will make it possible to offer
digital telephone communication and data transmission; access to Internet,
multiprogram broadcasting, videoconference-communication for state and
commercial consumers, organization of TV exchange with informative packages
within interests of federal and regional TV-radio companies. Russia is in
position to render such services for international consumers as well. For
the part of REM space means the main
task is to fulfill demands in REM data meeting the capacity and quality
requirements. For this purpose it is assumed: -
to provide for stable REM spacecraft operation
in orbits; -
to create modern on-board equipment for
observation in visual, IR and SHF ranges; -
to create and ensure application of
small-mass-size observation spacecrafts; -
to evolve network of data reception, processing
and distribution terminals. -
The total area of the Earth surface observed
from space with resolution up to 0.5 meters must be equal at least to 50-70
million km2. The key projects within that direction are the
ones of "Electro", "Meteor-M", "Resource", "Vulkan". Implementation of the assumed program will
allow wide range of economy problems to be resolved in the interest of Russian
and international customers, and the former are: -
providing for a search of critically vital
natural resources (water, petroleum, gas etc.); -
monitoring large natural and
technology-generated catastrophes; -
early detecting fire in forest seats; -
detecting the processes of natural environment
degradation; -
monitoring earthquakes presages; -
checking manifolds condition; -
checking sowings condition, predicting harvest; -
checking forests condition; -
checking overbuilding of territories and
urbanization processes; -
inventory and cadastres compilation of
agricultural lands, forests and other natural resources; -
obtaining reference materials for
transportation lines building. In the framework of key FSP-2015 projects on fundamental space research (FSR) task is set to create space means
of new generation ensuring the delivering of extraterrestrial matter samples on
the Earth and bringing equipment into space for rigorous study of Solar system
bodies, the Sun, outer space rays, galactic and extra-galactic objects. The projects of prime importance within that
direction are the ones of "Spectrum-R, -UF, -RG", "Phobos-Grunt",
"Khoronas-Photon", "Luna-Glob", "Bion-M", "Intergeliozond", "Resonance". The results of FSR contribute to solving
earthly problems. Thus, studies by space means will permit: to increase
reliability and safety of checking and predicting natural phenomena and
catastrophes, among them earthquakes; to prepare conditions for realizing the
project of the future - energy supply of the Earth from space by means of sun
power plants; to ensure the observation of astrophysical objects through radio,
IR and UV ranges of electromagnetic radiation with a view to investigate the
structure of Universe, structure and evolution of galaxies including their
cores and planetary systems, organic compounds in space, origin of high-energy
space rays, "space weather" and their influence on human health; to accelerate
creation of means and development of methods for medical-biological provision
of lasting human stay in space when flying to the Moon and Mars. Characteristic
of the concerned period lies in expansion of the practice of participation of
domestic scientists, specialists, and rocket-space industry organizations in
foreign projects. For the part of coordinate-temporal provision means task is set to ensure
continuous, meeting the modern requirements, high quality coordinate-temporal
servicing of consumers. The formulated goal is reached by the development and
realization of advanced high accuracy navigation technologies, creation of
software-apparatus means for their working up. The key projects within that direction are the ones of "Glonass-KM", "Nadezhda-M". Satellites-aided navigation
technologies provide for: -
global
all-weather navigation; -
landing
on non-equipped airfields; -
navigation
in ports and inland waters; -
traffic
control; -
optimization
of transport means motion routes; -
creation
of traveling objects control systems; -
high
accuracy geodetic plotting; -
fine
cartography; -
construction
works provision; -
raising
of search-recovery operations efficiency; -
synchronization
of communication systems. For the part of space means for manned missions primary works are related to
completion of RS ISS construction and effective utilization of its capabilities
for conducting a complex of scientific-applied research in the interests of
fundamental and applied science, social sphere, economics, evolution of space
science, engineering and technology for manned flights. In the interest of
national manned space flight technology progress it's expedient at the end of
the program period to assure creation and operation of the domestic high-latitude
multipurpose space station (MPSS), and in future it may be possible to create a
high-latitude MPSS applied in visit flights in the interest of high-latitude
region countries (Russia, Finland, Sweden, Canada). The key projects within that direction are
the ones of "RS ISS", "Cliper", "Mars-XXI". Nowadays
about 42 experiments are annually carried out aboard RS ISS upon Russian
program. After the
completion of full RS ISS assembly the ability will be provided for conducting
research in needed capacity on the following directions: -
space
technology and material science; -
medicine
and biology, study of the Earth natural resources and ecology monitoring; -
investigation
of the Solar system planets and small bodies; -
space
biotechnology; -
extra-atmospheric
astronomy; -
problems
on space power systems and propulsion units; -
space
rays research; -
complex
problems. Space means of technological application will be developed for the purpose of
experimental research on fundamental zero-gravity physics and space material
science problems for perfecting on-ground technologies, working out basic
technologies for production of unique materials, bio-preparations,
semiconductors, epitaxial structures with properties inaccessible in the
on-ground environment. It is planned to develop and operate the automatic
spacecraft maintainable from aboard ISS and offering the residual accelerations
of less than 10-6 g for conducting experiments including the
organization of experimental-industrial production of individual materials in
space and delivering of the fabricated materials to the ISS. The key projects within that direction are the ones of "Photon-M", "OKA-T-ISS", "Vozvrat-MKA". Principal works on evolution and
perfection of means for launching
spacecrafts will be directed to provide for guaranteed access to space,
implementation of the spacecraft launching program for realization of Russian
space activity tasks, supporting competitiveness of the Russian launch vehicles
and securing positions over the world market of launch services through
increasing rocket carriers' reliability and safety as well as decreasing
specific cost of bringing payloads into space. Perfection and nomenclature
reduction of launch vehicles are assumed to be obtained by termination of the
basic "Soyuz" and "Proton" launchers and their upper stages
(US) modernization, creation of the new generation "Angara" RC, highly
effective interorbital transport means and among them USs based on
oxygen-hydrogen propellant, transport modules with the novel propulsion-power units,
as well as creation of the background for a step-by-step transition to the
reusable space transportation systems. The key projects within that direction are the ones of "Angara", "Soyuz-ST" ("Soyuz" in Kourou), RRSS (reusable rocket-space system), KVRB, TM (with STPU or ERPU). Future progress will be offered to
the ground space infrastructure: cosmodromes, spacecrafts guidance aids,
experimental testing facilities. Russia
systematically and successively runs the mastering of space policy in the interest
of the population prosperity, provision of steady development of the own
country and the overall mankind. Our country runs the course to the active
integration into the international space projects jointly with the states of
EC, USA, India, Far East and South-East Asia countries, and other partners.
Presently, agreements, projects, contracts of Roscosmos (formerly
Rosaviakosmos) are made for implementation of works with European Space Agency
(ESA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the USA (NASA), and
different countries such as India, Brazil, China, Japan et al. It is the
every-way expansion of relationships with all the world countries that Russia
defines as the main vector of the international collaboration progress in the
field of space mastering. Cosmonautics
itself, being the main product of the world scientific-technical progress
became the powerful mover of this progress, continuously supplying the other
fields of the world economy with the invaluable and interminable flow of new materials,
technologies and scientific products making significant contribution to
assuring the stable progress of humanity. In future, in the framework of XXI
age the space activity of Russia and the other advanced "space" countries,
independent of their specifically selected ways of evolution, will be directed
to the achievement of the already fairly evidently defined goals and serve for
solving the following main problems: Study of Universe - space research by means of
automatic and manned spacecraft with the object to research processes of the
Universe origin and evolution, archebiosis and the possibility of the life
occurrence in Galaxy, which requires complex research program enabling to
understand and expand our knowledge on Galaxy and the mankind locus within the
later. Science and technology progress - realizing flights to the planets
of Solar system which will require numerous teams of highly skilled scientists
and engineers that will objectively provide for obtaining new
scientific-technical results and in its turn stimulate the state education
system evolution and increase the prestige of the education itself as well. It
must be kept in mind that the space activity and the more so the leadership in
space are the indicators of the state growth level as a whole. Technologies for the earthly needs - space program is the generator of
a lot of innovative projects and technologies which will find application here
on the Earth. Revolutionizing influence of space technologies is huge and will
be increasing. Energy from space, successes in solar and nuclear power plants,
newest materials with unique properties are all ones that give direct profits
on space activity evolution. Commercialization of space activity
- is one of the main goals of the national space policy. Outer space is the
infinite and inexhaustible source of matter and energy resources. Industrial
progress in that field will bring benefit for all mankind. Economics growth - new technologies open new
markets. Investments in high technologies needed for mastering the outer space,
will assist in strengthening Russian positions over the world space market,
increasing competitiveness and assuring balanced trade. Those ones will as well
stimulate the growth of scientific-technical experimental and testing
facilities, the condition of which determines the economic state security. Global security provision - the participation in the programs
of the mankind inhabitation medium conservation and regulation of the planet
resources within the global system of space monitoring, and protection of the
Earth against asteroid danger and other menaces from space as well. Nowadays
globalization of all world community life parts occurs: in politics and
economics, in science and culture. The same trends can also be easily marked in
space activity. Moreover, due to extreme complication and high cost of space
programs, integration processes grow much more intensively herein than in
different fields of the world economics. From the very beginning joint programs
got progress within the range of investigating near-earth space and studying
planets, global and regional communication systems, and then within the range
of manned cosmonautics ("Soyuz-Apollo", "Mir-Shuttle", ISS), exchange of
meteorological information from the Earth satellites; programs of creating
civil global national and international systems of navigation, observation
under non-propagation of nuclear weapon and rocket technologies etc. are
gradually advanced. As a rule, those joint programs are
realized either under the UN protection or by establishing joint enterprises on
interstate, or intergovernmental, or interagency levels, and/or on industry
level. Such trends will be held in the nearest decades, and things point to
their strengthening in future. Solving of scientific-technical
problems will advance through the directions of searching the ways of reducing
costs of the space means and in particular of further developing the expendable
launch vehicles and developing reusable ones. Inter-profitable commercial exchange
in the world space market will grow. Progress
of space technique working in the environment sharply different from the
on-ground ones: zero-gravity, space vacuum, radiation influence, unsteady
thermal regime, - calls for new approaches to its development. It is of special
meaning for the materials and structural elements on which experiments are
assumed to be made directly onboard the orbital space complexes with subsequent
introduction into the corresponding projects. Related problems have not been found
previously in machine building. In the XXI century the importance of those
problems will significantly increase. This will
require a new direction in the world science and technology - space machine
building which represents a set of scientific, engineer-technological, and
industrial disciplines directed to the development of complicated structures
and facilities intended for working in the outer space and on the other
celestial bodies (the Moon, Mars, Phobos, asteroids). Small satellites and their technologies
will be of great importance. Summing up, it is safe to say that
Russia have held and will hold one of the leading places in the world as the
Space Power, systematically and successively performing scientific-technical
policy on exploration and exploitation of the outer space. Nikolay
Fedorovich Moiseev, First Deputy of FSA Head, Chairman of Directors
Council of "Energia" Space-Rocket Corporation; graduate of Moscow
Engineering-Physical Institute -University (speciality - engineer-physicist);
author and co-author of more 150 scientific papers-articles and patents; area
of professional interests is systemic researches in domain of space engineering
development prospects. |
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