The invitation to the
discussion view from inside G.M.Chernyavskiy STC for Earth Space monitoring of
FSUE 1. The systemic approach in astronautics Everyone who has linked his life with
astronautics and those who are interested in the future of the inhabitancy
medium and its expansion up to cosmic scales, are troubled about the current
state and development of space activity in the World and in the Native Land of
the first artificial Earth satellite (AES). Outlining this picture, even in the
sketch version, is far from a trivial task. The angle of its consideration and
estimation is essential. Launching of the first AES was a leap in
intellectualization of collective human mind - the main power capable of
preventing the destruction of the Terrestrial Civilization. Today astronautics
has penetrated both into material and spiritual side of the Human life. From ancient times the mysteries of
space environment have attracted Earthmen. In the thirties of the last century,
owing to scientific research, the ways of penetration into space became
clearer. The founder of the space flight theory using
jet propulsion principles was K.E.Tsiolkovskiy, whose genius was manifested in
the system approach to the problem. K.E.Tsiolkovskiy not only found the means
for space flights, but formulated the aims of these flights as well. The last 50 years of space age have
shown that realization of K.E.Tsiolkovskiy's ideas about proliferation of
terrestrial life forms through the Universe is a matter of distant future. At
the same time, the target function was determined correctly. The space activity
is developing just along this trajectory. While discussing current problems of
astronautics, one should remember that the space activity represents a super
complex problem that demands huge intellectual and material resources,
concentrating efforts in various fields of vital activity on the scales not
commensurable with Terrestrial ones. The problem complexity stipulates the system
approach, whose principles in the astronautics were laid down by
K.E.Tsiolkovskiy's works and implemented at the first AES development. Methodologically the system approach
specificity lies in the fact that it orients a man, who tries to learn about
the objects and phenomena, to their completeness and integrative properties in
space and time. The system approach (SA) is the expression of some specific
measure of reality - its system nature. Deep understanding of properties of the
material and spiritual world stipulates progressive differentiation of the
branches of knowledge. Simultaneously, penetration into a partial subject, up
to the micro- (nano-) world, puts forward a systemic (integral) vision of the
problem, understanding of determinants of its aims and organization. "I believe that
learning the parts without knowing the whole is as impossible, as learning the
whole without knowing its parts" - Blaise Pascal. The system approach, together with the computer
modeling methodology, represents a unique means of forming the adequate
information about space activity. The 50-year experience of practical
astronautics testifies to the efficiency of space activity explication by some
system of actions directed at producing and designated utilizing of some class
of space-based complex technogenic (man-made) systems, or SS represents an ordered-in-ratios set of
space-based (as well as ground-based) technological means (components) that
interact in a certain way. The integrative properties and functions of this set
are directed at reaching the aims related to space exploration. The feature of space
systems consists in the fact, that their basic part - the spacecrafts
(artificial Earth satellites, automatic interplanetary stations (AIS), rovers,
space vehicles), as well as the means of their transportation - operate under
non-trivial space environment conditions. The basic system-forming component
on the Earth is the complexes of technological means of SS users. The
ground-based means also provide spacecraft control in flight, preparation and
maintenance of transportation means launching. Today on the
system approach basis the space activity covers the whole set of actions
directed at production, legal protection and using SS in the target designation
including: goal statement, the configuration outline, development and
production of subsystems and components, system operation. All basic space projects, fulfilled during 50
years, implement complex systems. They are: the first AES launch, the first
manned space flight, manned and automatic Moon missions, interplanetary flights
of AIS. These projects also include numerous SSs designed for utilizing space
environment. Operational
capability attributes of a complex system during its whole life cycle are as
follows: integrity (emergentness), purposefulness, acceptability, continuity,
dynamism, compatibility, and autonomy. The presence of aim is an inherent
property of any complex system. SS belongs to the category of systems for which
the aims are formulated by a higher-level system that generates them. "It is more important to know "what should be
done" than to know "how to do it" (N. Wiener). The more accurately the aims are
formulated and determined, the easier the means of their achievement can be
chosen. At motivation of space activity's aims the
intrinsic mechanisms inherent in Earthmen are of essential importance, which
have been produced for centuries due to natural and anthropogenic environment.
These mechanisms are: creativity, ambitions, competition, inquisitiveness
(aspiration to knowledge), propensity to residence change and to movements
(travels) - "Investigations of space should grasp imagination" (Carl Sagan). At the same time, the features immanent to a
Man prevent association of society on the global scale for exploring the space.
Therefore the space activity is accomplished at the state level and has a
competitive shade. A key factor in the space activity is getting
the benefit in the military, scientific, economic, and social sphere by the
state. Today ambitions in space activities play a decisive part in the policy
of a country. The space activity requires considerable
investments. Hence the large-scale projects are implemented within the
framework of international cooperation. Successful examples of such cooperation
are: the Russian-American ISS project, American-European cooperation in the
field of space research and Earth remote sensing (ERS), borrowing of
technological solutions from advanced countries by Unfortunately, the monetary approach in Over the fifty years two space activity
directions with peculiar aims and means of their achievement have been formed
in the world practice. The principal direction of space exploration is
scientific research, whose aim consists in acquiring knowledge about the space
and the Earth as its integral part. The next direction of space investigation
is utilization of space features and resources directly for terrestrial needs.
The target tasks of global informatization are advanced to the foreground,
which suggests the informational supply of society owing to new information
technologies and promising means including space-based ones. The direct staying of people in
space holds a special place in space activity. The flight of the first Soviet
cosmonaut into space was an epoch-making event and has served as the beginning
of this process. Manned flights into space have become and remain to be a
reference point in space activity successes. These flights have a great social
and political value. They make it possible to solve the tasks of space features
research. Ranging
of the contribution of any country into the world space activity represents a
multicriterion problem. One of simplified solution versions consists in a qualitative
estimation with respect to a series of indicators excluding their individual
weighting factors. The following indicators could be chosen: scientific and
technological results on basic directions of space investigations and
utilization, on manned programs, as well as on the technological means of space
exploration. 2. Technological means for space exploration Interrelation between
"purposefulness" and "acceptability" system attributes,
with a leading part of the first attribute, is decisive for a complex
technological system. For SS the "acceptability" attribute is
substantially determined by technological means' capabilities providing
transportation, as well as direct or indirect stay of a Man in space. For 50 years of the space age two types of
technological means have formed, which differ in their target designation:
spacecrafts (SC) which provide the SSs target tasks in space (artificial Earth
satellites, interplanetary stations, rovers, space vehicles) and transportation
means (launch vehicles, boosting and landing modules, transportation vehicles
which provide delivery of cargoes on the Earth-space, space-Earth and
space-space routes). One of the remarkable features of
the first AES is the fact that it initiated the establishment of a new industrial
branch, i.e. space vehicle-building functioning in a system association with
rocket building. Features of this branch consist in developing, manufacturing
and operating the technological means capable of long-term functioning under
non-trivial space environment conditions. 2.1. Space vehicles The Today of principal importance for SSs is the
ability of real time task solution which, on the global scale, is provided by
an orbital system of several AESs. Not single but regular, permanent stay of SC
constellations on orbit is the dictates of the 21st century. At the 4th
International Conference on Space (Israel, 28-29 January, 2009), one of basic
space activity directions was declared to be formation of satellite
constellations for integrated sensing of Terrestrial objects and phenomena in
various ranges of spectrum. SC along with system functions should also
perform a set of service functions providing its functioning in space. For this
purpose SCs are equipped with an onboard power unit, "life support" system,
motion control system, etc. The choice of SC configuration represents a
multicriterion problem solved under the conditions of its parameters
correspondence to system attributes. The principal requirement is increase of
value of information processed at the SC at size-and-mass restrictions (launch
means) and limitations in the cost of SC launch and operation. The SC configuration is determined in
particular by the space platform structure and onboard target complex.
Unification of space platforms is conducted for reliability improvement and
cost reduction. Platform's analogue from the available technological reserve
serves as a basis for unification. For the first time unification was
implemented in the seventies on the basis of structural-and-assembly scheme and
onboard service systems of the domestic navigation and communication SC
"Tsyklon". Two trends occur when choosing the
mass-and-size characteristics of SC. The first trend is represented by increase of
the mass and size of SC. It is characteristic for AESs on geostationary and high-altitude
orbits, where system's operative characteristics are provided by a limited
membership of an orbital constellation. The mass of a geostationary AES
(GAES) today reaches 6.7 tons (IPStar, TerraStar) and will be increased up to 8
tons on the Alphabus platform basis, according to experts' forecasts. Power
supply capacity - 18 kW, the lifetime - up to 15 years. The mass of the GPS SC
model, whose launch is planned in 2013, equals to 2.7 tons (the model operated
today weighs 2 tons). The upper limit of SC mass is regulated by system
approach's attributes. The latter is in some conflict with proposals of
"Energiya" RSC on producing universal heavy space platforms. The second trend is characteristic for satellites on
mid- and low-altitude orbits. Here, the cluster SC system is necessary to
provide operative SS characteristics. And the small satellites are reasonable
to reduce expenses and risks. The first-in-the-world-practice
low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite for personal communication with the mass of The basic designation of micro-,
nano- and pico-satellites is performance of scientific and technological
experiments including remote Earth sensing. The small-size satellites are also
purchased by developing countries that aspire to enter the club of space
states. The efficiency of SC is estimated by
the relative mass: Мп.н./МКА (Мп.н. is the
payload, and МКА is the SC mass). Today it equals to 0.4 - 0.45. According to "Euroconsult"
data, 307 commercial SCs were manufactured during 1999-2008. According to
The number of SCs in space constellations
(2008): Today the space vehicle building technology in In 2007 the Government adopted an important
(from the viewpoint of space vehicle-building modernization, too) Federal
Target Program (FTP) 2. 2. Launch
vehicles ( At the present stage of space
activity the aims of producing launch vehicles are "intermediate" for
SS. At the same time the transportation means represent, simultaneously, the
final product in the space services market, which strengthens their role in
space activity even more. According to It is remarkable that the number of
launches has been growing on the background of increasing AES functioning
warranty period, which testifies to the growth of space activity as a whole. Such a ratio in launches of domestic
and foreign SCs indicates that the space activity of the Nowadays "Soyuz-2" As managers of Only part of these plans will be
obviously carried out. The situation in the world market of space launches can
be characterized as aggressive from the Since 2010 SC development according to the As for the rocket building prospect in The
northernmost-in-the-world "Plesetsk" cosmodrome was chosen as a site for According to the experts' opinions,
modifications of light-weight "Angara-1.1" At the beginning of 2009 According to the tactical and performance
specification (ТPS),
the new-generation SRC is designed for solving the problems in the interests of
federal departments of Russia - first of all, under the program of research and
exploration of the near-Earth space and, subsequently, of celestial bodies by
manned vehicles, as well as in the interests of international cooperation and
commercial customers. Designers claim that at comparable
(with -
manned
means are given the priority in fulfilling the stated tasks; -
adaptation
to "Vostochniy" cosmodrome that provides launching over the routes of manned
flights and to the geostationary orbit; -
the
tandem launching scheme and oxygen-hydrogen engines; -
strict
safety requirements; -
the
prospect of producing LVs with carrying capacity of 50 and 100 tons. (One should note that the carrying
capacity of "Ares-1" carrier equals to 26 tons, and that of
"Ares-5" carrier, designed for the Moon and Mars missions, is 180
tons). In 2009 information appeared that
the Government is going to fund the production of a new light-weight-class
carrier "Soyuz-1" with launching in 2011, which will provide delivery
of payload of mass up to 4.5 tons to LEO orbits. Thus, two series of launch vehicles
are simultaneously produced in As a consequence we can cite
S.B.Ivanov's statement: 3. Space research Space investigations with the means located
directly in space are the locomotive of the whole space activity. New knowledge
about the Earth acquired from space, knowledge about Space and Universe enable
the Mankind to realize their position in the World and realize their own
responsibility for arrangement of life on the Earth. Exploitative approach
towards space activity and underestimation of conducted research are dangerous
on global scale. Briefly
on past events in space research Even
in 1958 the flights of the first satellites gave new information about physical
parameters of the Earth and near-Earth space. The first data on the Moon, Mars,
and Venus were obtained during the flights of Soviet automatic interplanetary
stations (AIS) in 1959, 1961 and 1971, respectively. After this, information
from the American АISs
began to come. The boom
of space research coincided with the sixties and seventies of the last century,
when the "storm" of the Moon, Mars and Venus began. The On In subsequent years the research SCs of the Considerable
revival in space exploration is observed at the beginning of the 21st century.
The scope of work admires with its immensity. Research SCs of all leading space
powers stay in space permanently. The objects for research are the following:
the Earth and near-Earth space; the Sun, the Moon and planets of the Solar
system; astrophysical processes, : Flights to the Moon and Mars begin to hold a
principal position in space research. Other programs are intensified as well.
In January 2006 one of the most fascinating missions in astronautics history
began and is still under way - the interplanetary probe "New Horizons" set
forth to flight with the task of studying Pluto and its satellite Haron: 3.1. The Earth and
near-Earth Space Space means are quite efficient in studies of
the Earth and near-Earth Space. Earth remote sensing (ERS) SCs and techniques
are used for these purposes allowing integrated solution of research and
monitoring problems within a wide spectrum of tasks. Extensive and complex investigations of the
Ocean and acquiring the data on terrestrial gravitational field and geoid have
been extensively carried out jointly by the SC "Envisat" (ЕSA, In 2009 within the framework of the European
program "Earth Explorer" GOCE, SMOS, Cryosat 2 satellites were launched for
studying the gravitational field and stationary circulation of the ocean,
salinity of ocean water and soil humidity. GOSE satellite, put into orbit of
about Indian satellites "Oceansat" are also
functioning with the purpose of monitoring the oceanic processes. In the It is planned to start data acquisition on the
Earth geoid at the beginning of the next decade with SC GEO-IK, whose
instrument composition does not allow solving the tasks at the level of foreign
analogues. The oceanographic satellite "Меteor-M" No.3 is also supposed to be
launched but only after launching of satellites "Меteor-M" No.1 and No.2. 3.2. Solar system In performing space investigations of the Solar
system, the ambitions regarding the Moon exploration were declared by the To perform the Moon mission NASA launched LRO
and LCROSS satellites in June 2009 for gathering information on providing
radiation safety of a man on the Moon and searching for water resources. The
Russian neutron telescope LEND is installed onboard LRO. In June 2009 In November 2008 Chinese specialists
presented a full map of the Moon composed from the results from АIS "Chane". The second
Moon satellite for working-out the technology of landing "Chane-2" is
planned to be launched in In 2008 Carrying out Mars missions, the In NASA continues performing the impressive
research program of "Saturn - satellites" system using SC "Cassiny"
launched in 1997. During four years the SC has committed 62 revolutions around
Saturn, 43 flybys near Titan and 12 flybys near the other Saturn satellites,
observing unique phenomena occurring in the system under study. About 140000
images have been transmitted from SC. European SC Venus Express, revolving around
Venus, investigates the ionosphere and atmosphere of the planet. In 2005 the American SCs STEREO-1 and
STEREO-2, launched in 2006 for the Sun observation, are moving around the Sun
along the Earth orbit approaching Lagrangian points L4 and L5, respectively.
This will make it possible, beginning with 2011, to observe the whole surface
of the Sun and solar substance ejection into space. The first three-dimensional
images of substance ejections from the solar corona and information on their
velocity and trajectory were transmitted. The capabilities of Russian research
SC "Cоronas-Photon" are worse than modest. 3.4. Astrophysical
investigations Within the framework of astrophysical
investigations, in March 2009 NASA launched into the solar orbit with
perihelion of 143.9 million km and aphelion of 156.2 million km the space
observatory Kepler, whose scientific task is searching for extra solar planets
similar to the Earth. SC is equipped with the telescope having a mirror with
diameter of In May 2009 ЕSA launched two space observatories
"Hershel" and "Planck" (built with participation of NASA)
into the Lagrangian point L2. The onboard powerful IR-telescope Hershel with
the mirror In 4. Practical results of space
activity Utilization of space environment
with the purpose of ensuring national safety and social-economic sphere
develolopment began in the -
communication
AES "Atlas-Score", -
meteorological
AES "Тiros-1", -
personal
satellite communication system "Strela -
navigation
AES "Transit", -
satellite
relay system "Molniya-Orbita", -
motion
control AES (navigation + communication) "Cyclone" ( Space
exploration is developing dynamically on the basis of new information and
progressive space technologies using first of all the results of the near-Earth
space investigation. Simultaneously, this process is commercialized with
lobbying and financial support from the corresponding states. A series of
information SSs is produced and operated for solution of three basic types of
problems: satellite radio communication, coordinate and time maintenance and
the Earth remote sensing. 4.1. Satellite
radio communication Thousands of radio communication satellites are
functioning today. Satellite radio communication in respect of multimedia
service leans upon geostationary AES (GAES), which function in S-, Ku-,
Ka-ranges. Here the perspective lies in the digital and high-contrast TV (HDTV)
and in the growth of transmission capacity of radio communication channels due
to increase of the transponders number up to 100. This could be guaranteed by
increase of the onboard power capacity up to 20 kW and increase of the antennae
diameter up to In satellite radio
communication the Russian radio communication GAESs
have a high rating and are popular in the world market. Along with domestic
satellites for the civil and military purposes, At the same time, only about 300 out
of 5500 onboard retransmitters that operated in 2008 on geostationary orbits,
with the bandwidth of 36 MHz, belong to One of the most popular satellite
communication directions in the world is VSAT-technologies designed for
departmental and corporate networks. More than 700000 ground terminals VSAT are
operated now. The share of Along with
satellite systems of multimedia service "Inmarsat"
company is a traditional leader in GAES operation at the L-range frequencies.
KVH/Visat Company began to apply GAES with retransmitters in the Ku-range. In
2009 the satellite mobile communication SC TerraStar-1 (TerraStar Networks Inc.
Company) was put into orbit. It provides communication with mobile subscribers
in the S-range and interface with mobile communication stations in the
Ku-range. In the given case the GAES became a strong competitor to low-flying
AES. Dozens of AESs of SSs "Iridium" and
"Globalstar" are functioning on LEO orbits. In 2008 the number of subscribers
of the two latter systems on the global scale reached 650000. About 1000
thousand of these stations belong to The system of personal mobile satellite
communication on LEO orbits was produced, for the first time in the world, in In the eighties of the last century the relay
satellite "Altair" was developed in 4.2. Coordinate and
time support Satellite navigation as a form of
space activity contributes much to the global informatizaton. Today the
American GPS is the basic means of coordinate and time support (CTS) in
military and civil purposes for users all over the world. Orbital constellation
of this system consists of about 30 AESs and allows users to determine accurate
time, the speed of their movement, as well as the longitude and latitude of
location with accuracy up to units of a meter. Technical characteristics of the
system meet international requirements for the satellite navigation means
developed by ICAO and IMО. The -
providing
continuous access to national means within the framework of national and
internal safety tasks independent of foreign means; -
free-of-charge
access of civil users to GPS navigation signals and supplementing means; -
improvement
of ways for prohibiting hostile use of the USA CTS systems; -
encouragement of developing the foreign CTS means and their
interfaces with US systems. The main users of satellite navigation,
including the systems with expansible navigation systems, except military
departments, are the following: sea-, air- and ground-based transportation,
search-and-rescue and inventory services. Satellite navigation is used in
global, regional and local networks of geodynamic monitoring of the Earth
surface. GLONASS destiny is remarkable for
the Russian space activity. Manufacturing
of navigation satellite systems began in the Later the acquired experience and satellite
navigation technologies enabled to renew works on GLONASS in accordance with
the Federal target program In New urge to GLONASS works was given
in 2005-2006 by numerous decisions directed at revival of the orbital system
composed of 24 SCs in 2010, with supposed number of 30 SCs in 2011. The task of actuating GLONASS for
civil and military users on the global scale was declared to be first-priority
in the domestic space activity (a dog with GLONASS collar became a conventional
exhibit on the Russian Federation Government's
Decrees authorized the new edition of FTP "GLONASS". State support of
GLONASS in 2009 equals to 31.5 billion of rubles. This sum looks quite solid on
the background of Russian space budget and testifies to the fact that planned
investments to GLONASS are comparable with US allocations for the space segment
of GPS. However, the question arises on
expediency of restoration of GLONASS orbital system with its former navigation
tasks and expediency of considerable financial investments for these purposes
in changed conditions and after a 15-year break. There are no alternatives to
satellite navigation in the military sphere. At the same time, after
termination of the "cold" war the emphasis in military doctrine on
the global scale has changed. Under the modern situation, GLONASS seems to be
capable of supplying the armed forces with the necessary information at the
given level of efficiency provided that it is transformed into the regional
system, similar to As for the civil sphere of GLONASS application,
the expected economic benefit from the program realization by 2011 at a rate of
120 billion rubles according to the FTP "GLONASS-11" seems
unreasonable for some reasons. Today the world market of navigation services
is actually monopolized by the Joint exploiting of GPS and GLONASS can
obviously have only a political value and find application in the Russian
market. But the Russian satellite navigation market is rather limited, and its
expansion is restrained by the social and economic situation. Attempts of
introducing GLONASS technologies in In 2008 Chamber of Accounts in their report put
under doubt the commercial part of domestic satellite navigation. It was noted
that GLONASS to a high degree of probability would be unable to compete with
American GPS. Not to
transform GLONASS into the next "black hole" in Russian economy, the
investments into it should meet the modern realities. To ascribe the coordinate
and time support technologies to innovational ones, one should instead of
duplicating GLONASS satellites make the system decisions and reach a new
quality in ensuring the vital activity of mobile objects in all Terrestrial
media. By the way, investigations in this direction are carried out in the 4.3. Earth remote
sensing The Earth remote sensing (ERS) from space
provides a unique opportunity for acquiring the data about terrestrial objects
and phenomena on the global scale with a high spatial and temporal resolution.
Space surveys form the data on physical, chemical, biological, and geometrical
characteristics of observation objects in various terrestrial media. SCs are
equipped with multispectral instruments for active and passive sensing of
detailed, medium and crude resolution. Investigations in the field of Earth
science and near space exploration are carried out by ERS techniques and means.
ERS is one of the basic practical results of space activity. The spectrum of
problems solved with ERS is quite broad. ERS is used in hydrometeorology, for
diagnostics of terrestrial objects and phenomena, in the military
reconnaissance, geological prospecting, ... The orbital ERS system
will include up to 130 SCs by 2010, including about 20 SCs belonging to
developing countries. Recently the number of launches with onboard radars has
grown. Only in 2007 five countries put into orbit 9 satellites with radars. The program of producing the Global
complex of ERS systems GEOSS is formed on the international scale. About 60
countries and 40 organizations take part in it. The works on ERS are carried
out, as a rule, within the framework of national and regional programs. Leading
positions in the ERS area are held by the 4.3.1. Hydrometeorology. Within the framework of the World
Meteorological Organization (WМО) enclosing 147 countries, the global system of meteorological
observations from space was established. Hydrometeorological satellites are
placed on solar-synchronous and geostationary orbits and on the global scale
accomplish observations of the atmosphere, ocean and land with the parameters
corresponding to WMO recommendations. These satellites are also used for
diagnostics of emergency situations and for environmental purposes. The operative space
systems are continuously functioning in the The hydrometeorological programs
of the other leading space countries are not commensurable in scale with
American programs, but they are extensive enough. The meteorological satellite
"Metop-1" was actuated in In 2006 the In In Meteorological satellites accomplish some
other ERS tasks as well. The Chinese ERS satellite "Yaogan-6" was
launched in April 2009 with the purpose of meteorological forecasts, soil state
monitoring and tracing the consequences of natural disasters. The Canadian
space program is implemented on the basis of RADARSAT satellites. The second
oceanological Indian satellite "Oceansat- In September A single launching of the "Meteor-M"
satellite into orbit is a necessary but insufficient condition for making
contribution into the global system of meteorological observations from space.
On its basis, either the orbital system of identical SCs should be formed, or
SC should have a common format of files with satellites of the other system.
Besides, the instruments equipment of "Meteor-M" satellite concedes
to foreign analogues in its characteristics. The infra-red sensing device of
HIRS type is absent onboard this SC. And only a microwave radiometer meets the
modern requirements. At the same
time, in 4.3.2. Earth
monitoring from Space. Monitoring
of the Earth, performed on the ERS basis, includes observation, estimation and
forecasting of natural resources, state of terrestrial and water ecosystems,
natural and anthropogenic emergency situations. Technological means for
monitoring operate in the following ranges of a radio-frequency spectrum: UV, For the purpose of Earth monitoring from space
the Canadian space program is implemented on the basis of radar-tracking SC
RADARSAT. A considerable volume of the Earth monitoring
data has been provided since 2008 by the European orbital system of six
mini-satellites RapidEye with multispectral (6 ranges) optical and electronic
instruments having resolution of In 2008 In The environment monitoring tasks are carried
out as well. The MODIS spectrometer, installed on the American satellites Terra
and Aqua, is used for global studies of aerosols. In 2009 with the task of
measuring CO2 and CH4 concentration in the atmosphere The high- and super-high spatial resolution data
from the American satellites Quick Bird, Ikonos, World View-1 (2007), Geo Eye-1
(2008), and from ERS satellites of The World View-1 satellite with productivity of
700 thousand sq. km per day has photographed 20 % of Russian territory with
resolution of The optical, electronic and radar
satellites with a super-high resolution are applied for the military purposes.
In In Russia ERS satellites of high- and
super-high resolution are launched sporadically. AESs with optical and
electronic instruments "Monitor-E", "Resource-DK" and the
photosatellite of "Cobalt" type were launched in 2005, 2006 and 2008,
respectively. The "Monitor-E" satellite
was planned to be used for renewing and developing the Earth monitoring works
carried out at the end of the last century with "Meteor-Priroda" and
"Resource-O" satellites. SC orbital tests failed, but turned out to
be encouraging. However, for subjective reasons the further developments of
these satellites were terminated and transferred to "TsSKB-Progress",
where the development of a new optical and electronic SC "Resource-P"
began with launch planned for the next decade. Besides, contrary to the world
practice, it is supposed to combine the monitoring tasks using
medium-resolution instruments and acquiring super-high resolution data on a
single satellite. In 2010 the "Kanopus-V" satellite is
planned to be launched. This satellite will have resolution of about 5. Manned programs Manned flights around the Earth and to
the Moon at the beginning of the space age were epoch-making events and the
evidence of human huge potential capabilities. Manned flights stimulate the
production technology and exploiting of space means. Social and political value
of manned flights into space is undoubted. At the same time their direct
contribution into space exploration at the present stage seems to be ambiguous.
For almost 50 years the contribution of manned flights to space research and
exploration appeared to be insignificant as compared to automatic vehicles. Today the Man
in space acts in two roles, i.e. as a subject (object) of space research and as
an operator. In the first case the preconditions are generated for more
successful solution of a space research problem considering space as a habitat.
As for acquiring the data on physical, chemical, biological parameters of
space, the capabilities of cosmonauts are rather limited here. When a man acts
as an operator, his activity is associated with controlling and servicing the
technological means. But in any case the manned flights are one of the types of
space activity. The space research results are
reached today owing to application of automatic means together with manned
flights. As for practical space exploration tasks, the monopoly here belongs to
the automated vehicles. The world space activity in the
manned flights area is now mainly concentrated around the international space
station (ISS). ISS is operated jointly by the The ESA module " During the station functioning, the
training of cosmonauts from a number of states and scientific experiments were
carried out onboard. For the first time in
the world the cosmonauts performed servicing and repair of the unique technical
device - the "Hubble" telescope. This work seems to be the only significant
result of ISS. Cosmonaut
Georgiy Grechko comments the present state of ISS exploitation as follows: For many years the ISS has regularly "eaten"
the lion's share of Russian space budget not raising the scientific and
technological potential of the country and preventing the serious space
investigation projects. The In 2004 the Space complex composed of space vehicle
"Orion" and Owing to financing deficiency, Ogastin's
committee formed in the Russian position on the manned
program is distinguished by conservatism. It is declarative in contents,
indistinct and inconsistent. In 2007 the Head of By 2015 it is also supposed to accomplish the
assembly and provide regular operation of the Russian segment of ISS and to
take a number of measures to provide prolongation of ISS operation up to 2020.
Five modules of various designations are supposed to be introduced into Russian
segment during the same period of time. Moreover, With such statement of the problem it is
obvious that in the nearest decade there is no desire in Transcending the near-Earth orbits and future
manned flights in the Solar system seem to be a call of time. Still nobody in RSC "Energiya" after four years of
trials with the "Clipper" project, started sketch designing of a
promising reusable SV. 6. World space activity at the beginning of the
21st century The world space activity, beginning
with the first satellite launch, develops cyclically and, as the practice
testifies, has a positive derivative. The triumphal success of the Soviet
astronautics at dawn of space age stimulated its rapid development in the The boom of charges on space fell on the period
of 1963-69. At that time NASA for example received 5.5 % of the national budget
to outstrip the In the seventies of the last century there
appeared a recession in space exploration rates due to extinction of USA-USSR
rivalry in the "Lunar" race, while prolongation of lunar manned
programs demanded huge expenses. The sensations no longer occurred, and the
interest to manned flights began to vanish. This could not but had an effect on
the popularity of space activity on the whole. One managed to partly
reanimate attraction of manned flights in space due to programs of the Soviet
transportation vehicles and long-term manned stations (LMS), as well as to
American reusable spacecraft "Shuttle", despite the absence of
appropriate, capacious enough target tasks. In conditions of continuing Simultaneously American experts became
convinced of unacceptability of implementing President's
initiatives, and the boom around the "star wars" vanished. Later, in After stagnation of the nineties,
the increased activity in all space directions was observed in the world. For
recent decades, significant results in space research and exploration were
achieved except the field of manned flights. Today 40 countries manufacture and
launch SCs, and more than 130 countries use their results. The positive dynamics of space
activity can be judged by its financing as well. According to the USA Space
Foundation data, the cumulative world budget was $180 billion in 2005 and $ 251
billion in 2007. The sources of financing are the state (military and civil)
and commercial budgets. Space activity all over the world develops basically
due to investments from state budgets. In 2007 the The space branch of According to expert judgments, the
world market of space services equals to more than $100 billion. The most part
of incomes is received by providers, who render services to final users. The
scope of communication, television and other services is at the level of $60
billion. The market of navigation means and services approaches $20 billion.
(According to some experts, the world market of navigation services will amount
$40 billion by 2011). The segment of world production of commercial satellites
equals to about $10 billion. The segment of space launches
according to various sources equals to 2.5-3% of the total space activity
volume. According to FAA data, in 2007 the incomes from space launches equaled
to $1.55 billion and were distributed as follows: The share of The developing market of space
services in In the world practice implementation of
national goals in space activity is accompanied by development of program
documents at the state level. The programs of leading space states, including The national program of the The The -
specific
target objectives of space activity; -
large
scale of scientific investigations of the Earth, planets, and other objects of
the Solar system and deep space using AISs and rovers; it includes one of the
most fascinating missions in the astronautics history, i.e. the flight of the
interplanetary probe -
ambitiousness
of the projects directed at manned flights over extraterrestrial routes,
including the "Constellation" program, and the tendency of evolutionary
termination of the manned program on near-Earth orbits; -
implementation
of priority space exploration programs including utilization of GPS and
meteorological satellite systems, development of super-high resolution ERS
satellites, and the programs directed at producing climate monitoring systems
of new generation for providing air traffic control. The all-European space program is distinguished by: -
the
second rank in financing volumes; -
performing
works with valuable results in all space activity directions, including the
Solar system investigations, establishment of two unique space observatories
"Hershel" and "Planck" and promotion of ERS technologies; -
international
cooperation at all levels of participation, and first of all, with the -
high
incomes in the market of space launches owing to the presence of In space activity of Space programs of The basic features of the Indian space program
are: -
pragmatism
and high profitability; -
competition
with -
large
scale plans of space research, including exploration of the Moon, Mars, Venus,
asteroids and comets; -
worthy
place in the market of ERS space services; -
aspiration
to the market of launching services. 7. Features of the Russian space
program On the eve of disintegration the
Soviet Union together with the USA held leading positions in space activity,
leaving the other advanced powers far behind. Having lost the Revolutionary changes in the social and
political structure of the country in 1991 caused squandering of the national
property and resulted in spiritual and material impoverishment of the country
dooming the space activity to degradation and stagnation for many years. Under these conditions Searches for foreign investments have begun, to
the detriment of national interests in particular. Some of them turned out to
be successful. They are: the ISS and Today according to the expert judgment In 2008 the Russian President ratified -
first
- satisfying requirements of national defense and safety, of the social and
economic sphere and science :. by deployment and effective utilization of
domestic orbital SC systems; -
second
- ensuring the guaranteed access and independence of Russian space activity
over the whole spectrum of tasks solved in space, including that achieved by
building the cosmodrome of scientific, social and economic designation inside
the country; -
third
- fulfilling international obligations of the -
fourth
- exploration of planets and Solar system's bodies getting fundamental
knowledge The feasibility of the proclaimed
policy, as a whole, can be judged by its correlation with financial resources
of the country. As for the priorities, lack of focus on prospects is still
noticeable. Otherwise it is difficult to explain why the manned flights on
near-Earth orbits occurred to be among the privileged and the space research appeared
to be in the fourth place. It is also not clear why the requirements of the
international law concerning fulfillment of international obligations has
turned from trivial into priority one for the national space policy. Sharp increase of governmental investments
undoubtedly seems quite important and encouraging for the space activity
development. This factor is necessary, but not sufficient. The appropriate
social environment and organization of this activity is obligatory. It is known that under complicated
economic conditions the The feature of social environment of space
activity in It is hard to comment on succession in space
activity of In the space branch the equipment deterioration
(the amount of facilities whose age exceeds 10 years) equals to 75 %. Its
operative renewal requires five times as much funding as in 2007 from the state
budget. The space branch has suffered considerable losses in its staff. The gap
between generations occurred. The average age of the human resources is 50-60
years. The School of chief designers established by
S.P. Korolev has decayed. The status of the chief designer has been discredited
by diluting his rights and duties. People not pertaining to design works are
predominantly appointed to this position. The giants who had been managing the
national space activity for decades were replaced by the dwarfs unable to state
the problems and to make appropriate technological decisions. There are some
examples: change of priorities and head executives of design works on SCs
"Electro", "Meteor-M", "Resource- DK",
"Monitor-E", "Canopus-V", "Resource-P", and on "Arktika"
project:; breaking the continuity in domestic
military-and-industrial complex: development of "Bulava" ballistic
missile and "Superjet- In For example, abroad in the ERS area the space
agencies (NASA, ЕSA)
are responsible for development and launching of SCs, and the operators (NOAA,
USGS, EUMETSAT) accept satellites and are responsible for the system operation. The GLONASS program is similar. Whereas in the The existing scheduling system also prevents
the development of space activity. The 2006-2015 FTP Under these conditions any
conversation about a 8. Conclusions Russian sacramental question The extension of anthropogenic activity in space
demands large-scale projects which should be based on scientific sense,
romanticism and pragmatism. In order to provide Russia - Native Land of
Astronautics - a worthy place in the world community in the area of space
exploration one should recommend as a manual To implement this document it seems necessary: 1.
Not to search for a special way for 2.
To increase intensively financing of space activity,
including space-rocket branch upgrade. 3.
To raise the priority of space research in Russian
space policy, the former being a locomotive of space activity and the guarantee
of progress in space technologies. 4.
To impart to the manned program the commitment to
escaping the limits of near-Earth orbits. 5.
To exclude duplication in development of heavy launch
vehicles and to start design of a super-heavy launch vehicle for escaping the
limits of near-Earth orbits. 6.
To direct the state budget investments to the projects
of promising satellite systems of environment monitoring for providing vital
activity of mobile objects in all Terrestrial media, having excluded or reduced
financing of such unprofitable projects as GLONASS, "Luch",
"Gonets", "Arktika", etc. 7.
To introduce the system approach in planning the space
activity. The latter should be accomplished within the framework of the unified
Federal Space Program (FSP) with included FTP "Development of electronic
componential base and radio electronics up to 8.
Technology exchange and joint projects should be put
at the top of international cooperation, rather than purchasing and selling in
the market of space services. 9.
To find the ways of attracting the private capital to
the space activity commercialization. 10. To raise the
popularity of space activity having simultaneously excluded the promotion. 11. To exclude the
customer-supplier dualism in 12. To strengthen
the We hope that the described
statements will be taken in consideration in official State Divisions. |
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