Some meditations On social and
technological aspects of Russian Cosmonautics,
part II G.M.Chernyavsky "Cosmonit" Science and 84/32, Profsoyuznaya str., The study is connected with important problems of Cosmonautics
development in whole, with discussion of historical aspects and scientific
perspectives [1-35]. In article it is presented 10 sections. Introduction.
World-outlook views of cosmism. Cosmonautics' Here
it is presented second part (p.II) of the article.
First part (p.I) of this article was published earlier (p.I
[33]). Besides the used here, in p.II, notations,
numbers of paragraphs,: are corresponding to ones in p.I and continuing of it.
The subject of the review was evoked by the discussion [34]
of question: "...how could it happen that the appeared to be First in Space". 6. Technological means
of astronautics The goals of astronautics are implemented using
the space-rocket means. The first AES promoted establishment of new
branch of industry - "space vehicle building". It functions in system
coordination with the rocket building. The features of this branch consist in
possibility of producing and operating technological means capable of durable
operation in space environment. For 50 years of the space age two classes of
technological means have been formed, which differ in their target designation,
namely: -
spacecrafts
(SC), which solve the target tasks of space systems in space and differ in
destination, habitability, flight trajectory (artificial Earth satellites
(AES), space vehicles (SV), automatic interplanetary stations (AIS)), rovers,
etc.; -
transport vehicles (launch vehicles, boosting and
landing modules, cargo vehicles), which provide delivery of payloads (cargoes)
over the Earth-Space, Space-Earth and Space-Space routes. Transport vehicles are usually intended for
reaching the "intermediate" goals of SSs. At the same
time, launch vehicles represent a final product on the space services market,
which strengthens their role in space activity. Spacecraft efficiency depends, first of all, on
perfection level of applied electronic devices and information technologies.
Potential capabilities of transportation means are determined by their
power-to-weight ratio. SC configuration is determined by
the target and dynamic functions as well as by the level of
technologies. Spacecraft represents a pseudo
autonomous component of SS and, occupying the upper stratum in its hierarchy,
performs basic functions of the system: The target (information) function includes data acquisition and
processing and can be written, in the general form, as functional: I[f(x, y)]
= F|u(x, y)|, where: I(x,
y) is a vector of information
parameters of SC; u(x, y) is a vector of information indicators
of the goal. The dynamic function reflects
the spatial-temporal position of SC and can be presented by the system of
levels: ż =f(È, u, h, t), where: x(t) is an m-dimensional state vector of a dynamic object; u(t) is a j-dimensional control vector; h(t) is a k-dimensional white noise vector. The spacecraft also fulfills a set
of service (internal) functions providing its serviceability in space, for
which it is equipped with a power unit, control and "life support" systems. The dominant role in performing SC target
functions belongs to electronic devices, which are briefly outlined in Sections
5 and 8. The lag in electronics and, first of all, in the
component base, which is growing since the Soviet Union, is one of the reasons
of the critical state of space industry in Russia. Low reliability of the
element base produced in In 2007, the Russian Government adopted the
Federal Target Program (FTP) "Development of the electronic component base and
radio electronics till Recently, assimilation of libration
(Lagrangian) points has begun. American The first-in-the-astronautics-history spacecraft
with a solar sail, called "Icarus", has been
functioning since May 2011. It provides premises for exploring fundamentally
new, shifted "levitating" orbits, the idea of which was submitted by an
American physicist and science-fiction writer Robert Forward in 1984. Integration technologies of SCs
are oriented towards production of a wide spectrum (from large to microminiature) of module-type structures that function in
nontrivial space environment conditions, as well as towards their robotization and unification. Radiophysical
and mass-and-dimension parameters of onboard antennas are important for the
increase of SC efficiency. Considerable progress has been reached here. Target payload modules and construction
platforms are used as basic SC structures. The first unification of the
structural platforms was performed in the In 2010, "Sky Terra- Among the promising design solutions of
interest is the technology of a wireless data bus-line, which, in experts'
opinion, can reduce spacecraft mass by 5-8 %. The choice of SC configuration is a
multi-criteria task solved with correspondence of its parameters to system's
attributes. The basic choice criterion is maximization of value and volume of
SC-generated information within the framework of SS's target task under
mass-and-dimension limitations from the launch vehicles and the cost of SC
launch and operation. There are two trends in selection of SC
configuration. Extension of target functions and,
as a consequence, increase of mass-and-dimension parameters of SC dominate here. This trend is
typical for AESs of military and commercial purposes,
as well as for AISs. Today, the GAES mass reaches 6.7 tons ("IP Star",
"Terra Star") and tends to increase up to 8 tons on the "Alphabus"
platform basis. In this case, for example, the power capabilities of "Sirius
XM- Possessing sufficient technological potential, Russian space-rocket
industry has kept the capability of producing AESs
with platforms of high technological level with possible application of new
technologies. However, State Space Scientific Production
Center chose "Eurostar E3000" platform produced by
European EADS Astrium Company to use for GAES, and the All-Russian Scientific
Research Institute for Electromechanics (VNIIEM) uses
the platform manufactured by SSTL British Corporation for Earth remote sensing SCs. JSC "Information Satellite Systems Reshetnev"
Company, which earlier developed a GAES platform on a level with the American one, followed the same way. However, to make quick profit, the decision was
made to introduce the "Space bus Micro, nano and picosatellites are being developed mainly for scientific
and technological experiments. This type of satellites is also popular in developing
countries, which seek to enter the club of spacefaring
nations following some political reasons. Pumpkin Company (Professor Andrew E. Kalman, Stanford) entered AES market ten years ago and
supplies the sets for assembly of light (less than one kg) and small ( American project of "F- Major part of intelligent and production potential of the rocket-and-space industry works for
production and operation of launch
vehicles ( At present, "Cosmos-3M" and "Rokot"
LVs are conversion ones. Cosmos-3M LVs, which have been operated for more than forty years, will
soon run short. Being dependent on the available ammunition of ballistic
missiles BR-19, which were the basis for "Rokot" "Soyuz- "Dnepr" However, these plans may face some
difficulties, since the situation in the world market of space launches can be
characterized now as aggressive from the side of the Light-weight "Vega" The USA Congress entrusted NASA with
elaboration of the plan of building a heavy-class LV for manned flights within
the Solar system by 2015. The launch vehicle with the load-carrying capacity up
to 130 tons is to be built on the basis of engineering solutions accepted
within the framework of "Space Shuttle" and "Constellation" programs. The bill,
approved by the Congress, was signed into law by the The first private "Dragon" spacecraft returned
to the Earth in December 2010. Seven seats and some space for the payload were
designed onboard this vehicle. This spacecraft was launched by heavy "Falcon- The development of new design and technologies
has become characteristic of contemporary world rocket building. At present,
solid-propellant launch boosters and oxygen-hydrogen upper stages (absent in The problem
of building a heavy-class launch vehicle in In Simultaneously, "Russian Cosmodrome" Federal
Program was initiated in 2007, and afterwards Roscosmos opened bidding on
sketch design of a new medium-class space rocket system of increased
load-carrying capacity "Rus'-M". As the authors of the project claim, the
carrying capacity of the space-rocket system of new generation is comparable
with that of Angara-5 (more than 20 tons), but, unlike "Angara", the former is
to be launched from Vostochny launch site (not built yet), which, as it
appeared to be, provides the flights over the manned flight routes and to the
geostationary orbit. Besides, the authors also consider that
there is a chance to develop a launch vehicle with a load-carrying capacity of
50 and 100 tons in the framework of the Project. Some additional information appeared soon about
budget financing of development of a new light-weight class "Soyuz- What are the results? Rather low budget funding in " "Rus`" LVs of light ("Soyuz- One should recall that the
development of "Energiya" In conclusion, the question is
logical about the purpose of development of " 7. Country that paved the
way into space The day of The development and production of launch
vehicles and spacecrafts was initiated at the rocket plants in In the first decade a series of launch vehicles
was built, including those on the ballistic missile basis: R-7, R-12, R-14, and
some types of scientific and applied spacecrafts. OKB-1 upgraded and transformed R-7 into the
launch vehicle with three and four stages for AIS flights to the Moon, Mars,
and Venus. NPO PM together with OKB-586 built 11ë65í launch vehicle on the basis of R-4 ballistic
missile. It enabled the Medium-class UR-500 LV was built in OKB-52,
which is operated now as "Proton" The intellectual level of specialists,
technological groundwork in rocket engineering, the use of the infrastructure
of production and tests of ballistic missiles provided the delivery of a
pennant with Soviet Emblem to the Moon in 1959. The impact which this event had
upon a potential aggressor was comparable to demonstration of new nuclear and
missile weapon. Four years after the first AES launch, a Soviet
citizen became the first-ever pilot of a space vehicle. The Space research went at a rapid pace. 24 Lunar AISs and 16 Venera AISs were launched, 7 flights aimed at research of the Martian
system were accomplished. The triumph of the
Soviet science and engineering thought is worth admiring. The achievements of
the The triumphal success of the Soviet
astronautics at the down of space age stimulated its intensive development in
the There were objective reasons and a "human
factor". New political management that
replaced N.S.Khrushchev underestimated the role
of astronautics in the state activity. This resulted in low funding level and
errors in organization of "lunar project". Principal disagreement between the
leading developers arose. Serious mistakes were made in the strategy of ground
tryout of the launch means. During twenty
subsequent years, having lost the lunar race, the Soviet Union continued its
space activity on global scale, head-to-head with the USA. Preserving its rank of a great spacefaring nation, the Soviet Union kept its priority in
some fields of astronautics: research
of space environment properties; flight mechanics and spacecraft control;
technology for transportation of astronauts and their life activity support;
development of robotic systems for studying of the Moon and Solar system's
planets; some fields of radio communication, satellite navigation. Some achievements of the The Bolsheviks, who
came to power after the revolution at the beginning of the 20th
century, having borrowed the idea of socialism in the West, after major
hesitations and abandonment of left-wing trends inside the party, initiated
industrial modernization of the country on a principally new political and
economical basis. In so doing, the essence of traditional-for-Russia
communal-feudal way of life and authoritarian method were used. The most competent government in the world
was formed. Progressive views and erudition of Bolshevist leaders laid the
foundation of the Soviet elite. Ideas of justice and equal capabilities
activated and consolidated the society. Intellectualization
of society by universal education was put in the forefront of modernization.
Materialist ideology, which replaced the religious mentality, promoted the
activation of society. As to the authoritarian
management established in the country, theoretically it comes into collision
with the humanistic morals. At the same time, as the world practice indicates,
this regime has the right to exist both in capitalist and socialist economics.
This was proved by some countries in the first half of the 20th
century, and by nowadays The authoritarian
(totalitarian) regime in the W.Churchill, who was an ardent
opponent of socialist ideology, said: " The It was
not the fault, but misfortune of the socialist system in The social situation in the country
ensured its leading position in space, as well. It was attained almost by all
Russian people - from a scientist to a worker, from a doctor to a peasant, from
a teacher to a soldier. Development of rocket-and-space hardware began under
conditions, when human and material resources of the country were exhausted by
the past war. Missile and nuclear weapon required huge resources. Cybernetics,
recognized all over the world as a drive towards the progress, was declared a
pseudo science in Scientific and
engineering elite of the country, who possessed a unique combination of Russian
nature of innovative thinking and socialist morals, salvaged the situation. Solution
of the problem was provided by a pleiad of
professionals notable for their good morals, orientation of creative work
towards a certain result for the benefit of the state, the team spirit and the
sense of personal responsibility, the combination of creative impulse with
organizational activities. The space program was implemented by the
thousands of engineers, technologists, workers, military specialists. Space means production was headed by the most
talented scientist, engineer, organizer and,
simultaneously, romanticist Sergrey Pavlovich Korolev, who was
able not only to solve and state the space activity tasks, but also to be
personally liable for results. Among the rocket-and-space means developers
there were the following giants: V.P.Glushko, V.N.Chelomey, and M.K.Yangel.
S.P.Korolev and the members of the first Council of Chief Designers (V.P.Barmin, V.I.Kuznetsov, N.A.Pilyugin, and M.S.Ryazansky)
established the Soviet school of rocket-and-space hardware building, which was
headed by N.G.Babakin, A.M.Isaev,
D.I.Kozlov, V.P.Makeev, M.F.Reshetnev. Political leaders and
the government of the Country played an important role in the progress of
astronautics in the Soviet Union. After the Great Patriotic War, the German successes in rocket
engineering gained the proper response. The system approach to the problems of
missile and nuclear weapon was applied. The significance of astronautics was
realized as well. The personnel policy in rocket-and-space industry benefited
much from the way Stalin and his surroundings understood the high role and
significance of the engineering clerisy in the socialist society and national defense. This can be illustrated, for example, by the
decision made in hard times of the War, when the students of engineering
universities (Moscow Aviation Institute, Moscow Power Engineering Institute and
One can hardly overestimate N.S.Khruschev's
role in astronautics development in the 8. Space exploration
at the beginning of the 21st century Space exploration efficiency is determined by
space activity, which involves, on the system approach basis, the whole set of
activities aimed at development, legal protection and proper use of space
technology. Large number of published works identifies "space activity" with
the "astronautics". We believe this incorrect. Space activity nowadays is filled with new
content and includes a commercial component, which is quite natural. However,
in At the beginning of the 21st
century, space activity is developing quite rapidly, though its results are
less impressive, than in the 20th century. 40 countries produce and launch the spacecrafts
today, and more than 130 countries of 247 use space activity results. Besides,
the development of astronautics and the market of space services are determined
by the Space activity financing sources are the state
(military and civil) budget and business. Astronautics
development is funded mainly by the national budgets. Two thirds of
produced spacecrafts are made for government customers. In 2010, the space budget of the USA (NASA) was
$18.7 billion. National space programs of With respect to space exploration expenditures,
the countries are ranked as follows: According to some estimates, the world market
of space services is more than $100 billion. The largest part of income is
gained by providers of services to consumers. The share of The size of the world market of production of
commercial satellites is estimated at about $11 billion. According to the
forecasts by Euroconsult consulting company, the
world market of satellites production will be $194 billion for the period of
2011-2020. About 1220 spacecrafts will be produced. Space means for manned
flights have appeared recently in the Transport vehicles in the space services market
act as space activity products, though space launches occupy only 2.5-3 % of
the total size of the market. According to FAA's (Federal Aviation
Administration) data, the income from space launches was $1.55 billion in 2007
and was distributed as follows: The following facts reflect how The Considerable revival in basic space research
has been observed at the beginning of the 21st century. The amount
of work is worth admiring. Scientific spacecrafts of all the leading spacefaring nations are permanently staying in space
(except One can judge the achievements of the world
astronautics by a series of outstanding events of recent years. - At the beginning of the 21st
century, the Solar system has been a primary object for basic research. The
Moon and Mars are explored using AISs and rovers by
all the leading spacefaring nations (except the
country-pioneer:). - - American "Mars Odyssey" and "Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter" AISs, as well as European "Mars
Express" AIS keep on orbiting Mars. All of them are transmitting impressive
pictures of the Red planet, in particular via Internet. American " - European "Venus Express" SC, orbiting Venus,
investigates the ionosphere and atmosphere of the planet. - The - One of the most fascinating missions in astronautics
history - the flight of the interplanetary "New Horizons" probe - has been being
performed since 2006. Its task includes exploration of Pluto and its satellite Charon. - Unique observations of "Saturn-satellites"
system are performed using "Cassini" SC launched by NASA in 1997. - Within the framework of astrophysical
investigations NASA launched "Kepler" space observatory in 2009. Its research
task consists in search for extra solar planets similar to the Earth. - In 2010, Japanese "Hayabusa" interplanetary
probe became the first spacecraft that delivered the soil samples from the
asteroid (25143) to the Earth and the sixth automatic station that returned
with extraterrestrial samples, after "Luna- - In February 2011, two NASA probes, "STEREO-A"
and "STEREO-÷", located
at opposite points of heliocentric orbit, obtained a 3D picture of the Sun for
the first time ever. - Two ESA space observatories, "Hershel" and "Planck",
are being operated. They are intended, among other tasks, for studying the
make-up of galaxies and their evolution in the early Universe, as well as for
studying the chemical composition of atmospheres of comets, planets and their
satellites in the Solar system. Principal NASA's priorities for perspective
studies are: Mars, Leaning upon the results of basic
space research, space exploration using AESs is
performed in the world according to the following directions: -
satellite
radio communication in all earthly environments and in the outer space for the
benefit of users; -
coordinate-time
support of users on the Earth and in the outer space; -
Earth
remote sensing. At present, space means together with new
information technologies generate a basis for global informatization, which
suggests rising the level of awareness of the Society. Hundreds of radio
communication satellites are used in socio-economic sphere and in the interests
of national safety. "The social
consequences of communication satellites may occur to be not less significant,
than the ones the mankind had after newspapers and magazines appeared:", wrote A.Clarke. Satellite radio communication in respect of multimedia service
leans upon geostationary AESs (GAES) functioning in
S-, Ku-, Ka-ranges. Their future is in digital
television and HDTV, as well as in growth of radio communication channel
capacity owing to the increase of the number of transponders, growth of onboard
power supplies, and increase of antenna diameters. Amount of telecommunication
services, television, radio broadcast, etc. is at the level of $60 billion. The Intelsat Company possesses the largest orbital
constellation of about 60 GAESs. SES Global group
with 45 GAESs is the second. Digital radio broadcasting has become quite
popular. More than 20 million subscribers in the Satellite radio communication services are
rendered by The GAES produced by EADS "Astrium Company"
began operating in 2010. It provides the broadband Internet access of 150-350
thousands of clients at a rate of 10 Mbit/s. Russian GAESs with
foreign transponders have a high rating in the world market. At the same time, only
about 300 of 5500 onboard transponders with the bandwidth of 36mHz
that operated on geostationary orbits in 2008 belong to JSC "ISS - Reshetnev
Company" is the leading company in producing radio communication spacecrafts in
Along with satellite systems of
multimedia service, the system of Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite
(GMPSC) is functioning. This type of radio communication uses the satellites on
geostationary and LEO orbits. Traditionally, "Inmarsat"
Company is the leader in using L-range GAESs. "KVH/Visat" Company began operation of GAESs
with Ku-band retransmitters. "Terra Star- Dozens of "Iridium" and "Globalstar" AESs of mobile communication space systems are functioning
on LEO orbits. The number of subscribers of these systems on the global scale
reached On the basis of personal mobile satellite
communication SC, developed in the sixties, the research-and-development work
within the framework of "Gonets" Program is carried
out, funded by the national budget. It is supposed to be used for commercial
purposes. Additional funds are requested for extension of the orbital constellation
up to 48 AESs. This project, called "Cosmonet", is far from competitive ability in the world
market and is overwhelming for The weightiest
contribution of space activity into the global informatizaton is made by the satellite
navigation. Today, the basic means of coordinate-time maintenance for
military and civil purposes all over the world is the American GPS system.
Specifications of the system meet the international requirements to satellite
navigation means developed by ICAO and IMï. The global satellite navigation system (GSNS) "Galileo",
which is similar in structure and informational compatible with GPS, is being
developed in Production of Chinese Beidou
("Compass") system with AES on the geostationary and high-altitude circular
orbits is planned for the same term. The main users of satellite navigation,
including the systems with wide-band navigation subsystems similar to American
WAAS, European EGNOS, Japanese MTSAT, Indian GAGAN, are military, marine, air
and ground surface transport, search-and-rescue and inventory operations. Satellite
navigation underlies global, regional and local networks of geodynamic
monitoring of the earth surface. New rise to GLONASS project was given
in 2005-2006 by numerous government decisions aimed at revival of the orbital constellation
of 24 SCs (later - up to 30 SCs)
in 2010. Today the orbital constellation comprises more than 20 AESs. V.Putin declared this task
a priority in Russian space activity, and a "dog with GLONASS collar" has become
a conventional exhibit on Roscosmos' exhibition stands. The state support to
GLONASS was 31.5 billion rubles in 2009, which is comparable to GPS budget. At the same time, one should pay attention to
the fact that GLONASS system is oversupplied, unlike GPS, with expensive
systems with independent dedication. The latter ones are the systems of
functional supplements and fundamental maintenance. Resumption of GLONASS project
yielded a question on the expediency of such reproduction of this system for
the civil purposes and on acceptability of considerable financial injections
into this project. The world market of navigation hardware and services
approaches $20 billion and is actually monopolized by the Russian satellite navigation market is quite
restricted, and its expansion is restrained by the socio-economic situation.
Some effect can be expected only due to government lobbying. Attempts of
introducing GLONASS technologies in At the same time, there are no alternatives to
GLONASS in the military sphere. After Cold War termination, the urgency of some
military-strategic tasks lowered on the global scale. In the current
environment, GLONASS system is capable of providing the armed forces with
necessary information with the given responsiveness, if it is transformed into
a regional system, similar to Space means and technique of the Earth
remote sensing (ERS) from space are used both in basic research
of the Earth and in solution of applied problems. The international orbital ERS
system in 2010 consisted of 130 spacecrafts, 20 of which belonging to
developing countries. Leadership in ERS belongs to the A wide spectrum of ERS tasks in
space environment utilization includes: monitoring, inventory control, mapping
of natural and anthropogenic objects, processes and phenomena. The tasks are
solved by passive and active location technique. Besides, AESs
are equipped with the radio electronic tools with the
spatial resolution from dozens of kilometers to the tenth parts of meter in the
ranges: UV, Recently, the number of launches of spacecrafts
with onboard radars has been growing. Canadian space program is implemented on
the basis of "RADARSAT" radar spacecraft. Establishment of "COSMO-SkyMed" radar reconnaissance system of four satellites by Basic studies of the Earth processes and
phenomena are carried out widely. The orbital system of five American "THEMIS"
satellites, which have been functioning since the end of 2007, studies the
Earth atmosphere and ionosphere. It supplements Taiwan-American "COSMIC" system
for ionosphere sensing deployed a year before. The "Envisat" SC carrying
a synthetic aperture radar (åSá and "GOCE", "SMOS", "Cryosat-2"
spacecrafts were launched in 2009 within the framework of the European "Earth
Explorer" Program. They are intended for the study of: 1) gravitational field
and stationary circulation of the ocean, 2) salinity of oceans, and 3) soil
moisture. "GOCE" satellite, put into orbit with the altitude of about Oceanology and geodesy studies were performed
by the The satellite hydrometeorology has obtained the
greatest practical value with respect to space environment utilization using
ERS. Within the framework of the World Meteorological Organization, which
includes 147 countries, the global system of meteorological observations from
space was established. Hydro meteorological satellites are placed on sun-synchronous
and geostationary orbits; they perform observations of the atmosphere, ocean
and land and are also used for monitoring of emergencies and for environmental
purposes. American "GOCE" spacecrafts, European "Meteosat"
spacecrafts, and Chinese and Indian SCs operate
permanently on geostationary orbits. The main contribution into the global
meteorological support is regularly made by low-altitude American "NOOA" (since
1979) and "DMSP" (since 1999) AESs. Considerable amount of
data on land, ocean and atmosphere is generated by American research satellites
on LEO orbits: "Terra", "Aqua", "Aura" (2004), "CALLIPSO" (2006), "CLOUDSat" (2006), and European "Metop- By 2011 the largest orbital constellations of
national ERS systems (without weather satellites) belonged to: The Russian contribution is provided by two
spacecrafts. After a five-year break, low-altitude Meteor-M meteorological
satellite was launched in 2009. "Electro-L" started its operation on
geostationary orbit in 2011. Considerable amount of data has been obtained since
2008 by the European orbital system of six "Rapid Eye" minisatellites
with a multispectral (6 ranges) optical-electronic
hardware with the resolution of 5m. "Terra Star-X" SC (2007) with the spatial
resolution of 16m, 3m and 1m serves the same purposes. A unique Japanese space researcher of
greenhouse effect, called "Ibuki", intended for
environment monitoring was launched into the sun-synchronous orbit in 2009. Inventory control and mapping gain much from
the highly demanded in the market high and ultra high resolution data from the
American optical-electronic spacecrafts and the satellites owned by 9. Space activity of
new Space activity of new The world astronautics
developed in the nineties, but in Hereinafter, the author submits his original
analysis. In the seventies, the progressing
bureaucratization and rapid degeneration
of political management of the country led to stagnation, and the The ambitious part of the deformed Soviet
elite, taking the advantage of the opportunity, not possessing experience and
skills in state activity and responsibility for their actions, being admired
with the Western modernization and ignoring the system approach principles,
rushed "to rescue and build new The territorial integrity of the country was
destroyed. No other statesman dared infringe it during the whole centuries-old
history of The country that won the horrible Second World
War disappeared from the world map. There was a social tragedy on the territory
with the population of 200 million people. The centuries-old traditions, the
established economic relationships, cultural and international contacts were
broken. Private property was restored in the country under the slogan of
personal freedom and economy modernization and without any analysis of possible
consequences. The issues of privatization are crucial for any model of state
evolution. The right to private property is a doubtless factor
of progress, but its implementation demands complicated mechanisms on a state
scale. This is especially complicated for Under breakup of management system and
political institutions, as well as in the absence of legal norms, the same
group of "reformers", regardless of the system attributes of acceptability and
succession, made a decision, which resulted in country breakdown. The market will straighten everything out -
this idea was submitted by "monetarist" Gaidar,
impregnated with westernization, who picked up the
elements of world economics from the foreign literature and, judging by the
subsequent events, was incapable of system thinking. Having failed to bear the role of historical
factor and social component in the economic model in mind, the group of
"reformers" showed Result: the industrial production in the country was
terminated. Financial resources fantastically disappeared, and their remainders
were directed at "voucherization" and other
operations associated with privatization. Economic indicators of the country
rushed to zero. With a passive role of intelligence, the monetary approach
penetrated into army, health protection, culture, education, and science.
Depravation of people with money and reckless advertisement has begun. This activity was not
directed at production and implementation of the labor results. In the absence of favorable
conditions, means, and business skills, Russian "business" confined
itself to speculation and swindle, and this state still persists. People traded
in everything: money, food, means of production, personal things, pieces of
art, and, which is the most awful, conscience. Russian business was headed by the
representatives of the social stratum which was not stopped by the Soviet
society in due time. The default opened the way to an abrupt decrease of living
standards and quality of life of a larger part of the population (and provided
its "authors" with enormous fortune; vast sums of money appeared on personal
accounts in foreign banks). After 1996, V.Putin
proceeded with monetary approach in national policy (monopolized market economy
was reduced to an absurdity); the vertical power structure was constructed with
all negative things from the Soviet management model; the government machine of
"new" Russia with doubtful prospects was established. The hard nineties were replaced by the
beginning of a new century: capital keeps on merging with the authority;
"joint-stock games" between the privatized objects, as well as between the
State and these objects; an unprecedented heyday of corruption with further impoverishment
of the country. An example of social calamity is "reforms" in the
communal services: the amount of stolen and exported money is commensurable
with the damage suffered by "Skilled
workers in our country are worth its weight in gold now. This stratum of
specialists : appeared to be washed away" (D.A.Medvedev). New President, elected in 2008, has not changed
much in the state management model, except for "new words" about economical and
political modernization, as well as about innovative development. Moral aberration of Russian elite continues, as
well as their withdrawal from the moral values, which are replaced by
economical categories. As Academician O.T.Bogomolov
noticed: "It is time to realize that
moral education and spiritual revival in Fraud and drive for sensation, which dominate
at all levels of state hierarchy, have become rather threatening. Traditional
Russian notion of "truth" has disappeared. As a popular publicist noted, there remained
two types of freedom in new Education reform initiated in secondary school,
according to which such obligatory subjects as Russian Language and Mathematics
should be replaced by Physical Culture and Health & Safety, threatens the
society with primitivity at all levels. As to the science, it is devaluated because of
poor financing. A budget of an average American university is equal today to
the one of the However, space activity in But space activity in
its essence can be performed only under government support, and its development
is conditioned by long-term investments. Space activity is inconsistent with
"quick profit". However, Russian authorities, having chosen the
monetary way of development, turned commercialization, as one of the means of
space activity, into its aims. Financing of space programs was reduced. The
funding of civil programs fell from $3.28 billion in 1989 down to $0.2 billion
in 1991 and maintained at the level of $03-0.5 billion till 2004. Financing began to grow in 2006. Roscosmos
budget was about $3 billion in 2010 as against $1.32 billion in 2007. But space
activity expenditures in Prospects of development of integrated
structures and implementation of state-private partnership still look rather
vague. The main thing is that the jump in government
assignments, which is an important and necessary factor, was not followed by
improvements in As it was mentioned above,
Russian President approved "The basic principles of Russian policy in the field
of space activity up to Section 5 showed the need for changing of aim
ranking, stated in the mentioned document. Limitation of space activity
directions seems unambiguous, as well. In its current condition Space activity organization and
scientific-technological coordination suffer from grave shortcomings. Federal Space Programs (FSP) for 2001-2005 and
2006-2010 specify not the target tasks and terms of their implementation, as it
is in developed countries, but only the plans of corresponding hardware
development without system correlation. Such programs result in extensive
plans, PR and dismal results without conclusions. Financing of FSP works is
performed on the basis of numerous open competitions. This leads to
fragmentation, which eliminated the essence of production of space systems. Let us give two examples of such competitions: "Studies of priority mechanisms of promotion of
Russian space activity results in domestic and world market"; "Works on transportation of "Zenith-M" It is commonly known that rocket engineering is
one of the most complicated and science-intensive branches of industry. Its
current potential is partly characterized by the following data. About 100
enterprises are functioning at present. The labour
force is about 320000 employees with an average age of 50-60. There is a
twenty-year gap between generations. The hardware wear in the industry (units
older than 10 years) is 80%. According to the data published by the Ministry of
Economics in March 2009, the products manufactured annually by Russian space
engineering industry equals $148,000 per worker. This parameter equals $126,800
for the European Union, and $493,500 for the The government admitted that "Russian space industry, having exhausted
Soviet groundwork of the eighties, is not capable of producing really modern
and competitive hardware. So, we have to buy high technology production abroad". For example: production of 90 nm chips is being
established nowadays in The order of space activity organization was
changed in Recently, Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) was
established, which combines a supplier, a customer and an institution
responsible for exploitation of space means. It is unprecedented for the world
practice. For example, abroad there are space agencies
(NASA, åSA) in
satellite hydrometeorology that are responsible for development and launch of
spacecrafts, and there are operators (NOAA, EUMETSAT) that receive satellites
and are responsible for the system operation. There is a similar situation with
ERS in the Russia State Duma
passed a Decree No.166 111 GD on the Russian system of weather satellites,
according to which the customer functions were returned to the Federal Agency
on Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring. However, the final decisions
are also necessary. As to the space research, D.Medvedev
has "surprisingly" revealed that irresponsibility is shared by Roscosmos and
the Depreciation of the role of the Ministry of
Defense in space activity area causes anxiety, since state sovereignty has been
assured worldwide by such agencies. American military è-37÷ mini-shuttle, which stayed 224 days on near-Earth orbit in 2010,
reminds of the existence of potential threat in space. Baikonur launch site was
transferred under Roscosmos jurisdiction by the Russian authorities' decision.
The situation with team of astronauts is the same. Whereas the control ground
segment of American GPS is functioning under the Air Forces' aegis in the USA,
the role of the Federal network operator is played by JSC "Navigation -
information systems", which is under wardship of Roscosmos. To reduce the
officer corps, military acceptance is actually abolished in the course of the
Army reform. Suspension of a large
number of highly qualified military professionals and administrative apparatus
of the Ministry of Defense (one of the most organized links of government
machine) from space hardware development and operation yields negative results.
This is illustrated
by the mess at Baikonur launch site, which resulted, in particular, in
accidents with three GLONASS-M spacecrafts at the end of 2010. Coordination of
space activity in There occurred to be no adequate successors to
replace the giants, who had managed space activity in the The The lack of design thinking resulted in the
lack of ambitious projects, the significance of which is far from the level of
the last century. Creative relationships of corresponding
enterprises with the academic and higher school institutions have been destroyed.
They are implemented beyond the interests of space activity. Recently, Roscosmos' management has been
changed : 10. Afterword The author made the following venturous
conclusions: 1). Russian astronautics is doomed to success
by the course of history, rich heritage of the 2. Mentality should be changed in respect of
astronautics, that is: -
the
primary importance of Knowledge and
secondary role of commerce in space activity should be legitimized; -
space
activity should acquire national status; it is necessary to aspire to
large-scale space exploration projects based on the symbiosis of scientific
sense, romanticism and pragmatism, as it was in S.P.Korolev's
times; -
budget
funding of space activity should be raised; simultaneously, it should be
oriented towards the aims corresponding to astronautics' status, complying with
their conformity, acceptability and succession. The author considers it reasonable
to suggest some statements on scientific-and-technological aspects of
astronautics, which will probably have some practical value: -
the
main guidelines of space activity at the beginning of the 21st
century are basic investigations of planets and bodies of the Solar system
using automatic spacecrafts and manned flights, as well as increase of
contribution into the socio-economic sphere made by the near-earth space means; -
"The
basic principles of Russian policy in the field of space activity up to 2020
and later on", stated by the Russian President in 2008, need considerable
improvements in refinement of aims and ranking of priorities allowing for the
real conditions of their achievement; -
-
basic space research is the engine of space activity
and a guarantee of progress in space technologies. It should be a priority in
space policy of the -
manned flights play an important political part and
stimulate space technologies: the world trends demonstrate that the manned
flights are oriented today towards the routes within the Solar system. -
development
of relevant transportation means is a key aspect of a manned program; the
emphasis on nuclear electric engines, made in Russia instead of promising
chemical-propellant LVs, seems disputable; it is
quite timely to eliminate redundancy in development of heavy launch vehicles
and to initiate development of a superheavy launch
vehicle really capable of providing manned flights beyond the near-Earth
orbits; -
it
is necessary to realize at the government level that the launch sites,
including Vostochny, represent not the aims, but the means of solution of tasks
stated in astronautics; -
GLONASS
project would be really innovative if transformed into a system of satellite
control and monitoring of mobile objects in all terrestrial environments; -
in
ERS, the tasks of ocean-atmosphere monitoring (including the processes deep in
the oceans) are brought to the foreground; -
combination
of customer-supplier functions in Roscosmos reduces the space activity
efficiency; -
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