Russian Space Chief Sets Out Long-Term Plans: Moon, Mars, Other Projects
At a news conference in Moscow on 31 August, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) Anatoliy Perminov gave details of a long-term programme to develop Russia’s space flight capabilities, up to 2040. The news conference was covered by Russian news agencies, with most of the reports below taken from the Russian news agency Interfax-AVN website.
As part of the programme, there are plans for a manned mission to the Moon in 2025 and a permanent base there. A manned mission to Mars was said to be possible after 2035.
“We estimate a manned mission to the Moon will be ready in 2025, and a permanent operational station will be built on the surface of the Moon in 2028-2032,” Perminov said.
The long-term programme for space activity is subdivided into three stages, he went on to say. Its short-term segment covers the period to 2015, its medium-term segment is to the year 2025 after that, and its long-term element covers the period between 2026 and 2040.
The short-term objectives, Perminov noted, are to concentrate on near-Earth space and in particular complete the construction of the Russian segment of the International Space Station. The service life of the space station could be extended beyond 2015, Perminov thought. “We have a proposal on the extension of the space station’s service life until 2020,” as he put it.
It is planned that milestones along the way will include the creation of a new manned space transport system by 2015 and, after 2020, a new space station in near-Earth orbit on the basis of a new- generation space platform, Perminov went on to say.
On the latter, he said that the new type of manned platform would be built between 2016 and 2025, and would allow spacecraft to be assembled in near-Earth orbit. The spacecraft thus assembled would then be used to fly to the Moon or to Mars. The platform would also provide TV and telephone communications for Russia’s north and the Arctic.
The project will not be anything like the ISS, Perminov said (“we’ve done that”), and might or might not be an international project. “For the moment, we are treating it as a Russian project,” Perminov said. The same applies to the future spacecraft project, in which the European Space Agency could be involved. It is a Russian project and will be implemented with or without such involvement, Perminov summed up.
(In a quote reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, Perminov said that “by 2015 our intention is to implement a deep upgrade to the Soyuz craft now in use, and lay the foundations of a new manned reusable spacecraft for the future”.
And in comments broadcast by Rossiya TV International, in a report that focused on the experiment to simulate the flight to Mars for the crew, he said: “It is impossible to fly to Mars on the spacecraft that now exist. Therefore, it is necessary to have a spacecraft of the future. Our plan is to develop it on the basis of a new concept together with the European Space Agency.”)
International cooperation
At the news conference, Perminov talked up international cooperation between Russia and a whole host of nations, from the US and members of the European Space Agency to India, China, Japan, South America and Asia-Pacific, also as reported by AVN.
“Over the past few years, we have radically stepped up our international cooperation. Our most significant projects are with the US and the European Space Agency, notably France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Belgium,” Perminov said. In addition, Roskosmos cooperates with India, China and Japan on the development of manned space flight and on satellite launches.
A number of major projects to do with the launch of satellites by Russian rockets concern South American and Asia-Pacific nations, AVN said in its account of what Perminov said. “Major work is under way with Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea to do with the launch of astronauts and satellites, as well as other projects,” according to Perminov himself.
In the future, joint satellite systems could be developed and operated by Russia and Arab nations, AVN said in a separate report with reference to Perminov. “At MAKS (MAKS-2007 airshow), there were negotiations with representatives of Saudi Arabia. Now, we are in negotiations with the United Arab Emirates. The development of joint systems for remote sensing of the Earth and communications systems is under discussion,” according to Perminov.
Arab nations could also become involved in the development and operation of Russia’s Glonass satellite navigation system, as well as in other projects, including manned flight, he added. Six satellites have now been launched by Russia for Saudi Arabia, Perminov noted.
Call for a new spaceport
Perminov also saw the need for a new spaceport to be built in Russia, although he saw no alternative to the Baykonur space centre in Kazakhstan before 2040, as reported by AVN.
“If we create a new manned spacecraft, as provided for in the programme up to 2015, a new rocket would be needed and subsequently a new launch pad. We have yet to decide where the launch pad will be constructed, at Baykonur or in Russia,” Perminov said.
“If you ask me, not only Baykonur but also Russia has to be considered,” Perminov noted. And since the spaceports Russia has are not equipped to launch a future manned spacecraft that is under development, work on such a new spaceport in Russia would have to begin from scratch.
“Svobodnyy cosmodrome, for example, has no developed infrastructure, and has just one launch pad and several launch silos,” Perminov commented. “Are we then to launch spacecraft from silos?”
Nevertheless, Roskosmos has no plans to wind down its cooperation with Kazakhstan, Perminov said. “I personally can see no alternative to Baykonur cosmodrome, at least as regards manned space flight, until 2040,” he said. “It would be absurd” to withdraw from there, and “would not suit us”, he summed up, despite some problems in relations between the space agencies of the two countries, including both technical and security issues which, however, are being successfully resolved.
Russia’s space industry; other projects
On the state of Russia’s space industry, Perminov remarked that of its 103 companies, just seven are operating at a loss, as reported by the Russian news agency ITAR-TASS.
Among the industry’s achievements, Perminov said that the number of satellites in orbit has been stabilized, some space systems have been revived and new-generation spacecraft have been completed. The industry, he said, can accomplish both current and future tasks.
At the third stage of the long-term programme for the development of Russia’s space activities, Perminov said there were plans for Russia to build a system to protect Planet Earth from asteroids, after 2026, as reported by ITAR-TASS separately. One project about which he was less than optimistic was a plan to extract helium-3 on the Moon, which he said would remain unrealistic for the next 30-50 years, as noted a report from AVN.
Sources:
Interfax-AVN military news agency website, Moscow, in Russian 1040, 1010, 1020, 1040 and 1015 gmt 31 Aug 07
ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0840 and 0848 gmt 31 August 07
RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0843 gmt 31 August 07
RTR Planeta TV, Moscow, in Russian 1300 gmt 31 Aug 07
(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.