Promising Projects

1. Angara LV Family

KhSC have been actively developing Angara, a future space rocket system to replace the Proton launch vehicle. The final goal of this project is a family of different classes of launch vehicles (including light-weight, medium-weight and industry-oriented heavy launchers) built around a generic core rocket, and launch bases (’cosmodromes’) in the Russian territory. The Angara launch vehicles will use environmentally safe propellants only and will meet all constraints imposed by today’s launch services market.

In order to promote the new family in the world launch services market and to provide the customer with an option of using any class of launcher, KhSC and Lockheed Martin have included the Angara family in the general ILS launch vehicles marketing list. An agreement envisaging the transfer to ILS of the rights to internationally market Angara launch services was signed on July 28, 1999.

2. Baikal Reusable Booster

Within the framework of the Angara program KhSC have been working on a launch vehicle with a reusable first stage named Baikal.
Baikal was designed by the Molniya (’Lightning’) Research and Production Corporation under a contract with Khrunichev. The underlying design philosophy is to create a two-stage launcher with a reusable ’atmospheric’ first stage. This will add flexibility to the range of usable upper stages, which may include reusable spacecraft.
Baikal is fit with a jet engine (to be used for lift-off and initial boost) and an air-breathing engine, a pivoting wing, aerodynamic controls (to ensure the booster’s recovery) and a landing gear. Baikals are to be used as the first stages in lightweight launch vehicles or (either in clustered configurations or as strap-on boosters) in medium-weight and heavy launchers.

Baikal is unique in that in addition to landing capability it can be retrieved to its initial lift-off site. To this end, propulsion jet engines are used in combination with the navigation system proven on the Buran shuttle. The designer’s estimates show that the use of Baikal in the Angara family would reduce the payload injection cost by a factor of 2 or 3.

The Baikal generic booster can be used in various classes of launch vehicles such as U.S. Space Shuttles and the French Arian 5 launcher. In lightweight Angara LVs, Baikal will be employed as the first stage.
KhSC and Molniya are also looking into a possible air launch of an Angara/Baikal stack from the Anotonov 124 (’Ruslan’) carrier aircraft, a further development of the re-usable atmopsheric boosters approach.
Efforts along these lines are aimed at making our launch vehicles competitive with foreign re-usable systems such as Venture and Kistler.

3. Small Communications Satellites (SCS)

This program includes the development, construction and injection to geostationary orbit (GSO) of Dialog communications satellites built around the Yakhta (’Yacht’) small space bus. The Dialog E spacecraft, a first in the family, is to be launched in 2003. A unique technology using a light-weight Rockot launch vehicle will be employed to inject this spacecraft into the parking orbit and the Yakhta arcjet thrusters will then boost Dialog E to its geostationary orbit. Dialogs are designed to support the customers with space communications and data links and to provide communications services to Russian or foreign users.
The SCS Program has a significant commercial aspect. Mr. A. Medvedev, KhSC Director General, and Director General of the Russian Space Communications Company (RSCC) signed a strategic cooperation agreement on November 12, 2001 envisaging the fabrication and launch, under a contract with the RSCC, of Dialog E, a first small communications satellite.

4. Intersputnik International Space Communications Company

A first commercial contract for the development, construction and launch of the Dialog family of small communications satellites was signed by and between KhSC and Intersputnik on December 25, 2001. This contract provides for (1) the delivery and injection to GSO of M1 and M2, two small communications satellites, (2) the delivery of the Telecommunications, Tracking and Control (TT&C) Facility, and (3) provision of related services. The two spacecraft will be delivered under the Intersputnik 100M program and M1 and M2 are scheduled for launch in 2003/2004.

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