Eurockot’s main goal is the international marketing of Rockot LV commercial services.
The Eurockot company was set up jointly by the Khrunichev Space Center (KhSC) and Produktbereich Raumfahrt Infrastruktur, a division of Deutsche Aerospace AG (DASA), the Joint Venture Agreement having been signed on May 16, 1994.
At present, KhSC owns 49% of the Eurockot stock and Astrium owns 51%.
In order to make the Rockot launch complex at the Plesetsk launch base (’cosmodrome’) more competitive in the international market a new international-level technological/residential infrastructure has been built that includes a ground processing facility, a launch facility, a hotel, a restaurant and a state-of-the-art communications/TV system.
A first Rockot launch (a demonsator) took place in May 2000 to demonstrate that both the launcher and the launch base facilities were fully prepared to provide competitive launch services.
A first Rockot commercial mission aimed at injecting Grace, a German Space Agency/NASA spacecraft, into orbit was launched from Plesetsk on March 17, 2002.
A second Rockot LV carrying two satellites was launched under the Iridium Global Satellite Communication System Project on June 20, 2002.
As of mid-2002, Eurockot have contracted to perform commercial launches of the USEF’s (Institute for Unmanned Space Experiment Free Flyer, Japan) Service spacecraft, the Canadian Space Agency’s MOST spacecraft and the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic’s МIMOSA spacecraft.
The creation of Eurockot has made its possible
- To procure the financing of a Russian launch base infrastructure retrofit project;
- To construct the Rockot launch complex, a cost-effective, up-to-date and hence competitive facility; and
- To offer Western customers an opportunity of using Russian state-of-the-art technologies for peaceful purposes.
