Anatoly Zak @RussianSpaceWeb 26s27 seconds agoThe launch of the #MLM module to #ISS set for March 2019. DETAILS: http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-fgb2-mlm-2017.html#1019 …
http://www.russianspaceweb.com/iss-fgb2-mlm-2017.html#1103QuoteThe launch of the MLM module advanced to 2018On November 2, Director General of RKK Energia Vladimir Solntsev met with the Head of Roskosmos Igor Komarov, who insisted on launching the MLM module before the end of 2018, probably due to political pressure from the Kremlin. To accommodate this requirement, RKK Energia drafted a new timeline, which was approved by the company's leadership on November 3.The new schedule set the launch of the MLM module for Dec. 20, 2018, followed by its docking at the Russian Segment of the station on Dec. 29, 2018.According to the latest timeline, the arrival of the module will take place during Expedition 58, which will begin onboard the ISS at the end of October 2018. Shortly after the launch of the MLM module, the Pirs Docking Compartment, SO1, will be undocked from the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the Zvezda Service Module, SM, to make room for the new arrival.The discarding of Pirs will now be delegated to the Progress MS-09 spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch on June 13, 2018. Progress MS-09 will tug Pirs away from the station and then direct it into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up over the ocean.In order to leave Earth before the end of 2018, the MLM/Nauka module would have to be shipped to the launch site in Baikonur in March. In case the processing team in Baikonur worked around the clock, the spacecraft could be ready for launch in seven months, leaving up to two months in reserve. However, experts familiar with the matter saw even the March 2019 launch date as overly ambitious and estimated that it would be more realistic to plan the launch around May 2019.The situation is complicated by the fact that in October, a Roskosmos representative warned that RKK Energia would have only one chance to push the schedule beyond the previously approved launch date in June 2018, before heavy fines would kick in against the company.The latest schedule is yet to be officially approved by Roskosmos.
The launch of the MLM module advanced to 2018On November 2, Director General of RKK Energia Vladimir Solntsev met with the Head of Roskosmos Igor Komarov, who insisted on launching the MLM module before the end of 2018, probably due to political pressure from the Kremlin. To accommodate this requirement, RKK Energia drafted a new timeline, which was approved by the company's leadership on November 3.The new schedule set the launch of the MLM module for Dec. 20, 2018, followed by its docking at the Russian Segment of the station on Dec. 29, 2018.According to the latest timeline, the arrival of the module will take place during Expedition 58, which will begin onboard the ISS at the end of October 2018. Shortly after the launch of the MLM module, the Pirs Docking Compartment, SO1, will be undocked from the nadir (Earth-facing) port of the Zvezda Service Module, SM, to make room for the new arrival.The discarding of Pirs will now be delegated to the Progress MS-09 spacecraft, which is scheduled for launch on June 13, 2018. Progress MS-09 will tug Pirs away from the station and then direct it into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up over the ocean.In order to leave Earth before the end of 2018, the MLM/Nauka module would have to be shipped to the launch site in Baikonur in March. In case the processing team in Baikonur worked around the clock, the spacecraft could be ready for launch in seven months, leaving up to two months in reserve. However, experts familiar with the matter saw even the March 2019 launch date as overly ambitious and estimated that it would be more realistic to plan the launch around May 2019.The situation is complicated by the fact that in October, a Roskosmos representative warned that RKK Energia would have only one chance to push the schedule beyond the previously approved launch date in June 2018, before heavy fines would kick in against the company.The latest schedule is yet to be officially approved by Roskosmos.
MLM launch schedule gets official OKOn December 11, the State Commission overseeing preparations for the launch of the MLM Nauka module formally approved the processing schedule culminating with the liftoff of the long-delayed spacecraft on Dec. 20, 2018.In the first half of December, Russian specialists and their European colleagues had already begun work on preparing some critical components of the MLM module for shipment to the launch site ahead of the spacecraft itself. During this and the coming week, Dutch specialists working on the European Robotic Arm, ERA, designed to be attached to the exterior of the MLM module, are expected to complete the final checks of the flight hardware at RKK Energia's facility in Korolev, near Moscow, and pack it for shipment to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The components of the ERA manipulator are expected to be among several pieces of hardware for the MLM module that are scheduled to make a train ride to Baikonur as early as February 2018.According to industry sources, the MLM team will have a reasonable chance to meet the December 2018 launch window if it is able to ship the Nauka module to Baikonur in March. The pre-launch processing of the spacecraft in Baikonur will require at least seven months, leaving a few weeks in reserve to close any unexpected issues. However, this schedule still depends on the successful completion of the tank repairs, which are reportedly still ongoing.
Roskosmos has issued a tender for the transportation of the launch vehicle from Khrunichev to the launch site.http://www.zakupki.gov.ru/epz/order/notice/ep44/view/common-info.html?regNumber=0995000000218000004
So what does this actually mean? Will the Proton and fairing be at the launch complex Dec1 2018 ready for the MLM to be intergarted to it and launched in December 2018 ti ISS?
Anybody who believes this will fly? ...