Kazakhstan. The last flight of Proton?

[Eraser]

 Kazakhstan intends to ban Proton rocket launches from its territory.

[MKremer]

Sounds more like a political threat, to start negotiating for even more funds from Russia for using the launch center within their borders. I think the politicians are noticing that Russia is adding more money into their space programs, and probably feel they deserve a 'raise' over their existing launch payment agreements because of that.

[Suzy]

Maybe Russia should send in their military and just take Baikonur over!  

[whitewatcher]

The Angara series will complement the european/russian capabilites ... it least it looks like that.


2.5 t LEO Vega [planned]
3-6 t LEO (Dual Payload Launches Ariane 5)
6.8 t LEO Sojus 2.1a (Plesetzk)
7 t LEO Sojus 2.1a (Baikonur)
7.5 t LEO Sojus 2.1a (Kourou, guess) [planned]
11 t LEO Sojus 2.3 (Baikonur) [planned]
12.7 t LEO Sojus 2.3 (Kourou) [planned]
14.6 t LEO Angara A3 [planned]
18 t LEO Ariane 5G
21 t LEO Ariane 5ECA
24.5 t LEO Angara A5 [planned]

Obviously they don't want to rival with the Ariane/Sojus .....

[privateer]

MKremer - 13/6/2007  2:27 AM
Sounds more like a political threat, to start negotiating for even more funds from Russia for using the launch center within their borders. I think the politicians are noticing that Russia is adding more money into their space programs, and probably feel they deserve a 'raise' over their existing launch payment agreements because of that.

I dunno whether it's an attempt to get more money. Maybe. What I do know, I wouldn't want Proton launching anywhere close (within 100 mile radius) to me. I am not particularly eager to breathe hypergolics in case of launch failure, thank you very much. Proton has something like 600 tons of that stuff at launch.

[whitewatcher]

They won't retire the Proton unless they have the Angara 5 at hand. A heavy launcher is of strategic importance for the russians.

[Eraser]

Of course, officials are likely to agree among themselves, and the Kazakhs get additional money. If not, it is also a good idea, it may be pushing for Angara. My dream - Angara A5-KVRB at Svobodny cosmodrome.
P.S. whitewatcher, forget about light Angara rockets. They do not need anyone and will likely be used only in tests.

[vt_hokie]

privateer - 13/6/2007  4:40 AM

I dunno whether it's an attempt to get more money. Maybe. What I do know, I wouldn't want Proton launching anywhere close (within 100 mile radius) to me. I am not particularly eager to breathe hypergolics in case of launch failure, thank you very much. Proton has something like 600 tons of that stuff at launch.

Scary indeed!  I hope they're a little more careful about range safety than the Chinese are (or were, at least, at the time of the Intelsat 708 launch)!

[Heg]

Suzy - 13/6/2007  10:13 AM

Maybe Russia should send in their military and just take Baikonur over!  

Meant to be funny, ya?

[William Graham]

As I see it, Russia will be out of Baikonur by 2015 anyway. R-7 will switch to Kourou and Plesetsk, Tsyklon will be scrapped, Dnepr will move to Yasny, Angara will replace Proton and Zenit for all government launches, and will go from sites on Russian soil. All that will be left is commercial launches.

Have I forgotten anything?

[lbiderman]

What about manned launches?

[William Graham]

lbiderman - 13/6/2007  8:56 PM

What about manned launches?

Even if they launch Kliper from Baikonur they'll need to modify the pads, so seeing they're modifying them anyway, they'll probably choose to modify ones elsewhere.

[Skyrocket]

IF the Proton was banned from Baikonur, it would be a heavy blow both for Russia and ILS, leaving a lot of payloads grounded. As the Proton is a ecological problem, it would pretty understandable, if Kazaskhstan had banned the rocket indeed permanently, but i think, both countries will reach agreement, which will appease Kazakhstans ecological concerns with money and will allow Proton operations for the time coming until Angara becomes available.

[SIM city]

This sounds like political chest beating.  I don't understand the comments about Angara and Europe.  Is Europe now involved in Angara?

[Skyrocket]

It is probably only political chest beating. Given that ILS signed six new launch contracts (5 SES, 1 Arabsat) for Proton in the last few days, it is probably not taken too serious by the industry.

[whitewatcher]

SIM city - 14/6/2007  6:54 PM

This sounds like political chest beating.  I don't understand the comments about Angara and Europe.  Is Europe now involved in Angara?

No, but russian and european launchers supplement each other in many cases. They made it a habit not to compete but to cooperate.