Author Topic: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - NET 2023  (Read 16110 times)

Offline B. Hendrickx

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Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - NET 2023
« on: 08/08/2019 10:42 pm »
Russia and Belarus are working on a high-resolution Earth imaging satellite called RBKA (Russian-Belarusian Satellite), also referred to as RBKS (Russian-Belarusian Space System).

RBKA will follow in the footsteps of BKA (Belarusian Satellite) launched along with Kanopus-V 1 and several other satellites in July 2012. Both BKA and Kanopus use an identical bus built by the VNIIEM Corporation in Moscow and a payload delivered by OAO Peleng in Minsk. In 2015 plans were announced for a follow-up satellite called BKA-2 with a higher resolution than its predecessor. RBKA would seem to be an outgrowth of those plans.

A memorandum on the development of RBKA was signed between Roscosmos and the Belarusian Academy of Sciences on 30 June 2017:

https://www.roscosmos.ru/23723/

Since then only scant information has become available on this project.

http://www.vniiem.ru/ru/uploads/files/conferences/180524/sbornik_tezisov_2018.pdf
(p. 29-30, 37-39)

These proceedings from a remote sensing conference in Moscow in May 2018 confirmed that, like BKA and Kanopus-V, the new satellite would be built jointly by VNIIEM (platform) and OAO Peleng (payload). Little was disclosed about the design of the satellite other than it would make maximum use of Russian and Belarusian electronic components and that its data relay system would be made compatible with Belarusian ground-based systems. The mass of the satellite would allow two of them to be launched by a single Soyuz-2 class rocket.

http://www.rbgmedia.ru/post.php?id=5035

This article published last November said that other participants in the project are Russian Space Systems (RKS), RKTs Progress in Samara and the Belarusian companies “Geoinformatsionnye Sistemy” and AO Integral. The satellite will provide panchromatic and stereo imagery with a resolution of about 0.4 m, placing it in the same category as high-resolution Earth imaging satellites such as DigitalGlobe’s WorldView. Also mentioned are the capability to provide high-definition video with a resolution of about 1.0 m as well as high-resolution multispectral imagery in the visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. The intention is to use the satellite not only in the interests of Russia and Belarus, but also to offer imagery for sale on the international remote sensing market. The article also has a drawing of RBKA (see attachment 1).

https://www.belta.by/tech/view/zavershaetsja-eskiznoe-proektirovanie-rossijsko-belorusskogo-sputnika-343397-2019/

Last April the Belarusian Academy of Sciences announced that the preliminary design of the satellite was nearing completion and that construction is expected to start in 2020, leading to a launch in 2023. The maximum resolution was given as 0.35m.

https://ria.ru/20190621/1555766713.html

Additional information about the satellite was released this June at the Paris Air Show, where a model of RBKA was on display (see attachment 2). The mass of the satellite was given as 1,825 kg and it has an expected lifetime of 7 years. It will be launched by a Soyuz-2.1а from Vostochnyy.

Tender documentation for the project is available on zakupki.gov.ru here:

http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31907650253
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908114799
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908114878
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908114930
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908114999
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908115047
http://zakupki.gov.ru/223/purchase/public/purchase/info/common-info.html?regNumber=31908153178

This reveals among other things that the contract for development of RBKA was signed between Roscosmos and VNIIEM on 30 March 2018.

With a mass of 1,825 kg, RBKA is more than three times heavier than the Kanopus and BKA satellites. It also bears no obvious resemblance to VNIIEM’s Meteor-M platform, indicating that it uses a totally new bus. 

VNIIEM is also known to be working on a new military satellite called Razbeg under a contract signed on 1 November 2016. This is discussed in this thread:

https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=48110.0

It is tempting to believe that Razbeg uses the same platform as RBKA, but, as explained in that thread, Razbeg could also be a much smaller 250 kg satellite referred to in one VNIIEM publication as MKA-V (High-Resolution Small Satellite), the operational successor of an experimental satellite launched last year as Kosmos-2525 and also known as EMKA or Zvezda. There is evidence that Kosmos-2525 carries a panchromatic camera of OAO Peleng with a resolution of 0.9 m and this is also likely to fly on the operational version of the satellite.
« Last Edit: 11/03/2022 02:10 am by zubenelgenubi »

Offline russianhalo117

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Offline input~2

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RBKA will follow in the footsteps of BKA (Belarusian Satellite) launched along with Kanopus-V 1 and several other satellites in July 2012. Both BKA and Kanopus use an identical bus built by the VNIIEM Corporation in Moscow and a payload delivered by OAO Peleng in Minsk. In 2015 plans were announced for a follow-up satellite called BKA-2 with a higher resolution than its predecessor. RBKA would seem to be an outgrowth of those plans.
AFAIK, "BKA", launched on July 27, 2012, was then known as "BelKA"

Offline Nicolas PILLET

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AFAIK, "BKA", launched on July 27, 2012, was then known as "BelKA"

No. BelKA was launched in 2006 on Dnepr and launch was a failure. Satellite was made by RKK Energiya.

BKA was launched in 2012 on Soyuz-FG, and it was a success. Satellite was made by VNIIEM (based on Kanopus-V).
Nicolas PILLET
Kosmonavtika : The French site on Russian Space

Offline input~2

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AFAIK, "BKA", launched on July 22, 2012, was then known as "BelKA"

No. BelKA was launched in 2006 on Dnepr and launch was a failure. Satellite was made by RKK Energiya.

BKA was launched in 2012 on Soyuz-FG, and it was a success. Satellite was made by VNIIEM (based on Kanopus-V).
I guess BelKA-2 would have been correct...

Offline Alter Sachse

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« Last Edit: 08/12/2019 11:34 am by Alter Sachse »
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Offline zubenelgenubi

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2021?
« Reply #6 on: 10/21/2021 12:31 pm »
What is the source for a TBD 2021 launch, as opposed to a 2023 launch in the original post of this thread?  My bold:

Edit: Source is the 2019 end-of-year update on the NK forum.
We'll see if the launch is delayed into 2022.

Last April the Belarusian Academy of Sciences announced that the preliminary design of the satellite was nearing completion and that construction is expected to start in 2020, leading to a launch in 2023. The maximum resolution was given as 0.35m.

Planned Russian space launches, 2021
Date – Satellite(s) – Rocket/Upper stage – Cosmodrome – Time

TBD 2023 - RBKA-2/BKA-2 - Soyuz-2-1A (x) - Vostochniy, 1S

Changes on December 30, 2019
« Last Edit: 10/22/2021 12:44 am by zubenelgenubi »
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Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2021?
« Reply #7 on: 10/21/2021 11:23 pm »
BKA = BelKA (2)

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belka_2

RBKA = RusBelKA, which is for the security and economic councils of the cisgovernment of the Union State of Russia and Belarus (https://soyuz.by/).

Offline Vahe231991

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2021?
« Reply #8 on: 11/16/2021 03:52 am »
What is the source for a TBD 2021 launch, as opposed to a 2023 launch in the original post of this thread?  My bold:

Edit: Source is the 2019 end-of-year update on the NK forum.
We'll see if the launch is delayed into 2022.

Last April the Belarusian Academy of Sciences announced that the preliminary design of the satellite was nearing completion and that construction is expected to start in 2020, leading to a launch in 2023. The maximum resolution was given as 0.35m.

Planned Russian space launches, 2021
Date – Satellite(s) – Rocket/Upper stage – Cosmodrome – Time

TBD 2023 - RBKA-2/BKA-2 - Soyuz-2-1A (x) - Vostochniy, 1S

Changes on December 30, 2019
The NextSpaceflight website lists the launch of the RBKA-2 satellite as being scheduled for NET January 2028.
« Last Edit: 11/18/2021 01:31 am by zubenelgenubi »

Offline zubenelgenubi

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2022?
« Reply #9 on: 11/18/2021 01:35 am »
The NextSpaceflight website lists the launch of the RBKA-2 satellite as being scheduled for NET January 2028.
I think that's in error?

Anyways, we know there will not be Soyuz-2 launches at Vostochny before the fuel ground support equipment upgrades are completed.

Launch cannot be in 2021.

No more launches are planned from Vostochny this year:

At the Vostochny cosmodrome, work begins on the transition from kerosene to naphthyl [dated Oct. 14]

Google translate:

Quote
<snip>
[Rogozin] noted that there will be no launches from the Vostochny cosmodrome until the end of the year. Since the beginning of the year, five Soyuz-2.1b missile launches have been made from Vostochny - on March 25, April 26, May 28, July 1 and October 14.
« Last Edit: 11/18/2021 09:28 pm by zubenelgenubi »
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Offline B. Hendrickx

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2022?
« Reply #10 on: 08/16/2022 01:30 pm »
Roscosmos director Yuri Borisov was shown a model of RBKA during his recent visit to the VNIIEM Corporation. Although it is seen in this Roscosmos TV report on Borisov's visit, it is not mentioned as such in the report or in the Roscosmos press release on the visit.


(see 0:40-1:00)

Offline B. Hendrickx

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2022?
« Reply #11 on: 09/08/2022 09:11 pm »
From the "Plan of Russian space launches" thread:
https://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=26990.2400

Quote
On June 8 VNIIEM’s deputy general director for space systems Aleksandr V. Gorbunov gave a presentation on results achieved by the VNIIEM Corporation in the first five months of the year and plans for the remainder of the year.  The presentation somehow ended up online, although it was most likely not intended for public consumption.  The link to the presentation no longer works, but the slides shown by Gorbunov can still be seen via Google Images (see the attachments).

This is what can be learned from the presentation:
....
6) Gorbunov also said that the country’s leadership had made a decision earlier this year to deploy a joint Russian-Belarusian remote sensing satellite system (RBKS). What is called “pre-contractual work” on RBKS was to begin in the second half of the year. All this is somewhat surprising, because Roscosmos inked a deal with VNIIEM on the development of RBKS back in March 2018. This would now appear to have been no more than an agreement to start preliminary studies of the system, with a final contract yet to be signed.

Offline Nicolas PILLET

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - 2022?
« Reply #12 on: 10/01/2022 07:46 am »
Nicolas PILLET
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Offline zubenelgenubi

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Re: Soyuz-2.1a - RBKA-2 - Vostochny - NET 2023
« Reply #13 on: 11/03/2022 02:10 am »
Belated cross-post:
Quote from: Katya Pavlushchenko
Three #GonetsM satellites (No. 33, 34 and 35) were delivered to #Vostochny to be launched on Soyuz 2.1b with a secondary payload on October 22. It will be the first and only launch from Vostochny this year. The other 5 of 6 scheduled launches were postponed to 2023 (guess why). [Sep 15]
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