Report: Ukrainian Rockets to Launch Russia’s Next Spaceship

[AndyMc]

http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html

Quote:
"MOSCOW (Interfax) – The Zenit rocket made at the Yuzhnoye design bureau in Ukraine is regarded as the main vehicle that will take the new reusable Russian spaceship Kliper to space, a source in the Russian space industry told Interfax.

"Zenit launch vehicles, serially manufactured in Ukraine, are likely to become the main vehicle for Kliper, which was designed at Energia Rocket and Space Corporation," the source said.

The official said the Russian Federal Space Agency is holding a closed tender for the best space transport system to replace the Russian manned Soyuz and cargo Progress spacecraft.

"Kliper is the indisputable leader among the three participating projects. I think that Kliper will be declared the winner at the beginning of February," the source said.

The Kliper project will secure government support facilitating its implementation in a relatively short time, the source said."

Well, it had to come I guess. Easily the best and most powerful launcher for the job. Perhaps they can now forget all that nonsense about having the 'Parom' tug meet the Kliper and deliver it to the ISS - not that the whole idea of the Parom tug isn't a good idea in its own right. With the Zenit already in service and having Russian engines any way, (are the second stage engines Russian too?)  it seemed a bit like sour grapes to dismiss it. Lets hope the Russians and Ukranians patch up their differences and leave them down here on Earth.

That of course only holds if the story's true

[mr.columbus]

Well, it had to come I guess. Easily the best and most powerful launcher for the job. Perhaps they can now forget all that nonsense about having the 'Parom' tug meet the Kliper and deliver it to the ISS - not that the whole idea of the Parom tug isn't a good idea in its own right. With the Zenit already in service and having Russian engines any way, (are the second stage engines Russian too?) it seemed a bit like sour grapes to dismiss it. Lets hope the Russians and Ukranians patch up their differences and leave them down here on Earth.

That of course only holds if the story's true  

It is certainly a surprise after concepts throughout the last months mentioned Soyuz-3 (Onega), Angara-3 and then even an enhanced Soyuz 2 (Soyuz-2-3) as rockets of choice, Zenit however was (after being the launch craft in the original design) pushed out of the plan not only because it is not Russian build/owned but also because it did not operate reliable enough during the last years and to get Europe involved by offering the possibilty to launch Kliper on a variant of the Soyuz in Kourou.

I would say that the common sense and good reasoning is the mother of this decision: the 14 tons Zenit can lift to LEO and the moderate launch costs of $45 million per launch outweigh any potential political differences between Ukraine and Russia  - it's the better choice compared to splitting Kliper apart for a Soyuz-2-3 launch (with the Parom as space tug) or incurring large development costs for the Onega or Angara-3.

After nearly two years of changed designs and ever new proposals, we are apparently now back at the start when Kliper's design was first announced to the public in 2004. I guess it also means that any involvement of other space agencies such as ESA and JAXA will be limited to contributions of parts, research of the design while launching the Kliper from Kourou is now out of the question. I also think that the design will now be stripped of the small wings, thus totally going back to the first design, after all what need for a runway landing is there now, after ESA will not play a major role in the program? Plus, the concept now looks to be financially viable (without major funding contributions by international partners) and simple enough to actually function and fly within the next 5-6 years.

So, I guess this actually is rather good news, people getting reasonable again. Hope politicians controlling the money flows for ESA and JAXA getting to their senses too and letting their agencies participate in the project - say 15% ESA and 10% JAXA would be beneficial for all sides.

[publiusr]

With a hydrogen upper stage Onega would have pushed by Ariane 4 and might have been something of an Ariane 5 killer on the low end of the payload market. But Zenit already delivers 13 or so tons to LEO without an LH2/LOX upper stage.

[mr.columbus]

"A lighter version is going to weight no more than seven tons, which will make the new spacecraft compatible with Soyuz launch vehicles. Meanwhile, its heat resistance capability, unlike conventional winged space vehicles, will be based on an alloy coating, rather than tiling. "
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060201-122527-2938r

I give up, until Roskosmos makes an announcement after the winning proposal for Kliper has been determined, I will not speculate any longer. 7tons? How does someone cut off 1.8 tons from the lightest variant of the Kliper proposal and still have it seat 6 crewmembers for a couple of days?

[Avron]

mr.columbus - 2/2/2006  10:54 PM

"A lighter version is going to weight no more than seven tons, which will make the new spacecraft compatible with Soyuz launch vehicles. Meanwhile, its heat resistance capability, unlike conventional winged space vehicles, will be based on an alloy coating, rather than tiling. "
http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20060201-122527-2938r

I give up, until Roskosmos makes an announcement after the winning proposal for Kliper has been determined, I will not speculate any longer. 7tons? How does someone cut off 1.8 tons from the lightest variant of the Kliper proposal and still have it seat 6 crewmembers for a couple of days?

Small people..