Could this new cargo vehicle be related to the proposed new crew vehicle that the Russians have been talking about, to be launched on Rus-M? It would make sense that, if Progress is a cargo-only Soyuz, a new crew vehicle would make a derived cargo version economically and programatically logical.
I don't think so. The new spacecraft will replace Bio/Photon spacecraft which is derived from "Vostok/Voskhod" design. The new one will be based on soyouz/progress. And it will be ready largely before Rus-M/PPTS devices. I am right?
Bion/Photon spacecraft are geared more towards science than cargo delivery, and I believe the new cargo ship for which the tender is scheduled to be launched will not be based on Progress, since that is what it is destined to replace.
People have talked about a "Progress on steroids" that would utilize the larger launch capacity of a new LV, but my thinking on this matter is more in line with that of Ben: cargo version of the PPTS.
Could this new cargo vehicle be related to the proposed new crew vehicle that the Russians have been talking about, to be launched on Rus-M? It would make sense that, if Progress is a cargo-only Soyuz, a new crew vehicle would make a derived cargo version economically and programatically logical.
I don't think so. The new spacecraft will replace Bio/Photon spacecraft which is derived from "Vostok/Voskhod" design. The new one will be based on soyouz/progress. And it will be ready largely before Rus-M/PPTS devices. I am right?
Bion/Photon spacecraft are geared more towards science than cargo delivery, and I believe the new cargo ship for which the tender is scheduled to be launched will not be based on Progress, since that is what it is destined to replace.
People have talked about a "Progress on steroids" that would utilize the larger launch capacity of a new LV, but my thinking on this matter is more in line with that of Ben: cargo version of the PPTS.
No! PPTS already includes a perspective cargo version.
The tender is aimed at replacing Bion/Photon platform which was the Vostok/Voskhod platform. So the next science platform will be more likely based on Soyouz/progress if Energia or Energia/TsSKB progress win the tender.
No tender has been already released for the PPTS except for its preliminary design which is a stage 5-10 year before the hardware will be produced. Not 3 years!
Let me attempt to clarify this issue. Roskosmos is planning two successors to Photon/Bion :
a) OKA-T : a free-flyer that will periodically dock with ISS. TsSKB/Progress won the contract to build this vehicle in early 2006 (the press announcement that this thread began with mistakenly referred to it as a cargo ship). RKK Energiya will also be involved. It will weigh 7.8 tons and be launched by Soyuz-2-1b. It consists of a service module and a payload compartment. Extending from the payload compartment will be a small boom with a 3 m diameter shield that creates a near-perfect vacuum in its wake. The purpose of this is to employ a technique called molecular beam epitaxy to produce ultrathin layers of semi-conductor materials for the microelectronics industry (similar to the experiments conducted in the 1990s with the Wake Shield Facility).
b) Vozvrat-MKA : a vehicle that can stay in orbit for up to a year and return samples back to Earth in a return compartment (unlike OKA-T). "Vozvrat" means "return". Early reports suggested this would also be able to dock with ISS, but a Roskosmos announcement in August last year made clear that it will fly in a different orbit. A tender to build this vehicle is expected to be announced next year.
Neither of these are cargo ships. However, as mentioned in this thread, Roskosmos *is* planning a cargo version of the new PPTS transportation system. If developed, this will be the sucessor of Progress.
Thank you for the detailed reply Mr. Hendrickx! Might I ask where you got your information about Vozvrat?
Thank you for the detailed reply Mr. Hendrickx! Might I ask where you got your information about Vozvrat?
Vozvrat was mentioned in an article in the 1/2007 issue of "Novosti kosmonavtiki" (not yet online). There it was described as a free-flyer intended to dock with ISS. The latest information came from Roskosmos deputy chief Vitaliy Davydov last August. See the Roskosmos website :
http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?id=2&nid=7237
According to this slide presented in Moscow XXIV Korolev's Readings on Cosmonautics, Parom would be operational from beginning 2014 while Progress would be phased out in the end of the same year.
According to this slide presented in Moscow XXIV Korolev's Readings on Cosmonautics, Parom would be operational from beginning 2014 while Progress would be phased out in the end of the same year.
This is a very optimistic slide. Was this presented by someone official, or was this an Energia slide?
According to this slide presented in Moscow XXIV Korolev's Readings on Cosmonautics, Parom would be operational from beginning 2014 while Progress would be phased out in the end of the same year.
This is a very optimistic slide. Was this presented by someone official, or was this an Energia slide?
Energia slide. And even if it was presented by an official I would still take the 2014 date with several grains of salt. The Russians don't exactly have a good track record on developing new spacecraft on time.
According to this slide presented in Moscow XXIV Korolev's Readings on Cosmonautics, Parom would be operational from beginning 2014 while Progress would be phased out in the end of the same year.
This is a very optimistic slide. Was this presented by someone official, or was this an Energia slide?
Energia slide. And even if it was presented by an official I would still take the 2014 date with several grains of salt. The Russians don't exactly have a good track record on developing new spacecraft on time.
If its just an Energia presentation, then its marketing, not an official plan.
According to this slide presented in Moscow XXIV Korolev's Readings on Cosmonautics, Parom would be operational from beginning 2014 while Progress would be phased out in the end of the same year.
This is a very optimistic slide. Was this presented by someone official, or was this an Energia slide?
Energia slide. And even if it was presented by an official I would still take the 2014 date with several grains of salt. The Russians don't exactly have a good track record on developing new spacecraft on time.
If its just an Energia presentation, then its marketing, not an official plan.
I would agree with but please have a look at the top left corner of the photo - it's a Russian Space Agency logo!
RCS Energia according to the company annual report performed the following:
In
2007 according to the contract obligation with TsNIIMash produced a technical report for the MAGISTRAL project,
it contains system research and development of key technological solutions for space transportation system
PAROM.
An Expendable Cargo Unmanned supply spacecraft Configuration
GK-S from Prospective Manned Space Transportation System (
PPTS),
according to RSC Energia Preliminary Design in 2009-2010
From Anatoly Zak website:
From Russian NK forum (side-by-side comparison with ESA cargo supply ATV)
What's "expandable" about it?