Kondor-FKAIs this launch still scheduled for March 15, 2022? Or May 30? Or some other date? Is this still the first Vostochny launch using the replacement fuel naphthyl for all stages?
Cross-posts; my
bolds.
Kondor-FKA №1
372РН16 №В15000-004 (3м152с)
Fregat №142-01
The program:
<snip>
The only NPOMash satellites launched in recent years have been the Kondor (14F133) radar satellites (one launched for the Ministry of Defense in June 2013 and an export version (Kondor-E) launched for South Africa in December 2014). <snip> In December 2014 NPOMash got a contract from Roskosmos to build two follow-on Kondor-FKA satellites, currently scheduled for launch in 2019-2020. A modified version of the satellite (Kondor-FKA-M) was recently announced for launch in 2025.
In September 2016 Roskosmos announced that the Kondor-FKA satellites would be orbited by the Soyuz-2-1A/Fregat booster from Vostochny (according to Anatoly Zak's website the original plan had been to launch them with the Rokot booster from Plesetsk). The Kondor-FKA satellites will operate in the S-band and will be complemented by the Progress Rocket Center's Obzor-R satellites operating in the X-band. Kondor-FKA and Obzor-R are civilian projects funded under the Federal Space Program 2016-2025, with no indications of any involvement from the Ministry of Defense.
<snip>
Launch schedules:
https://ria.ru/20190424/1552987364.html
[April 24, 2019]
Google translate:
On the Roscosmos website, <snip> in 2020 the Resurs-P satellites number 4, Meteor-M number 2 -3, the Kondor-FKA nature resource radar equipment number 1 and Obzor-R number 1, and the Arktika-M hydrometeorological satellite number 1.
<snip>
https://ria.ru/20201211/vostochnyy-1588700771.html
[December 11, 2020]
Google translate:
<snip>
...in the fourth quarter [2021 from Vostochny] - three or four launches: with the Meteor-M meteorological satellite, two Ionosphere scientific devices, the Luna-25 lunar landing station and, possibly, radar satellite "Kondor-FKA", - said the source.
https://ria.ru/20210222/raketa-1598525870.html
Google translate:
MOSCOW, February 22 [2021] - RIA Novosti.
<snip>
Earlier, another source of the agency in the industry said that in 2021, six or seven launches of Soyuz-2 missiles from Vostochny are planned. According to him, the commercial program foresees three launches of rockets with 36 British communication satellites OneWeb on board each, three or four launches are expected under the federal program: with the Meteor-M meteorological satellite, two Ionosphere-M scientific vehicles, the Luna-25 station and, possibly, the Kondor-FKA Earth observation radar satellite.
<snip>
https://ria.ru/20210627/toplivo-1738773084.html
translated with Google
Soyuz launch complex on Vostochny will be switched to new fuel
03:12 27.06.2021 (updated: 11:39 27.06.2021)
The Soyuz launch complex on Vostochny will be converted to new fuel by February 2022
<snip>
As reported by a RIA Novosti source in the rocket and space industry, a test launch of the Soyuz-2.1a rocket with all stages operating on naphthyl is planned to be carried out from the Vostochny cosmodrome when the Kondor-FKA radar satellite for Earth remote sensing is launched into orbit. It is currently slated for 2022.
Cross-post:
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:
Work on the transition of the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur Region to the new fuel naphthyl will begin on Friday. This decision was made during a meeting of the State Commission on Thursday, Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Roscosmos, told reporters.
"At the [meeting] of the State Commission, they noted the need to start, literally from tomorrow, work on the transition of the Vostochny cosmodrome to use a new fuel - from kerosene to naphthyl, which will give additional energy and other operational advantages. We will now calmly complete the work before the New Year. in order to ensure all kinds of safety measures for start-ups and technologists when working with the fuel system, and from next year we will enter rhythmic launches, "Rogozin said.
He 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.
Five launches from Vostochny are planned for 2022.
https://tass.ru/kosmos/13414219
[Jan 13]
Obzor-R №1 has been delayed to 2023.
The launch of the Obzor-R radar satellite was postponed to 2023 [dated Jan. 25]
Google translate:
<snip> This was announced by the Director General of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin on Tuesday.
"This year [2022] we are launching our first Kondor radar device. In 2023, two more devices, including Obzor-R and another Kondor," Rogozin said during a plenary session as part of the XLVI Academic Readings on cosmonautics in memory of S. P. Korolev (Royal Readings).
No launches during annual maintenance?
The first stage of the annual maintenance started at the Vostochny Cosmodrome
02/11/2022 18:10
Specialists of the Vostochny Space Center (a branch of the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Objects, part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) have begun the first stage of annual maintenance at the technical complex of the cosmodrome.
Since the beginning of February 2022, maintenance of guaranteed power supply systems has been underway.
<snip>
https://www.roscosmos.ru/34119/
Is this launch still scheduled for March 15? Or May 30?
No.
Or some other date?
Yes.
Is this still the first Vostochny launch using the replacement fuel naphthyl for all stages?
What is sure is that NEXT launch from Vostochnyi will be the first with naphtyl.
Launch expected in the first half of the year:
Satellite "Kondor-FKA" will be launched in the first half of 2023 [dated Jan. 27]
The Earth remote sensing spacecraft "Kondor-FKA" will be launched in the first half of this year. This was announced to journalists by the General Director - General Designer of NPO Mashinostroeniya (part of KTRV) Alexander Leonov on the sidelines of the XLVII Academic Lectures on Cosmonautics.
“If we talk about the Condor, then we, as planned, should launch in the first half of this year,” Leonov said, answering a question from a TASS correspondent.
Launch expected in the first half of the year:
Satellite "Kondor-FKA" will be launched in the first half of 2023 [dated Jan. 27]
The Earth remote sensing spacecraft "Kondor-FKA" will be launched in the first half of this year. This was announced to journalists by the General Director - General Designer of NPO Mashinostroeniya (part of KTRV) Alexander Leonov on the sidelines of the XLVII Academic Lectures on Cosmonautics.
“If we talk about the Condor, then we, as planned, should launch in the first half of this year,” Leonov said, answering a question from a TASS correspondent.
Alexander Leonov is son of the legendary Leonov, Alexei?
Alexander Leonov is son of the legendary Leonov, Alexei?
No. Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov actually had two daughters: the elder, Victoria, died in 1996 from infection, while his younger daughter, Oksana, is currently living in LA.
From 4:52:10 on this video.
Kondor FKA #1 - May 27, 2023
Thread title is incorrect. Should be Soyuz-2.1b/Fregat.
Roscosmos:
May, 22
Today at the Vostochny launch site, specialists from Roskosmos State Corporation's enterprises performed general assembly of the Soyuz-2.1a space rocket with the Kondor-FKA Earth remote sensing radar satellite No. 1.
Later, the state commission authorized removal and installation of the rocket at the launch pad 1C on May 23.
The launch of launch vehicle Soyuz-2.1a with the upper stage "Fregat" and spacecraft "Kondor-FKA" №1 is scheduled for May 27 at 00:14:51 Moscow time.
The Soyuz-2.1a rocket is made by the Progress Rocket and Space Center, the Fregat upper stage by the Lavochkin Science and Production Association (part of Roskosmos) and the satellite by the Military Industrial Corporation's Machine Building Research and Production Association.
This will be the second launch of the Soyuz-2 rocket family completely on a new and highly environmentally friendly fuel - naphthyl - and the first for the Soyuz-2.1a modification. In October 2022, a Soyuz-2.1b rocket flew entirely on naphthyl for the first time. Prior to that, naphthyl was only fueled by the third stage of Soyuz-2.1b and the second stage of Soyuz-2.1v. Naphthyl is an ecologically safe type of hydrocarbon fuel with polymeric additives. Its advantages are reduction of harmful emissions and a noticeable increase in the mass of the payload to be launched into orbit. One of the main reasons for switching from kerosene to naphthyl was the depletion of the Anastasievsko-Troitskoye field in the Krasnodar Territory.
Kondor-FKA spacecraft is designed for all-weather round-the-clock radar remote sensing of the Earth in medium and high resolution.
21:14:51
Soyuz 2.1a/Fregat
Soyuz-2.1a rocket with the first Kondor-FKA radar satellite is delivered to the Vostochny launch site
source Roscosmos
It looks like the frame that can be seen surrounding the satellite will be going into space together with it. In the technical specifications for Kondor-FKA that were published online many years ago it seems to be referred to as the “attachment and separation unit”. Also mentioned in that documentation is “an adapter with a separation system” that will remain attached to Fregat after spacecraft separation. This most likely is the conical interface between the Fregat upper stage and the satellite that can also be seen in the pictures (it has the same color as the frame).
The frame will obviously have to be detached from the satellite to allow it to extend its solar panels and deploy its radar antennna. This will probably happen before spring mechanisms on the adapter release the satellite into space. The frame may consist of two halves that can split open. It’s not clear if it will remain attached to Fregat or be jettisoned into space.
There is no clue in the technical specifications why the frame is needed. What’s been suggested on the NK forum is that it prevents the radar antenna from buckling under its own weight while the satellite sits in a horizontal position during assembly and roll-out to the pad. The frame does indeed appear to hold the antenna in place. The two first-generation Kondor satellites launched in 2013 and 2014 did not have the frame, but these were launched by Strela rockets from an underground silo at the Baikonur cosmodrome and were mated with the rocket in a vertical position. It’s been speculated on the NK forum that the frame performs the same role as the lower section of Strela’s payload fairing, which surrounded the satellite more tightly than the wider payload fairing of the Soyuz-2 (see the attached diagram).
Whatever the exact function of the frame, it adds an additional risk factor to the launch. If it fails to open or separate after launch, the satellite will be trapped.
