OKA-T

[Danderman]

So, what do the experts here know about this proposed system?

:cool:  

 

 

[Satori]

Danderman - 20/3/2007  12:52 PM

So, what do the experts here know about this proposed system?

:cool:  

 

 

Well, the only reference I've got was that OKA-T was a free-flying module dedicated to the material processing research based on the ISS russian segment.

[Danderman]

Hopefully, I can attach an image of OKA-T, so everyone knows what we are talking about!

[Jim]

Danderman - 22/3/2007  5:14 PM

Hopefully, I can attach an image of OKA-T, so everyone knows what we are talking about!

Just like the "The Space Review" article.   Nothing more than powerpoint charts

[dmitrik]

OKA-T-MKC is included in Federal Space Program 2006-2015. There  is a govt purchase order for it:
http://roscosmos.ru/GosOrdersList.asp?NORDER=100 (in russian)

Requirements are clearly written with some sort of Progress derivative in mind
Launch on Soyuz (launch mass 7800)
Self-propelled, with the usual complement of engine compartment, solar arrays, radiator etc.
5 years on-orbit lifetime with periodic docking to ISS
Pressurised compartment, "Progress-M" docking system (short-sleeve environment while docked)
Microgravity better than 1E-6 g
External airlock and mechanism for deploying samples
Screen 3 meters in diameter to to shield samples from molecular flow to ensure vacuum 1E-12..1E-14 torr
Launch dates: 1'st - 2012, 2'nd - 2015

Present status of the project is unclear, there were media reports some time ago that Samara (TsSKB "Progress") has won the tender but there is no mentioning of that fact on either roscosmos.ru or samspace.ru  In any case it is certainly a lot more than just powerpoint charts.

[Danderman]

Satori - 22/3/2007  10:04 AM Well, the only reference I've got was that OKA-T was a free-flying module dedicated to the material processing research based on the ISS russian segment.

I found this old image some years ago, and had no idea what it was supposed to be. Now I think it is an early version of OKA-T.

[Danderman]

http://www.arms-expo.ru/site.xp/049057054050124049049049056054.html

This article is dated from 2009, and implies that its not dead yet.

[B. Hendrickx]

This is what I wrote about OKA-T in my article "The Future of Russia's Manned Space Programme", published in the BIS journal "Space Chronicle" earlier this year. I haven't seen any updates since I submitted this for publication :

The Russians also intend to launch free-flying spacecraft that will orbit in the vicinity of the ISS and periodically dock with it. The rationale behind this is that many experiments are much easier to perform on a free-flying platform than on a multimodular space station. This is especially the case for sensitive materials processing experiments, which require a vibration-free environment, and astronomical observations, which demand accurate pointing of telescopes. The idea is that such spacecraft regularly dock with the station for maintenance, upgrading and both loading and unloading of experiments. Plans for such free-flyers have been around for a long time. For instance, back in the 1970s the Soviet Union had plans for a giant N-1 launched space station called MKBS which would have been joined by several such co-orbiting free-flyers. An outgrowth of these was the Progress-based Gamma astrophysics satellite, launched in July 1990.

Free-flyers put forward for ISS in the 1990s were MAKOS-T and AKA-T, both for materials processing experiments, and SLK for submillimetre astronomy, but none of these ever appear to have received government funding [13]. All that changed with the inclusion of а free-flyer project called OKA-T in the FSP 2006-2015. A tender for the development of the vehicle was won on 20 February 2006 by the Central Specialized Design Bureau (TsSKB-Progress) in Samara, which develops Soyuz rockets, reconnaissance satellites and the recoverable Bion and Foton satellites.

According to the requirements laid out by the Federal Space Agency in 2005, two OKA-T vehicles were to be launched in 2012 and 2015. The vehicle must weigh about 7.8 tons and be launched by a Soyuz-2 rocket. It will consist of a service module (containing among other things manoeuvring engines, solar panels and a radiator panel) and a pressurized compartment with a Progress M type docking system, allowing it to dock with the ISS about every three-four months during a mission lasting five years.

Extending from the spacecraft 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 experiments were planned for RKK Energiya’s AKA-T and they are also reminiscent of those performed with the US Wake Shield Facility, a free-flyer flown on three Space Shuttle missions between 1994 and 1996. Samples for these experiments are to be deployed on the outside via a small airlock.
 
Other objectives are to produce small parties of cartilaginous structures to be used in medicine, mercury-cadmium-telluride monocrystals for use in new-generation sensor equipment and to receive biologically active substances and other medicines with better characteristics than those obtained on Earth. There will also be experiments to study phase transitions (mainly crystallization in melts and solutions) and heat and mass transfer in fluids [14].

Funding of the OKA-T vehicles began in 2006. It looks like RKK Energiya is a subcontractor in the project and that early on there was some disagreement with TsSKB-Progress on the actual division of labour. Apparently, the original idea was that the pressurized compartment would be derived from the return capsule of TsSKB’s Foton satellites (essentially modified Vostok re-entry capsules) and that the service module would be that of RKK Energiya’s Parom space tug [15].

Speaking at an aerospace congress in August 2009, Roskosmos deputy head Vitaliy Davydov said that the first OKA-T will not be ready for launch in 2012 due to the global financial crisis and that the project’s fate will depend on funding in 2010-2011 [16].  If the project survives, Roskosmos is apparently hoping to fly OKA-T vehicles even in the post-ISS era [17].

[B. Hendrickx]

The attached drawing in the previous post is from a TsSKB/Progress brochure distributed at the MAKS 2009 aerospace show, so I presume this is still the currently planned configuration of the spacecraft.

[Stan Black]

So if it docks several times over five years will it need to be refueled?

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-13.pdf

[B. Hendrickx]

So if it docks several times over five years will it need to be refueled?

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/pres/stsc2010/tech-13.pdf

It probably will. I understand it is possible to transfer propellant from the FGB and Service Module tanks to the Progress service module (at least some of the ISS orbit corrections using Progress thrusters are said to be performed with propellants drawn from those tanks), so I would guess a certain amount of propellant can also be transferred to the OKA-T service module for manoeuvres in between dockings.

[hop]

If it has the same propellant capacity as a regular Progress, I doubt it would need to re-fuel. Progress normally brings ~1000kg of propellant for ISS use. (870 in the refueling tanks, plus a few hundred for reboost and attitude control)

[zaitcev]

Honestly I'm shocked to learn that the shell of Parom is going to be reused. Or maybe not so much shocked. BTW, it's quite different from Progress because it has a TKS-style tunnel going through it, so that it docks with the "butt" to the station. This was so that a large diameter cargo canister would not obscure any docking antennas. If this configuration is kept, the propellant capacity can be anything.

[Danderman]

It probably will. I understand it is possible to transfer propellant from the FGB and Service Module tanks to the Progress service module (at least some of the ISS orbit corrections using Progress thrusters are said to be performed with propellants drawn from those tanks), so I would guess a certain amount of propellant can also be transferred to the OKA-T service module for manoeuvres in between dockings.

Although propellant can pass from the ISS prop tanks to the Progress mid-thrusters, Progress cannot have its prop tanks replenished from ISS.

[B. Hendrickx]

It probably will. I understand it is possible to transfer propellant from the FGB and Service Module tanks to the Progress service module (at least some of the ISS orbit corrections using Progress thrusters are said to be performed with propellants drawn from those tanks), so I would guess a certain amount of propellant can also be transferred to the OKA-T service module for manoeuvres in between dockings.

Although propellant can pass from the ISS prop tanks to the Progress mid-thrusters, Progress cannot have its prop tanks replenished from ISS.

Ok, so the propellant goes directly from the Zarya or Zvezda tanks to the Progress thrusters. Thanks for pointing that out.

[Lars_J]

It probably will. I understand it is possible to transfer propellant from the FGB and Service Module tanks to the Progress service module (at least some of the ISS orbit corrections using Progress thrusters are said to be performed with propellants drawn from those tanks), so I would guess a certain amount of propellant can also be transferred to the OKA-T service module for manoeuvres in between dockings.

Although propellant can pass from the ISS prop tanks to the Progress mid-thrusters, Progress cannot have its prop tanks replenished from ISS.

Well this "OKA-T" would have to have a radically different propellant tank system from a Progress anyway. Is it not the tank systems on Soyuz/Progress that limit them to a ~6-9 month orbital lifespan?

If this thing is designed for a 5 year lifespan, it has to be a very heavily modified Progress or something completely different (perhaps TKS based as zaitcev noted). It needs the orbital maneuvering and refueling capability similar to the Zarya module.

[hop]

Is it not the tank systems on Soyuz/Progress that limit them to a ~6-9 month orbital lifespan?

No, the 6 month limit is only for Soyuz, because the descent module uses H2O2 for attitude control. Progress don't have such a limit AFAIK, they are just discarded to make room for the next one.

[Danderman]

It should be noted that Progress and its variants have flown for more than one year in orbit.

[Lars_J]

Ok, I stand corrected!

[zaitcev]

If this thing is designed for a 5 year lifespan, it has to be a very heavily modified Progress or something completely different (perhaps TKS based as zaitcev noted).

I did not mean to say that OKA-T is based on TKS. After all, TKS was made by Energiya's (and TsKB's) arch-rival Khrunichev. They would rather eat broken glass than base designs on TKS. Instead, it's based on Parom, that has a configuration with a TKS-style tunnel.

[Danderman]

Per Russianspaceweb.com, this project is postponed to 2017-2018 due to lack of customers.

[Danderman]

Found on the NK forum:

http://ria.ru/science/20111007/451940000.html


Google Translated:

"Launch of the first space laboratory, a factory "OKA-T" is delayed by two to three years due to lack of customers, told reporters on Friday, the deputy head of Russian Space Agency Vitaly Davydov.

Previously run "OKA-T" was planned for 2015.

"The construction and launch into orbit the first space laboratory, a factory" OKA-T "is delayed by at least 2-3 years due to the lack of real research projects, as well as customers" - said Davydov.

"We are now facing a challenge - to move the start of this laboratory for two to three years old. This does not mean that we abandon this project, just as we do not see him for real customers, and the device is very expensive - several billion rubles. With its launch, we wanted to try to start some kind of industrial production in space, but it's still can not "- said Davydov.

However, he said, in this direction were activated competitors.

"The worst thing that while we were ahead of competitors activated in this direction, now we are thinking about how not to do if the spacecraft in conjunction with the competition - chipped", - concluded the deputy head of the Russian Space Agency."

[360-180]

General view of the "OKA-T" in the second phase of the project

[Danderman]

This new image of OKA-T shows it to be a Parom tug plus microgravity module. The Parom section is noteworthy in that it has a 3.3 meter diameter section, which means that it cannot be launched with the standard Progress/Soyuz fairing, which implies it would be launched with the 4.1 meter fairing, which in turn implies launch on Soyuz-2.

[360-180]

This new image of OKA-T shows it to be a Parom tug plus microgravity module. The Parom section is noteworthy in that it has a 3.3 meter diameter section, which means that it cannot be launched with the standard Progress/Soyuz fairing, which implies it would be launched with the 4.1 meter fairing, which in turn implies launch on Soyuz-2.

OKA-T's microgravity module must have a source for energy. This microgravity module does not have solar arrays. It gets its power from the Parom tug. Probably, this Parom tug dedicated to OKA-T

[Danderman]

This new image of OKA-T shows it to be a Parom tug plus microgravity module. The Parom section is noteworthy in that it has a 3.3 meter diameter section, which means that it cannot be launched with the standard Progress/Soyuz fairing, which implies it would be launched with the 4.1 meter fairing, which in turn implies launch on Soyuz-2.

OKA-T's microgravity module must have a source for energy. This microgravity module does not have solar arrays. It gets its power from the Parom tug. Probably, this Parom tug dedicated to OKA-T

The standard probe and cone docking interface can pass a significant power to another module; presumably Parom's solar panels are more capable than Soyuz or Progress, so I am not sure if the OKA-T science module requires a "special" Parom tug, or whether an "off-the-shelf" Parom that would be used as an ISS tug as well could be used for this project.

[Danderman]

The NK forum reports that there is a new tender for OKA-T, for this many rubles: 350,000,000 - for work for another year.

Among the capabilities and requires for OKA-T (per Google Translate):

 A set of scientific instruments (KPA) for space experiments, hosted inside a sealed compartment and the outer surface of the spacecraft in outer space;
- "Spetsotsek" with standard docking system with a zone of internal transfer of cosmonauts for service on and process equipment;
- Tools and equipment service systems installed outside spetsotseka and the possibility of maintenance or replacement of individual units of service equipment for extravehicular activity of astronauts or with robotics;
- Airlock, interfaced with sealed compartment for the installation and extension into space scientific instruments with a diameter up to 0.8 m and a length of 1.5 m, maintenance and removal of items returned payload;
- The protective screen (EM), which provides a super-deep vacuum chamber is sealed and structurally linked to the airlock;
- Mounted radiator active thermal control system to remove heat from the complex process equipment and service equipment;
- The fuel system with a combined propulsion system, providing an opportunity to the fuel transfer ISS RS;
- Solar cell (SC) to a rotary drive panels solar battery

[360-180]

New information on Energia site
12/27/2012.
@In the RSC "Energia" began work on the project of free-flying spacecraft OKA-T, served on the ISS@
http://www.energia.ru/ru/news/news-2012/news_12-27.html

[Stan Black]

It probably will. I understand it is possible to transfer propellant from the FGB and Service Module tanks to the Progress service module (at least some of the ISS orbit corrections using Progress thrusters are said to be performed with propellants drawn from those tanks), so I would guess a certain amount of propellant can also be transferred to the OKA-T service module for manoeuvres in between dockings.

Although propellant can pass from the ISS prop tanks to the Progress mid-thrusters, Progress cannot have its prop tanks replenished from ISS.

Ok, so the propellant goes directly from the Zarya or Zvezda tanks to the Progress thrusters. Thanks for pointing that out.

Двигательная установка (ДУ) КА «ОКА-Т» должна обеспечивать:
-   возможность межорбитальных маневров, включая довыведение КА на базовую рабочую орбиту и дополнительные орбиты;
-   операции по сближению, причаливанию и стыковке с МКС;
-   требуемую ориентацию и стабилизацию КА «ОКА-Т» при проведении научных и технологических экспериментов;
-   дозаправку из топливных баков РС МКС (ППТС).
Пневмогидросистема КА «ОКА-Т» должна обеспечивать возможность ее многократной дозаправки компонентами топлива с борта МКС (ППТС). Компоненты топлива ДУ КА «ОКА-Т» должны быть совместимы с компонентами топлива МКС: АТин (ОСТ В113-03-503-85) + НДМГ (ГОСТ В17803-72).
При дозаправке топливной системы КА «ОКА-Т» с МКС должно обеспечиваться восстановление работоспособности вытеснительной системы подачи топлива.

http://www.zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/public/action/orders/info/common_info/show?notificationId=4528276

[Danderman]

I should note that although Progress prop tanks cannot be  replenished from ISS, there is no reason why another spacecraft designed to receive prop from ISS could not do so.

Another example is that Progress and Soyuz cannot provide power to ISS, but they can receive power from ISS.  Another type of spacecraft could provide for power in both directions.

[Stan Black]

 Do I understand this correct, that the 52КС was the TsSKB-Progress version of ОКА-Т-МКС? According to the 2007 annual report, Energia were working to TsSKB-Progress, providing one section.
 However the current contract for ОКА-Т-МКС is direct with Energia?

КА «ОКА-Т» состоит из двух отсеков: специального отсека, разработанного ГНПРКЦ «ЦСКБ-Прогресс», и служебного модуля, разработанного РКК «Энергия» им. С.П.Королева. Специальный отсек и служебный модуль образуют единый гермообъем.

http://www.e-disclosure.ru/portal/files.aspx?id=1615&type=2
http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/218/2181094.html
http://www.ria.ru/science/20121221/915734841.html
http://www.energia.ru/ru/news/news-2012/news_12-27.html

[Danderman]

As far as I know, RSC Energia is prime contractor for OKA-T, but I don't think the contract is very large.

The only news for 2013 for OKA-T that I could find was this Russian story:

http://ria.ru/science/20130604/941222988.html

Basically, they were looking for some cash from Europe to get this off the dime.

[Prober]

As far as I know, RSC Energia is prime contractor for OKA-T, but I don't think the contract is very large.

The only news for 2013 for OKA-T that I could find was this Russian story:

http://ria.ru/science/20130604/941222988.html

Basically, they were looking for some cash from Europe to get this off the dime.

surprised with the MLM mess Europe would go for this.

[Danderman]

As far as I know, RSC Energia is prime contractor for OKA-T, but I don't think the contract is very large.

The only news for 2013 for OKA-T that I could find was this Russian story:

http://ria.ru/science/20130604/941222988.html

Basically, they were looking for some cash from Europe to get this off the dime.

surprised with the MLM mess Europe would go for this.

They didn't.

When Russian projects run low on cash, they often look to European interests for funding, but very rarely does this materialize.

In fact, a good rule of thumb is if Europe goes looks for Russian support, they get it, but if Russia looks for European support, they don't get it.

Mostly because Russia looks for financial support, whereas Europe looks for technical support.

[russianhalo117]

BUMP

LINK: http://russianspaceweb.com/oka_t.html

Russia substitutes manned missions from Vostochny with Oka-T lab (with first launch in 2018)

The Russian space agency, Roskosmos, quietly replaced a highly advertised first launch of the nation's cosmonauts from the new space port in Vostochny with an automated space lab. The Oka-T module designed for periodic servicing by space station crews in orbit should provide an exit strategy for the Russian space officials, who made an impossible promise to the Kremlin to fly a manned mission from the new space center in 2018.

Oka's reversal of fortune

...To camouflage their "little trick," Russian space officials began characterizing the 2018 milestone as the "first launch within the manned space program," instead of the first "manned launch," without specifying what exactly would fly from Vostochny in 2018. As a result, the official Russian media continued its cheerleading of the upcoming manned launch from Vostochny. In reality, no cosmonaut would be able to blast off from Vostochny until 2020s, when the new-generation spacecraft and the Angara-5 rocket are finally certified to carry the crew.

Then, during Vladimir Putin's visit to Vostochny on Sept. 2, 2014, an official TV report caught a glimpse of a presentation handed out at a meeting chaired by the Russian president. The document revealed drawings of the Oka-T module and the Soyuz-2 rocket under a title "Achieving the first launch within manned space program in 2018."

Given the enormous political weight of the 2018 deadline, there is little doubt that a long-delayed Oka-T mission will finally get proper funding and attention. Moreover, given a possible multi-year gap between the introduction of the Oka-T and the arrival of the manned spacecraft at Vostochny, multiple Oka-T missions could be undertaken. However developers will likely be hard-pressed to provide the new platforms with adequate scientific payloads...

[Danderman]

http://russianspaceweb.com/oka_t.html#soyuz

Clearly, with the "Soyuz launch from Vostochny" dilemma out of the way, Roskosmos also went ahead with the cancellation of the OKA-T project, which had failed to provide an adequate political alternative for this issue anyway. With the controversial scientific justification for the spacecraft and tightening budget at the agency at the end of 2014, Roskosmos cut OKA-T from the scaled back draft of the 10-year Federal Space Program, which the agency approved in April 2015.