Updates Russia's Advanced Crew Transportation System's Development

[SiberianTiger]

Land allocation was done for Vostochny Cosmodrome.

An allocation map for the area:

A saved Google map with marked boundary of the cosmodrome, projected launch azimuth, launch pads and sites of infrastructure objects (found here):

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...331,128.206329&spn=0.368379,0.883026&t=h&z=10

 

[Urwumpe]

isn't it a bit far away from the coast like that? 400 km to the coast minimal and two bigger cities below the 90° launch azimuth...

 

[SiberianTiger]

isn't it a bit far away from the coast like that? 400 km to the coast minimal and two bigger cities below the 90° launch azimuth...

I guess it's to minimize the implications of doing a S&R of the crew in the sea in case of an emergency abort. By the way, why do you think having two cities southwards of the track is an issue?

 

[Sunhillow]

stupid to answer to a post from page 1

... but the launch vehicle resembles the UR 700 a bit. Only less complex luckily

 

[SiberianTiger]

... but the launch vehicle resembles the UR 700 a bit. Only less complex luckily

That's what you get when you must satisfy a strict requirement to make rocket modules fit into standard rail cargo cars. A bunch of sausages.

 

[Urwumpe]

By the way, why do you think having two cities southwards of the track is an issue?

Not just southwards, but inside a 2.5° corridor - close enough for being considered below the flight path of a rocket, which is no problem until something goes wrong. And it will.

 

[SiberianTiger]

Not just southwards, but inside a 2.5° corridor - close enough for being considered below the flight path of a rocket, which is no problem until something goes wrong. And it will.

They may be near from the track but far from the reserved drop zones for the expended stages. If something goes wrong really bad, a rocket can fly any direction. That's why they are equipped with self-destruct devices (or at least have an emergency engine cut-off option).

 

[SiberianTiger]

Here are some recently published diagrams and data on the RN SKPG (Increased Payload Medium-Class Launch Vehicle), which is a joint development of Samara Space Centre (Samara) and Makeyev Rocket Design Bureau (Miass).

The rocket (manned 3-core version):


Note the bottom interface module based on Energia LV's design.

Specs according to Draft Project:

Parameter|Value
Number of Stages|2
Lift-off mass, tonnes|673
Propellants|
- 1st stage|Kerosene, LOX
- 2nd stage|LH2, LOX
Nominal Thrust, tonnes|
- 1st stage, sea level|916.5
- 1st stage, vacuum|1016.1
- 2nd stage|40.0
Length, m|61.1
Max Width, m|11.6

Payload Performances:

Type of Orbit|Payload Mass, tonnes
LEO, Hcirc=200 km, i=51,7°|23.8
GTO (with upper stage)|7.0
GEO (with upper stage)|4.0

1st stage Universal Rocket Module diagram


2nd stage diagram

 

[Turbinator]

How serious are the Russians about going to the Moon? Will we see them on the moon by, say 2025?

 

[SiberianTiger]

How serious are the Russians about going to the Moon? Will we see them on the moon by, say 2025?

I'd say, them in Roscosmos are quite serious about replacing Soyuz with a more high potential spacecraft. Moving the manned launch centre out of Baikonur to Russia's mainland is a wise move to not let problems pile up.

There are many plans of going beyond LEO, but right now they are mostly paper and *.ppt, so, knowing the cost of paper and presentation packages, I'm reluctant to cite them. I can only say that Mars is traditionally viewed here upon as a more promising target than the Moon.

 

[Rocketman527]

I hope a Russian lands on the Moon sometime soon. After their pretty successful LEO space program, they deserve it

also, does the launcher look like a Titan IIIE to anyone else?

 

[Istochnikov]

I hope a Russian lands on the Moon sometime soon. After their pretty successful LEO space program, they deserve it

also, does the launcher look like a Titan IV to anyone else?

For me, it looks more like an Atlas 5-HLV version

Is anybody developing Rus-M for an Orbiter add-on? If not, for claiming the prize

 

[SiberianTiger]

The pics from an unspecified source keep coming. This time, it's a masses and dimensions integration diagram:

Few notes here:

• Block DM upper composites look like they are taken right off Proton.
• УСЗБ (Универсальный Сборочно-Защитный Блок, Universal Protective Composite), is remaining a puzzling thing. It's got to have a propulsion function, but how is it different from a common upper stage?
• 13 tonnes of the officially advertised mass of the ACTS Orbiter vs. 23.8 potential payload feel like a generous 'space for growth' assigned to the ACTS design.
• КВРБ (Кислородно-Водородный Разгонный Блок, LOX-LH2 Upper Stage) "Ястреб" ("Hawk") is a cryogenic upper stage still in development since early 90's, promising a 60% increase of effectiveness compared to the current designs.

 

[SiberianTiger]

A part of Roscosmos requirement for the draft project of the new launcher is evaluating the entire row of versions of the rocket suited for different payload classes, each incorporating alternative engines.

Here is a report on study done by people at Samara on the 50-tonnes class launcher:

Version 1 | Version 2

|

3-stage cluster|3-stage cluster
1st stage core: RD-180|1st stage core: 1 RD-0163 ∅2300 mm
1st stage boosters: 4 x RD-180|1st stage boosters: 2 x RD-0163 ∅1770 mm
2nd stage: RD-180|2nd stage: 1 RD-0163 ∅2300 mm
3rd stage: 4 x RD-0146|3rd stage: 4 x RD-0146
Mass at launch: 1420-1430 t|Mass at launch: 1550-1600 t
Length: ?|Length: 60.63 m
Maximum width: 7.7 m|Maximum width: 7.7 m

RD-0163 is an advanced engine concept by Chemical Automatics Design Bureau, using a separate fuel for turbopump in order to get rid of char deposits in the turbopump working at exceed of fuel in the mixture.

Expected performances:

Paremeter|Value
Oxidizer|LOX
Primary fuel|Kerosene
TP fuel|65% water 35% alcohol
Thrust at sea level|248.64 t
Thrust in vacuum|277.4 t
ISP at sea level|286.8
ISP in vacuum|330

Addition: 100 tonnes class launcher evaluation goes along evaluating of (1) 7.7-m core with quadruple RD-0120 + 8 standard boosters with RD-180; (2) Same core and 6 boosters each with double RD-0163.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

BBC News: "Russia unveils manned spacecraft".

 

[SiberianTiger]

BBC News: "Russia unveils manned spacecraft".

Just a Zenit is likely to be too lightweight for the ACTS. It will probably need to have SRB's attached.

 

[N_Molson]

Glad too see that Russia has it projects too. I hope they will surprise us in the next decade, and with the NASA having it's problems, they have room for manned programs.

But, if all the projects around the world goes well, we could have after 2020 :

- The "good old" Soyuz capsule (ESA, Canada)
- The american Orion capsule
- The russian ACTS
- The commercial Boeing CTS-100 capsule
- Probably more around 2030, an european CTV based on the ATV
- The chinese Shenzou, or an evolved version of it
... and I probably forgot 1 or 2 !
- (Edit) SpaceX's commercial Dragon Spacecraft

Looks like there will be a lot of traffic in orbit :blink:

An international exploration program could be the fastest way to go to Mars after all (each country designs a part of the stack) ? Because if everyone spend their efforts and ressources on the same thing (ie a capsule), that's somewhere a pity, no ?

 

[SiberianTiger]

An international exploration program could be the fastest way to go to Mars after all (each country designs a part of the stack) ? Because if everyone spend their efforts and ressources on the same thing (ie a capsule), that's somewhere a pity, no ?

As I stated before, only a Global Imperium should be capable of real expansion into space. :lol: Well, how much desire will be out there to join efforts in an international interplanetary mission, depends on how diverse and at the same time how technologically comparable the possible member countries can be. For instance, 'A' may take care of capsule and operations, 'B' of carrier rockets, 'C' of avionics and habitat, 'D' of robotics and science, etc. But that's in ideal world, and in reality aboard the ISS partners time after time find themselves in position of backing each other up, if something breaks (and at the same time, treading on each other's toes a lot). So maybe it's more realistic to expect maturing of two or several independent full-cycle transportation systems for delivering people to other planets and back.

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Roscosmos PAO: "Advanced Crew Vehicle Developed in Russia".

Russian advanced crew vehicle will be capable of docking to the orbital station on the day of its launch, Alexey Krasnov, Head of Roscosmos Human Spaceflight Directorate told Rossiisky Cosmos magazine.

However this decision is not final, he added. "We have to verify whether it is convenient for the crew and estimate cost-effectiveness of this solution", Krasnov said.

Rocket Space Corporation Energia commenced design of the new crew vehicle in April 2009. Roscosmos requirements include several modifications of the vehicle: for the missions to LEO and LLO, for spacecraft orbital maintenance, for deorbiting big space debris, etc. The new vehicle is also to be used to fly space tourists.

Basic configuration of the advanced vehicle is intended for crew transportation to the orbit and return, with the capability to fly autonomously for 5 days. In the lunar modification, 4 cosmonauts shall fly in the vehicle for 14 days.

Launch g-loads shall not exceed 4g, landing g shall not be higher than 3g. With the reliability of 0.995, the vehicle shall be reusable (up to 10 flights).

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

Soyuz TMA-01M Flight Computer may be Applied in the Advanced Crew Vehicle.

The Soyuz TMA-01M spacecraft has undergone the upgrade before the launch slated for October, the next space mission commander Aleksander Kaleri told a press conference in Zvezdny Gorodok in the Moscow region Friday.
Kaleri said that the flight control system and telemetry systems have been modernized.
According to Kaleri, the new Soyuz computer may be installed on the advanced crew vehicle developed currently by RSC-Energia, RIA Novosti informs.
The Soyuz TMA-01M will be launched from the Baikonur in Kazakhstan in October 8.
The new main crew consists of two Russian cosmonauts, Aleksander Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka, and one American astronaut, Scott Kelly.
The replacement crew includes Sergey Volkov, Oleg Kononenko and Ronald Garan.