Russia
has stopped the development of missiles, "Rus-M", designed to launch
new manned spacecraft from the Baikonur future East. According
to the speech in the Duma, Russian Federal Space Agency head Vladimir
Popovkin, the priorities of his ministry are shifted to the commercial
space.About this evil, "Russia"
The Russian space once again abruptly changed the concept of development. Stopped create launcher "Rus-M", which in 2018 was to lay the whole burden of the Russian manned space launches.
"We felt that the new missile does not need us, we are able to fly and the old. We have reported the country's leadership on this. The country's leadership decided not to stop construction of the launch vehicle," Rus-M ", - said Russian Federal Space Agency head Vladimir Popovkin during his speech in the Duma on the extraordinary "government hour", devoted to investigating the causes of recent failures in the aerospace industry.
Has been repeatedly reported that the first unmanned launch of "Russia" from being built in the Amur region of East spaceport happen in 2015, and the first manned launch on the media - after 2018.
"Neither of which launch the missile from the East in 2015, of course, there can be no question," - said Popovkin parliamentarians, commenting on the plans.
This decision puts an end to announced the creation of a new Russian manned space system. In place of the tested since the Soviet era conjunction of the two "Unions" (of similar missiles and spacecraft) had come to support the "Rus-M" with the space shuttle PCA ("forward-looking manned transport system").
Old media better than two new
The fact that the rocket will power "stop", the industry began to speak in the summer. "Rus-M" displays on the engineering design of the previous head of the Federal Space Agency Anatoly Perminov, and his departure process is somewhat stalled.
Perminov, who replaced Vladimir Popovkin was immediately seen in a very cool attitude toward the project, "Rus-M" / PCA. By giving the program an interview, it is very long and detailed telling of all aspects of outer-won him the country's economy, but the "Rus-M" is almost always passed it by.
And when sparingly mentioned that it looked at times very threatening to the future of the project, at one time declared almost primarily in the domestic space. For example: "Now we are working to refine it [" Rus-M "] aspect to this rocket was really promising. For this is not an attempt to collect a rocket from the fact that there is - the old engines and control system, and the old system of training missiles. "
According to Popovkin, for the current problems of space enough for the existing missiles ("Soyuz-2" and "Proton"), as well as the projected "Angara", the start which, according to recent data, in two years - in 2013. (As long notice some critics observers, before the start of "Angara" is always two years, and so it continues for more than ten years.)
"It was a difficult decision for the Russian Space Agency - that the elaboration of TsSKB" Progress "to develop future work," Rus-M. "(...) In the analysis, we realized that this missile is largely copies of the family is creating a missile" Angara ", - told the press in the Duma lobby Secretary of State Space Agency Vitaly Davydov, commenting on the decision authority. He added that the preliminary design of the rocket will be completed, but further work on it stopped.
In the future decision on the fate of the new media will be taken separately. Perhaps, the development will start again, with the other requirements of the technical configuration of the system. The first starts from the East would get the launch vehicle "Soyuz-2".
The entire system must change
Rejection of the "Rus" - this is not a private decision made by itself. Of all the recent speeches of Vladimir Popovkin (including the present and in the Duma) that the upcoming revision of the concept of further development of space industry.
For the first role, in addition to purely scientific problems of deep space that can be solved by automata space application goes - especially one that makes money immediately.
Russia's place in the commercial space, in terms of head of Russian Space Agency, totally unrepresentative. According to him, providing 40% of the world starts and 20% of the spacecraft, Russia is in the commercial space services, only 3%.
Earlier the head of Russian Space Agency have already spoken about the excessive orientation of space industry in the direction of space programs. From his point of view, to abandon commitments to the ISS project should not, however, low-orbit manned space program has already worked out enough to continue to pump huge amounts of money into it.
Science is not pass
Despite this harsh rhetoric, Popovkin stressed that research programs are among the main directions of domestic space.
"We tried to" look "to 2050 to see where to go strategic policy and in accordance with the results, the priority for further research should be the moon. (...) Human missions to Mars, asteroids - not a short perspective, the transition to their implementation will be determined not only by the level of economic development, but, unfortunately, and by the course of technological development ", - said Popovkin.
One of the immediate research projects of the Russian space launch vehicle to become the "Phobos-Grunt" to the satellite Phobos Mars. Start the machine is currently scheduled for November 8. Its task will be to fit on the surface of the satellite, taking samples of soil and its delivery to Earth.
