Russia mulls creation of new super-heavy carrier rocketOctober 25, 2013 - 18:44 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos, is to discuss with leading Russian scientists development of a new launch vehicle capable of carrying up payloads to 70 tons, its head said Friday, Oct 25, RIA Novosti reported. “We will analyze and use all the existing potential…to choose the optimal solution [for the super-heavy rocket],” newly-appointed Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko told reporters. The results of the discussions will be used to outline the design and technical characteristics of the rocket, including its environmental safety. The new rocket should be capable of delivering spacecraft to geotransitional (up to eight tons), geostationary (five tons) and low-Earth (at least 20 tons) orbits. Russia’s Energia space corporation earlier proposed the development of a new launch vehicle based on the Soviet-era Energia rocket that was used in the late 1980’s as the launcher for the Buran space shuttle. Two Energia launches were carried out - on May 15, 1987 with a mockup Buran model, and on November 15, 1988 with the actual Buran shuttle. However, the Energia-Buran project was suspended in the 1990s. Five Energia rocket frames at various stages of construction were broken up at the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan and at the Energia corporation assembly facilities. The RD-170 rocket engine, developed for the Energia project, has been upgraded and is used in Russian-Ukrainian Zenit carrier rockets as the RD-171, and in American Atlas 5 launch systems as the RD-180. According to some Russian space industry experts, an alternative solution could be the use of the Angara family of carrier rockets, designed by the Khrunichev center, as the basis for a future launch vehicle. The Angara development program was launched in 1995, but has suffered a number of setbacks and delays since then. Angara is intended mainly for launch from the Plesetsk space center in northern Russia and the future Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East to reduce Moscow's dependence on Kazakhstan's Baikonur, the main launch facility for the current generation of Russian rockets. Related links: Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | IDBank, Dalma team up for Caucasian Deer Reintroduction Program IDBank has joined Dalma Garden Mall’s Green Challenge to support the Caucasian red deer reintroduction project. Through Ucom’s support the 12th Sunchild Festival concludes On May 24-28, with the support of Ucom, the 12th international environmental festival Sunchild took place in Yerevan. U.S., Turkey emphasize importance of Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal Jake Sullivan and Akif Cagatay Kilic have discussed the normalization process between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia coach expects good football in Slovenia friendly The Armenian national team has left for Ljubljana a friendly match against Slovenia on June 4. |