This summer, Russian Soyuz rockets will be launched for the first time from the European Kourou cosmodrome, located in French Guiana. Officially, the partners praise the unparalleled cooperation, but in reality they do not trust each other.
Visit to a construction site with many secrets
They still stand there quite calmly - four huge lightning rods, four searchlight masts, and between them a certain blue and yellow metal structure, similar to a fairground carousel. This is how one of the most important cooperation projects looks from a distance. If all goes according to plan, powerful explosions and firestorms will begin to shake the surrounding area this summer. So, after several years of delays, the Russian Soyuz rocket will be launched from the Kourou cosmodrome in French Guiana.
If you get closer to the launch site, you can see a 30-meter pit. Its concrete bottom is already overgrown with moss, and some algae are visible in the puddles. There is a railing here, but looking down can get dizzy. On the one hand, this gaping pit resembles a giant springboard, which is made in order to deflect impact and powerful flows of exhaust gases. But so far, all this is more like an unused pool.
Earth's rotational energy as a free start-up aid
Russian rockets launched from the European launch site deep in the South American jungle are something new in the history of astronautics. For Russians, this launching pad in the tropics offers significant advantages. Here they receive natural assistance at launch, which they must largely give up at their traditional Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
At the equator, the tangential component of velocity has the greatest indices, since the distance from the earth's axis is the greatest here. Therefore, rockets launched here need less fuel in order to overcome the gravity of the Earth, since they receive rotational energy for free. Although Baikonur is located in the south of the former Soviet empire, it is located at 45 degrees north latitude, while the Kuru is at the fifth, that is, almost at the equator itself. When a Soyuz rocket is launched from a cosmodrome in French Guiana, about 45% of fuel can be saved. Therefore, large additional costs for logistics are justified.
Europeans are also very interested in getting Russians to work at the Spacial Guyanais (Guiana Space Center). After all, about 410 million euros were spent on the construction of the launch pad for the Soyuz. But why did you have to go to such costs? Only for the sake of the friendship of peoples? At the headquarters of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Paris, they mainly rely on the smaller and cheaper sister of the Ariane rocket. The European space vehicle costs 150 million euros and can be used to send approximately ten tons of cargo into geostationary orbit.
Orbits of this kind, for example, are used by communication satellites in order to constantly stay above one point on the earth's surface. However, in most cases, the cargo put into orbit today weighs significantly less than ten tons. Therefore, Soyuz, which is about half the price of Ariane rockets, can be very popular with those customers who have limited budgets for launching communications satellites. Russian old space horses are launching three tons of cargo into geostationary orbit. This technique has been successfully operating for 50 years.
The European Space Agency had two options, says its chief, Jean-Jaques Dordain, in an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE. “Either we are developing a medium rocket ourselves, or we are starting cooperation with the Russians,” he continues. Not least for political reasons, the choice was made in favor of the second option. This meant that a launch pad would be built at the heavily guarded facility located in the jungle, modeled on the Russian cosmodrome at Baikonur.
The construction of the defense tower has not been completed yet
The Russians talk about building an "improved copy" at Kourou. In fact, the cosmodrome in the Kazakh steppes has been recreated almost one-to-one in tropical forests - including both storage facilities, where extra tables and chairs are removed at Baikonur. However, there is one significant difference that builders armed with various equipment are currently working hard on. What they are building will look like a huge mobile garage. It is designed to protect the nearly 50-meter rocket from the humid and hot tropical climate.
This tower (also called a gantry) is essential, as the numerous puddles on the construction site confirm. The accumulation of clouds on the horizon also confirms the regularity of the heavy rain streams falling from the sky. Since the Russians had no experience in erecting a defensive tower, the completion of its construction was constantly postponed.
The work under the Soyuz launch site also proved to be very costly and caused lengthy delays. Digging a hole in a place called Sinnamary, including using explosives, turned out to be more difficult for the builders than originally anticipated. The reason for this was the large amount of granite. At the same time, a solid granite base under the launch pad is essential to support the weight of the rocket. Fully fueled, the Soyuz weighs over 300 tons. The blue-yellow steel tube structure at the launch site hovers almost freely above the gas shafts.
“The entire weight of the rocket is supported by four points,” explains ESA employee Jean Cluade Garreau. As the rocket begins to climb, the steel masts retreat. It looks like a flower is opening. The design itself may seem archaic to some European engineers. However, 1,700 successful launches prove its reliability.
Countdown in Russian, commands in French - will this work?
The Frenchman Garreau leads the first launch of the Soyuz by ESA. Even from the point of view of language, this is already a challenge. The Russians conduct take-off preparations in Russian, while flight safety is monitored in French. “They will be able to understand each other,” the ESA representative hopes. In any case, Garro speaks fluent Russian.
Other reasons also make collaboration difficult. Both sides are partners, this is understandable. However, they do not trust each other at all. This can be seen already at the location of the Soyuz launch site on the territory of the cosmodrome, which covers an area of 700 square kilometers. "For security reasons, French experts insisted that this object be located at a certain distance from the main complex," emphasizes the head of the European Space Agency Dorden. The interview takes place under a canopy. Since it is raining at this moment. The streams of water drum against the leaden roof with such force that you cannot even hear your own voice.
Due to the existing latent mistrust towards the Russians, the new launch site is located far from the existing facilities in Kourou. “When we first came here in 2002, there was only jungle here,” Dorden recalls. “We had to get here by military all-terrain vehicles on caterpillar tracks.” Now a new road surface has been laid on the orange-red soil. Nevertheless, the Soyuz launch sites are fenced off with barbed wire and a metal grate with a current passed through it. There are several guarded checkpoints along the perimeter. At each of them you need to show a pass. Guards from the Foreign Legion cruise between them - in tracked and four-wheel drive vehicles.
“There are certain boundaries in any collaboration,” says Mario de Lepine, head of press service for Arianespace. His firm will commercialize the Soyuz launches in French Guiana. “It's better when everyone is for himself,” this small man from French Guiana energetically declares. Customers looking to launch their own satellites and betting on the Ariane rocket would support this view.
Entry without permission from Russians is strictly prohibited
The Russians continue to carry out their critical launches at Baikonur, and over time they will be able to launch rockets from the new Vostochny cosmodrome, located near the border with China. In Kuru, the Russians respond to the European distrust by creating separate zones at the Soyuz launch site. Not far from the launch pad, there is a bright, air-conditioned room. Here, in a horizontal position, is a gray-painted rocket, which has only the warhead missing. To their surprise, ESA staff and guests are free to inspect everything. But anyone who wants to enter the area where the missile head is mounted must have a permit issued by the Russians. On the door in French and Russian it is written: "Entry without Russian permission is strictly prohibited."
Despite the existing difficulties, both sides are doing everything to make this project a success. The first tests should start on April 1st. The time of the first launch depends on when the payload is ready. If all goes according to plan, then the first Soyuz will be launched this summer with two Galileo satellites on board. In the control center of the launch complex located in a special bunker, the latest computers are installed. The equipment that Garro and his Russian colleagues will use to control the launch is already in place. “I will be the first to find myself in the Gulag if problems arise,” the Frenchman says with a smile.
It is unlikely that this will happen, and the strong systems of the "Union" will cope with their task. Even if one or two engines fail, the rocket will nevertheless reach its target. At least that's what people who understand this business say.
Will Russia's time-tested space technology installed at Kuru someday be used to send humans into space? “There are no such plans yet,” says ESA head Dorden. In any case, the Europeans will have to spend a lot of money on this. Including to ensure the presence of warships, which, in the event of an unsuccessful start, will have to catch the astronauts out of the water.
Someday. May be. “Never say never,” remarks Dorden.
