On December 8, 2013, the Proton-M launch vehicle was successfully launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome, which launched an English communications satellite into space, which is one of the three vehicles with which the Anglo-American corporation expects to create a global mobile communications system. The satellite launched into orbit should provide telecommunication services in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Now the Russian Proton launch vehicle remains one of the most demanded for space launches. However, in the near future, Russia, most likely, will have to seriously move: the market for space launches will face very tough competition. The American space agency NASA is actively developing a public-private partnership program in this area.
The first commercial spacecraft in this program was SpaceX's Dragon, launched into space. In May 2012, it successfully delivered 500 kg of payloads to the ISS. The Falcon launch vehicle was created especially for this spacecraft. On December 4, 2013, from the cosmodrome located at Cape Canaveral, this rocket successfully launched a communications satellite into orbit. And although the launch was carried out only on the third attempt, the satellite was successfully launched into Earth's orbit. The main thing in this event is that the launch of the American Falcon rocket cost $ 30 million less than the use of Russian Protons for these purposes.
Initially, the launch of the Falcon 9 rocket with the SES 8 telecommunications satellite on board was supposed to take place on November 25, 2013, but during the preparation of the rocket for launch, various technical problems were noted several times, because of this, the launch was postponed. The launch of the booster was postponed to Thanksgiving, a holiday celebrated in the United States on November 28. But this time, in preparation for the launch, a failure occurred: the automation stopped the launch of the rocket after ignition, since the power of the rocket engines did not increase quickly enough. The Falcon 9 rocket was removed from the launch pad and sent to the hangar for an engine checkup procedure. The next launch attempt was scheduled for December 2, but the launch was delayed by the 4th for additional verification. As a result, on December 4, the launch took place and ended successfully.
Falcon 9 rocket launch
The Falcon 9 rocket is a two-stage spacecraft that was developed by California-based private company SpaceX. The founder of the company is the American billionaire Elon Musk. The company's specialists say that the rocket they have created is the cheapest means of launching various vehicles into space at this time. The cost of launching an American rocket ranges from $ 56 million to $ 77 million. At the same time, the cost of launching the Russian Proton into space is $ 100 million, and the European launch vehicle Ariane 5 - $ 200 million.
Falcon 9 ("Falcon 9") is an American disposable launch vehicle of the Falcon family, developed by SpaceX. The first launch of this rocket took place on June 4, 2010. A variety of configuration options for this launch vehicle are currently offered, which differ in the mass of the payload delivered to orbit. Falcon rockets are able to deliver cargoes in the range of 10, 4-32 tons to low reference orbit (LEO) and in the range of 4, 7-19, 5 tons to geo-transfer orbit (GPO). The launch cost depends on the mass and volume of the payload (for the Falcon 9 rocket, these values are 10 and 4.7 tons, respectively). The payload container has dimensions in the range of 3, 6-5, 2 meters. The Falcon 9 rocket can also be used to launch the commercial manned spacecraft (PS) Dragon and its cargo analogue, designed to deliver cargo to the ISS, into space. These ships are also developed by SpaceX.
The basic version of the launch vehicle consists of 2 stages. The first stage of the rocket uses 9 Merlin 1C rocket engines, and the second stage uses 1 Merlin Vacuum rocket engine, which is a modification of the same engine, adapted to operate in a vacuum. Just like the Falcon 1 rocket, the launch sequence of the Falcon 9 rocket assumes that it is possible to halt the launch process if problems with the rocket's systems and engines are detected before launch. If any malfunctions are found, the launch process is interrupted and the oxidizer and fuel are pumped out of the rocket. Due to this, for both stages of the launch vehicle, it is possible to reuse them and conduct full-fledged bench tests before a flight into space.
Manned spacecraft (PS) Dragon
Another blow to Russian cosmonautics could be the refusal of the Americans to deliver astronauts with the help of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft. According to experts, each space for an astronaut on board a Russian spacecraft costs the American budget $ 65 million. Therefore, the American space agency expects to completely abandon the services of Roscosmos by 2017. It is assumed that by this date, private spaceships will deliver not only payloads into space, but also astronauts. There are already ships Dragon and Cygnus in mind. At the same time, 2 more spacecraft are being prepared by Boeing and Sierra Nevada.
Launch vehicle "Proton-M"
The Russian carrier rocket "Proton-M" is an upgraded version of the carrier rocket "Proton-K", it is distinguished by the best operational, energy-mass and environmental characteristics. The first launch of this rocket with the Briz-M upper stage took place on April 7, 2001. Proton-M is a three-stage launch vehicle with a mass of about 702 tons. The use of enlarged nose fairings, including 5 meters in diameter, as part of the Proton-M rocket, makes it possible to more than double the volume for placing the payload on board. The increase in the volume of the rocket nose fairing makes it possible, among other things, to use some promising upper stages on the Proton-M.
The main task of modernizing the rocket was to replace its control system - a control system that was developed back in the 1960s and became obsolete, including in terms of the element base. As a result of the modernization, the Proton-M rocket received a new control system, which was built on the basis of the BTsVK, an onboard digital computer complex. The main elements of this system have passed preliminary flight tests on other launch vehicles that have already been successfully operated. The use of the new control system made it possible to significantly improve the technical and operational indicators of the rocket. For example, it was possible to achieve an improvement in the rate of consumption of the onboard fuel reserve due to its more complete production.
An important task that was implemented with the designed rocket was to reduce the area of the fields that are allocated for the fall of the spent first stages of the launch vehicle. It should be noted that for Russia, which carries out launches from a cosmodrome leased from Kazakhstan, this is a very urgent problem. A reduction in the area of the fall fields of the spent first stages of the rocket was realized with the help of a controlled descent of the 1st stage accelerator to a site limited in size.
It is worth noting that the reduction in the size of the fall fields of the rocket stages, in addition to reducing the rent, also makes it possible to simplify the tasks of collecting and subsequent disposal of the remains of the 1st stage of the launch vehicle. In addition, the elements of the first stage of the rocket fall to the ground already almost "clean" - the cyclogram of the operation of the first stage liquid-propellant engine of the rocket is built in such a way that it ensures the full depletion of components from the rocket tanks, which leads to an increase in the environmental performance of the Proton-M.
In addition, the use of the new Briz-M upper stage, which runs on such propellants as asymmetric dimethylhydrazine and nitrogen tetraxide, as part of the launch vehicle, made it possible to improve the payload that can be put into geostationary orbit - up to 3.7 tons. and into the geotransfer orbit - more than 6 tons.
