Ten promising Orel spacecraft are planned to be sent to the new Russian orbital station, which is being built in the Russian Federation, between 2028 and 2033. This follows from the presentation of the Russian general designer of manned space systems and complexes, general designer of RSC Energia (part of Roscosmos), academician Vladimir Solovyov. The materials were presented in the plenary session of the traditional “Real Readings”.
According to Soloviev, the ship will be launched into orbit using a medium-class launch vehicle. Crew: four people. Among the advantages of the ship is the possibility of passing twice over any point on Earth by changing the inclination of the orbit and reducing production costs thanks to its reuse, reports TASS.
Roscosmos Director General Yuri Borisov, who spoke at the readings, expressed hope that in 2024 large-scale work will begin to create a new Russian orbital station to be deployed in space in its full configuration by 2032.
In addition, the head of the state corporation spoke about the main challenges facing the national rocket and space industry. In particular, he called the provision of a wide range of space services through the creation of multi-satellite constellations the main priority of the state corporation.
“Unfortunately, neither in scientific, nor technological, nor production terms, Roscosmos enterprises today do not provide the required level and pace of creation of multi-satellite constellations. Therefore, our main task is to switch to a new industrial model to ensure mass production of space technology,” Borisov explained.
According to him, the transition is scheduled to be completed in 2025, which will allow Roscosmos companies to produce up to 250 small satellites per year and create an orbital constellation of between 1.5 and 1.7 thousand spacecraft until 2035.
The head of Roscosmos said that within the framework of the federal Sphere project, it is planned to launch the Marathon experimental data transmission spacecraft into orbit in 2024.
“It will be launched in the first quarter. We want to confirm the declared characteristics in order to move into serial production from 2025-2026,” explained Yuri Borisov.
He said that last year a contract was signed for three experimental Berkut satellites for remote sensing of the Earth: two highly detailed devices with optics from the Belarusian company Peleng and a radar. Yuri Borisov noted that the work on creating multi-satellite constellations is carried out in close cooperation with private companies.
Speaking about the promising launch vehicles, the head of Roscosmos noted: the technical design work of the promising Amur-LNG space rocket complex, which began last year, will ensure the reusability of the first stage up to 50 times.
“We hope that, under the right circumstances, the delay of this missile can be transferred to a super-heavy aircraft carrier,” Yuri Borisov noted.
According to him, the reusable single-stage Korona launch vehicle being developed may be useful in servicing the new Russian orbital station. In addition, he is working to create in the future an ultralight launch vehicle, with a returnable first stage.
