DocM Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 Sea Launch emerged from bankruptcy in 2011 then suffered another failure due the notoriously unreliable Zenit-3SL launcher; 11% of them have either screwed themselves into the ground or placed the satellite into the wrong orbit. Another problem is that the main Zenit 3SL contractor is the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Dnipropetrovsk, in eastern Ukraine. Oops. Now it appears they're laying people off and may not resume operations until mid-2015 to mid-2016. Industry rumors say this is much worse than the presser indicates. http://mobile.sea-launch.com/news/11415 Sea Launch Takes Proactive Steps to Address Manifest Gap NYON, Switzerland, August 22, 2014 ? Sea Launch announced today a series of cost-reduction measures designed to address an upcoming gap in the launch manifest of the Zenit-3SL system. According to plan, it is expected that Sea Launch will resume and start stepping-up its launch activity during mid-2015/mid-2016 time frame. The measures include staff reductions at Sea Launch?s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and its prime contractor, Energia Logistics, Ltd., located in Long Beach, California, as well as a reduction of operating expenses associated with laying-up the Sea Launch Commander and Odyssey vessels. Taking these vessels out of service temporarily during inactive periods has been performed by Sea Launch previously and is common practice in the marine industry. Sea Launch will be using this time to improve certain operational efficiencies, upgrade its launch and support systems including evaluating shore-based power for the vessels while in port and finalize internal trade studies relative to available vehicle configuration changes. Serguei Gugkaev, CEO of Sea Launch stated ?In light of this gap in our launch manifest, Sea Launch is taking the opportunity to pursue all prudent business solutions to realize significant cost savings in labor, maintenance and fuel while maintaining the capability to call-up the vessels as needed. Sea Launch continues to aggressively market all available launch opportunities beginning in mid-2015 and will maintain a short launch call-up readiness state. While any reduction in staff is regrettable, Sea Launch will retain key personnel across all corporate and technical functions, allowing the company to ramp-up to meet its next launch commitment?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watkinsx2 Posted August 23, 2014 Share Posted August 23, 2014 Manifest gap? Is that code for no one wants their sat launch screwed up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 23, 2014 Author Share Posted August 23, 2014 Pretty much. Lets just say Zenit and Proton have issues, and after yesterday's Soyuz/Fregat malfunction.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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