DocM Posted May 16, 2015 Share Posted May 16, 2015 Here we go again....another Russian upper stage bites the dust. http://www.mynews13.com/content/news/cfnews13/news/article.html/content/news/articles/ap/2015/05/16/Russian_rocket_carrying_Mexican_satellite_crashes_in_Siberia.html (AP)A Russian rocket carrying a Mexican satellite malfunctioned and crashed Saturday in Siberia shortly after its launch the latest mishap to hit Russia's troubled space industry, whose Soviet-era glory has been marred by a series of launch failures. The rocket, a Proton-M, was launched from the Russia-leased Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan on Saturday morning. Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, in a statement described the accident as a malfunction and said it was looking into what had happened. Russian news agencies quoted authorities in eastern Siberia as saying they are searching for the third stage of the rocket, which is believed to have crashed in the Zabaikalsky region that borders Mongolia and China. There were also concerns about the tons of toxic fuel the rocket was carrying, which could have exploded at the crash site. Roscosmos would not provide any further details about the accident, including the exact site of the crash. The Proton-M rocket has a history of mishaps, leading to the loss of three navigation satellites last year. The Interfax news agency quoted industry sources saying the crash could result in the suspension of all upcoming Proton-M launches, including the next one in June for a British satellite. > > http://www.interfax.ru/russia/442018 Moscow. May 16. INTERFAX.RU - scheduled for early June launch another rocket "Proton-M" with the British communications satellite "Inmarsat-3-5F" will be postponed until the reasons of emergency rocket launch on May 16 informed "Interfax" in the space industry. "Start" Proton "suspended, scheduled for early June launch of British satellite will be transferred," - said the agency. He noted that the investigation into the cause of the accident may take from several weeks to several months- http://www.federalspace.ru/21490/ Today, May 16, 2015 in the process of launching rocket "Proton-M" satellite "MekSat 1" emergency situation occurred. The reasons are found out. Also in the morning on May 16, at the appointed time, not including engines TGK "Progress M-26M" to correct the ISS orbit. The reasons are studied by experts Mission Control Center FSUE TsNIIMash. ROSCOSMOS be informed as more information becomes available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 Space News article. http://spacenews.com/ils-proton-rocket-fails-8-minutes-after-liftoff/ > The failure continues what has been among the most worrying aspects of Protons recent record in the eyes of prospective commercial customers: There is no pattern to the anomalies. There have been issues clearly related to workmanship and quality control that have caused anomalies all over the rocket. The issues have resulted in management overhauls at Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Proton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 16, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 16, 2015 The insurance costs are definitely increasing and will be a factor for customer launches of their products. As stated, the "cleaning house" may be the first move but it appears there is something else not right in their space industry..dedication and enthusiasm may only be a part of it. Hope they get things together soon. With Arianespace and SpaceX available, hopefully customers only have a slight delay. For some reason I remember something about Arianespace being heavily subsidized by the European community...will have to check that out....Cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 Nope, SpaceX and Ariananespace are booked up for a couple of years. Inmarsat, the owner of this bird, is in a huge lurch. Space News is reporting the insurance policy for this launch was for $390 million. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 16, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 16, 2015 Nope, SpaceX and Ariananespace are booked up for a couple of years. Inmarsat, the owner of this bird, is in a huge lurch. Space News is reporting the insurance policy for this launch was for $390 million. That is devastating.....ugggggh..... I just realized that the insurance cost you quoted must be approaching the cost of a launch....Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 That's not the premium, it's the payout. Not that Inmarsat can just go to Home Depot and buy a new bird to fly and call a taxi for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 16, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 16, 2015 So now they will lose predicted revenue...not be able to cover the full loss...and probably don't have a back up bird just in case due to cost...and even if they did, it will be a while before its launch....not good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 16, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 16, 2015 Nope, SpaceX and Ariananespace are booked up for a couple of years. Inmarsat, the owner of this bird, is in a huge lurch. Space News is reporting the insurance policy for this launch was for $390 million. Just read an article that said SpaceX is booked for a year...may be some squeeze room and they must be slowly ramping up for new Boca-Chica site as well...may still look good...Cheers http://spacenews.com/ils-proton-rocket-fails-8-minutes-after-liftoff tompkin 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Charles A. Lurio @TheLurioReport Soyuz rocket & Proton failure; poor quality under Russian kleptocracy. If must abandon ISS; Hill's SLS porkocracy delayed affordable access. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Anatoly Zak @RussianSpaceWeb Pre-launch processing of ill-fated #Proton rocket on pad was cut from usual 5 days for unexplained reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 17, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 17, 2015 Anatoly Zak @RussianSpaceWeb Pre-launch processing of ill-fated #Proton rocket on pad was cut from usual 5 days for unexplained reasons. Wow.....you have a good nose for getting the nitty gritty......things slowly unfolding..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 Another Russian missile failure. This time an S300 missile launch in Ukraine had it rise a couple hundred meters, then it fell tail first to the ground. Video at the link, http://www.military.com/video/guided-missiles/surface-to-air/russian-s300-missile-fails-to-launch/4187044289001/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 18, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 18, 2015 That was on scene all right...I wanted to duck... I did a quick "google" on the missle type and came across another accident that killed 6 Russian missle technicians just prior to that... http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/571779/Russian-missile-technicians-dead-after-huge-blast-as-rocket-launch-goes-horribly-wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 That really went well. Sounds like a review of safety procedures is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGeorge Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I remember watching a documentary on the moon race. Russian rockets were about as reliable as a condom put through a paper shredder. Judging by the footage shown, ###### blew up quite often when attempting launches. They tried like hell though, that I'll give them. Fortunately, we got that smart German Guy Vandenberg (correct name?) after WWII ended or we'd have been in the same boat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
123456789A Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I remember watching a documentary on the moon race. Russian rockets were about as reliable as a condom put through a paper shredder. Judging by the footage shown, ###### blew up quite often when attempting launches. They tried like hell though, that I'll give them. Fortunately, we got that smart German Guy Vandenberg (correct name?) after WWII ended or we'd have been in the same boat. Yep, that's why they don't use Russian rockets, even when you beat Tetris. JustGeorge 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 18, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 18, 2015 That really went well. Sounds like a review of safety procedures is in order. Or issue better hard hats.....but seriously, this situation is real bad for many reasons...crew safety....crew training......QA/QC....insurance liability...and bad press...Cheers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustGeorge Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Yep, that's why they don't use Russian rockets, even when you beat Tetris. Maybe not.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_%28spacecraft%29 President Devil and Draggendrop 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 19, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 19, 2015 Due to this ripple effect, Inmarsat books a slot with SpaceX for 2016 as a backup....Excellent...Cheers http://spacenews.com/inmarsat-first-to-feel-ripple-effects-of-latest-proton-failure/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 No surprise given the problems with Proton and the Briz-M upper stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draggendrop Veteran Posted May 23, 2015 Veteran Share Posted May 23, 2015 Just found this by accident...apparently, Mexico was thinking of cancelling sat launch but "penalty" was too steep... http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Mexico_Wanted_to_Cancel_Satellite_Launch_on_Russian_Carrier_Rocket_999.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 What are the odds they'll take that $300m and go elsewhere for launch attempt #2? Russia's satellite launch business is dying before our eyes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
President Devil Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Sucks for the Russian space race, if it is even a race anymore these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malenfant Posted May 23, 2015 Share Posted May 23, 2015 Transitions can be difficult. Older legacy systems on the way out, along with your best, most experienced people. Building new systems along with a new generation of engineers is no easy thing and there might be weird cultural constraints making the whole thing more difficult. I expect they'll come right though. Eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Their immediate problems are QA, the construction troubles at Vostochny and the fact that Angara is so late to production that it's already outdated and still years to full production. The QA and Vostochny issues aside, I'd get cracking on the methane fueled Soyuz 5 ASAFP, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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