There was held a gala ceremony of transfer of the symbolic "keys" from the Soyuz launching facility constructed by Russian specialists to the Arianespace Concern (France) on May 7, 2011, at the Guiana Space Center, located near the city of Kourou in the French Guiana (South America).
The project with the total value of EUR 334 mln is implemented by the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roskosmos on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement between France and Russia entered into in 2003. Especially for this project, a three-stage carrier rocket Soyuz-ST was designed by the State Scientific Production Rocket Space Center Central Specialized Design Bureau-Progress (Samara), and an upper-stage rocket Fregat-SB was developed at the Scientific Production Enterprise named after S. Lavochkin (Khimki, Moscow Region). The complex is located 10 km away from the site from where European space vehicles Ariane-5 are launched. Our segment occupies approximately 2 km2.
The launching site in South America means that Soyuz will be the only carrier rocket launched from the territory of three countries: Russia (Plesetsk), Kazakhstan (Baikonur) and French Guiana (Kourou). In the near future our equipment will launch into orbit two satellites for the European navigation system Galileo. Nataliya Yachmennikova, observer of the Rossiiskaya Gazeta, analyzed this promising space exploration project.
As explained by Yachmennikova, Soyuz-ST was designed on the basis of a modified rocket R-7* developed in the 1960s. The space vehicle meets all safety, telemetry and operational requirements of the French spaceport located at the equator: it was developed and constructed with a new element base, components and metals adapted to tropical conditions (temperature--34°C, humidity--90 percent and higher). Even paint operations were carried out in line with a special technology.
By the way, Soyuz-ST will be assembled in a vertical position right at the launching pad. This technology is fundamentally different from the "horizontal" assembly that is traditionally applied at Baikonur and Plesetsk spaceports. A mobile service tower--a 50 m facility with nine decks--was erected there especially for the assem-
* See: N. Koroleva, "His Name and Cosmos Are Inseparable", Science in Russia, No. 1, 2007.--Ed.
bly procedure. The total weight of the tower is 743 tons. Our inventive designers used a new engineering approach and assembled it "on pins", i.e. on moving elements. The tower will acquire required rigidity and stability only after completion of assembly works. The main purpose of the tower is to ensure installation of the head part and upper stage of Fregat on the third stage of the carrier rocket, ensure comfortable working conditions for the operations group dealing with launching assemblies, prevent heating of the equipment under direct sunlight and, finally, protect the rocket and the maintenance team from tropical rains common in this latitude. The average annual precipitation in South America is 3,000 mm, over 500 mm of water precipitates in Guiana in the rainy season daily--so you cannot do without a "roof there. All this will make it possible to launch any type of space vehicles from the equatorial spaceport.
According to Yachmennikova, European countries have been considering the idea of using Soyuz carrier rockets for a long time. It is not only Russian "wheel horse", but also the most popular rocket in the world--cheap and reliable. That is why a joint Russian-
French enterprise Starsem* was established in 1996. Initially, Baikonur was the only considered launching site, but soon an idea to make launches from Kourou materialized too. A launching site located near the equator (5°14ΦN, 52°46ΦW) is ideal for ballistic purposes: changes in the satellite trajectory are minimal. Another advantage of the equatorial location is a "sling" effect, when energy is formed due to the rotation of the Earth, which means additional speed in 460 m/s (1,656 km/h), fuel economy and cost efficiency. Ultimately, thanks to the equatorial location of the launching site, Soyuz-ST is able to put into geostationary orbit satellites weighing 2.5-3 times more than satellites launched from Baikonur (payload of 4, not 1.5 tons).
According to Yachmennikova, European countries will also benefit from this project: in addition to heavy carriers Ariane-5 and Vega light ones, they have access to the most reliable economy-class rocket in the world that made over 1,700 launches. Using Russian technologies, the operator of the launching complex--French concern Ariane-space--is planning to make two-four launches a year.
* See: Yu. Markov, "Russia and France Join Hands in Space", Science in Russia, No. 6, 2006.--Ed.
The contract is valid till December 31, 2016, or till complete execution of contractual obligations. Ariane-space confirmed its interest in the implementation of perspective projects associated with the use of our carrier rockets at Baikonur spaceport.
According to Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of the European Space Agency, who took the floor at the opening ceremony, Soyuz in the Guiana center is a bright example of space cooperation between Russia and Europe. By the way, four years ago a stone from "Gagarin's launching site" that symbolizes the Russian-European space cooperation was brought to the construction site. Today there is a memo plate on it with an inscription: "This stone was brought from Baikonur, a place from which Yuri Gagarin made his journey to outer space on April 12, 1961."*
Satellite launches from the French Guiana are scheduled for years ahead. Arianespace has requested 23 carrier rockets from Russian partners. At the moment, 18 launches of Soyuz are already planned, including 14 Galileo satellites to be put into orbit. Moreover, Europeans hope to launch a man into outer space from this launching site. If this dream comes true, Kourou will become the second tropical Baikonur.
Editors' Notes
The Soyuz-ST booster rocket off to a successful start: launched in French Guiana in October 2011, it carried aloft two orbiters of the European GPS "Galileo". That was the first launching of a Russian booster rocket abroad, beyond the confines of the former USSR.
N. Yachmennikova, "Key to Take off!", Rossiiskaya Gazeta, No. 129, 2011
* See: Yu. Markov, "Baikonur: 50 Years of Serving Mankind", Science in Russia, No. 3, 2005.--Ed.
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