Ukraine and Russia are preparing a meeting of their interagency commission as part of the August 22 launch of a Dnepr rocket carrying South Korea's KompSat-5 spacecraft from the Yasny launch site (Orenburg region, Russia).
A source from the rocket and space industry told Interfax-Ukraine that a meeting of a bilateral interagency commission, which will focus on the resumption of commercial launches of small satellites with the help of the Dnepr rocket, is scheduled for August 20-24 in Russia.
According to the Kosmotras International Space Consortium, preparations for the August 22 takeoff of the Dnepr LV with the Korean KompSat-5 on board are going on schedule. The satellite has successfully passed autonomous checks and has been filled with hydrazine and compressed gas. The Dnepr LV has passed electrical tests and is also ready for fueling.
KompSat-5 was designed and produced by Europe’s Alcatel Alenia Space and is equipped with a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
The launch of the Korean radar satellite was originally planned for 2011. However the launch date has been repeatedly postponed due to the suspension of the Dnepr program in 2011 because of the Russian Defense Ministry’s position on the financial aspects of the program.
The resumption of the launches under the Dnepr program was raised at the inter-state level. At the 5th meeting of the Ukrainian-Russian interstate commission with the participation of the two presidents in July of 2012 in Yalta, the plans of three launches under the Dnepr program in 2013 were announced.
The agreement to resume the launches of the Dnepr rocket was confirmed at a meeting of deputy prime ministers of Ukraine and the Russian Federation, Yuriy Boiko and Dmitry Rogozin, in Moscow in May 2013.
The Ukrainian-Russian-Kazakh firm Kosmotras specializes in converting RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles (the SS-18 Satan under Western classification) into Dnepr launch vehicles, and uses them to put small satellites into orbit. Such rockets are launched from the Baikonur space center and the Yasny launch pad belonging to the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces’ division in Orenburg region.
Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan started the Dnepr program up in 1999.
Since 1999, Kosmotras has had 17 successful Dnepr launches. A total of 62 satellites were put into orbit, including spacecraft from Italy, Germany, Malaysia, the UK, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United States, Japan, France, the UAE, Spain and Russia.
In the opinion of experts, the Dnepr LV is the world’s leader in launches of satellites lighter than 1,000 kilograms to a low near-Earth orbit and a factor of the market development and growth.
