Russia will not be able to fulfill its program for the space launches of carrier rockets for 2012 completely, Dmitry Paison, director for the development of the Skolkovo Foundation's space rocket cluster, told Interfax-AVN.
“Russia conducted nine launches in the first half of the year. It is certainly too little. In my opinion, this figure has been influenced by the unpreparedness of space rockets and last year’s unsuccessful launches, after which we had to review the launch program and change something technically. If one takes a look at the launch schedule for the second half of the year, some of these launches will be postponed until the following year in any case,” he said.
Thirty-six launch vehicles are expected to take off from the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes in accordance with Russia’s space launch program for 2012, not counting the planned launches as part of the Sea Launch program and those from the Guiana Space Center near Kourou in French Guiana.
They include the launches of 15 Proton-M rockets, five Soyuz-FG rockets, five Soyuz-U rockets, four Soyuz-2.1b rockets, three Rokot rockets, two Soyuz-2.1a rockets, one Zenit, and one Soyuz-2.1v.
“For example, the plan includes the launches of six more Proton rockets with fixed dates and three other launches without fixed dates before the end of the year. Certainly, no one will be able to launch this number of Protons this year,” Paison said.
Regrettably, none of the nine space launches conducted by Russia since the beginning of the year was intended to place communications, navigation or Earth remote sensing satellites into orbit, he said.
“Two military satellites, two Progress spaceships and one Soyuz were launched. The absence of launches as part of Russia’s applied programs could be a matter of concern. It is bad. Although such launches are expected to take place at the end of the year,” the expert said.
Russia put the SES-4, Intersat-22, YahSat 1B and Nimiq 6 satellites as part of its program for commercial space launches.
In 2011, Russia set this decade’s record by conducting 35 carrier rocket launches, including 32 from the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes and the Dombarovsky launch pad, as well as two from the Guiana Space Center, and one as part of the Sea Launch program. Five of the launches ended in failure.
Thirty-one Russian launch vehicles lifted off in 2010 (one unsuccessful launch), 33 in 2009 (one failure), 33 in 2008 (one failure), 27 in 2007 (two failures), 30 in 2006 (two failures), 31 in 2005 (three failures), 26 in 2004 (one failure), 24 in 2003 (no failures), 25 in 2002 (two failures), 25 in 2001 (no failures), and 38 in 2000 (four failures).
