Новости ILS

[tnt22]

Proton Variants Presentation  - 7 стр

[tnt22]

Proton Medium Ascent Profile

[napalm]

Совсем мелко

[tnt22]

2 napalm
Sorry, крупнее на сайте ILS не выложено и в pdf-ках нет  

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/sponsored/ils-variant/

ILS NOW OFFERING COST EFFECTIVE LAUNCH SOLUTION TO MEET THE SMALL TO MEDIUM GEO SATELLITE MARKET


Responding to demand for more cost-effective choices in the market for launching geostationary-orbiting satellites, International Launch Services (ILS) is introducing two lighter variants of the Russian Proton rocket to be available starting in 2018.
Both new variants will use the same basic hardware – including engines, fuel tanks and avionics – as the standard three-stage Proton Breeze M vehicle, a heavy-lift workhorse whose legacy dates back some 50 years. But there is one less stage in the planned Proton Medium and Proton Light rockets, yielding lower-cost alternatives in a market that in recent years has shifted toward lighter-weight satellites.
"Our customers have been asking for more tailored solutions and we're responding," ILS President Kirk Pysher explained. "The launch marketplace continues to be dynamic, and thanks in large part to our Russian-industry partners we're able to quickly adapt."
ILS will continue to market the Proton Breeze M, built by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center of Moscow, at least until 2020, ILS officials say. That rocket is capable of launching payloads weighing up to 6.3 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit, which is where most commercial communications satellites separate from their launch vehicle en route to geostationary orbit 36,000 kilometers above the equator.
The Proton Light and Proton Medium vehicles will be capable of launching payloads weighing between 3 and 5 metric tons, to geostationary transfer orbit, ILS officials said. Proton Medium is expected to debut in 2018, with the smaller vehicle to follow in 2019.
Proton Medium and Proton Light give ILS a more competitive offering for satellites weighing 5 metric tons or less, which now make up more than half the commercial market. This shift has been driven in part by the introduction of electric propulsion systems that reduce – and in some cases eliminate – the need for the dense chemical propellant that satellites have traditionally used to fuel their climb to their final geostationary orbit.
ILS's main competitors are Arianespace of Europe, whose Ariane 5 rocket is designed to launch two geostationary satellites at a time, one large and one relatively small; and SpaceX's Falcon 9, which has established itself as the market's low-cost option but recently was grounded following a launch pad accident. SpaceX has also sold commercial launches aboard its Falcon Heavy vehicle, which has yet to make its first flight.
 On its website, SpaceX – a relative newcomer to the market – advertises an 8.3-metric-ton Falcon 9 lift capability to geostationary transfer orbit. But the commercial telecom satellites launched on the rocket to date have, with one exception, weighed less than 5 metric tons, and this is the market ILS is addressing with the new Proton Variants.
 Industry officials say Falcon 9's availability has nudged satellite operators and manufacturers toward the 5-ton weight class, which is less than ideal for both the Ariane 5 and standard heavy-lift Proton.
Proton Medium is effectively sharpening ILS's competitive edge in this growing market niche, whereas the Proton Light likely will compete for satellites that otherwise would launch on Falcon 9 or in the Ariane 5's lower berth, which is reserved for the smaller satellite in paired missions.
 The Falcon 9's near-term availability, meanwhile, is now in question following a Sept. 1 launch pad explosion that destroyed the vehicle, which was being fueled in preparation for a launch rehearsal, and its payload, a telecommunications satellite owned by Spacecom of Israel.
 
 The new Proton variants eliminate the second stage of the existing Proton and partially offset the resulting power reduction by stretching out the first and third stages, which are then stacked together. Like the existing vehicle, the Proton Medium has six first-stage strap on boosters, while the Proton-Light has four.
 "No test flights are planned of the new vehicles because of the proven reliability of their building-block components," said Jim Kramer, ILS vice president of engineering and mission assurance. "Over the past 50 plus years, the Proton vehicle has flight proven experience in launching in a wide variety of configurations and conditions."
 Also like the standard Proton Breeze M, the Proton Medium and Proton Light will come with a 4-meter fairing, ILS officials said.
 Though primarily focused on the geostationary market, ILS also is marketing the new Khrunichev-built Angara 1.2 vehicle with an advertised capability to launch up to 3 metric tons to low Earth orbit. ILS recently announced its first Angara 1.2 contract, to launch a radar imaging satellite for the Korean Aerospace Research Institute around 2020.

Видео:
http://spacenews.com/sponsored/ils-variant/images/Kirk-Pysher.mp4#t=00:00:00.150
http://spacenews.com/sponsored/ils-variant/images/Jim-Kramer.mp4#t=00:00:00.40

[Salo]

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  6 ч.6 часов назад  
Launcher panel at #WSBW may have caused confusion. ILS confirms that there is in fact NO launch-backup agreement between them and SpaceX.

[Salo]

https://rg.ru/2016/09/30/glava-roskosmosa-dolozhil-putinu-ob-osvoenii-marsa.html

"Одновременно мы заключили за прошедший год рекордное количество контрактов - 31 контракт (21 - по "Союзам" с компанией OneWeb) - и сделали серьезный шаг по "Протону", - продолжил Комаров. - Впервые за последние три-четыре года мы заключили контракт на 10 пусков". Они будут произведены в 2018-2019 годах.

[Salo]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/3676238

Версия "Протона" с увеличенным головным обтекателем выйдет на мировой рынок в 2020 году
 4 октября, 14:21 UTC+3
 С 2020 года коммерческим заказчикам будет доступна модификация ракеты с головным обтекателем высотой 17,3 метра и диаметром пять метров
 
  © Михаил Джапаридзе/ТАСС  
 
МОСКВА, 4 октября. /ТАСС/. Модификация российской ракеты-носителя "Протон-М" с увеличенной головной частью, что позволит за один запуск выводить на орбиту больше спутников, выйдет на рынок коммерческих пусков в 2020 году. Это следует из документов, опубликованных на сайте компании International Launch Services (ILS) - оператора пусковых услуг "Протона".
Согласно документам, с 2020 года коммерческим заказчикам будет доступна модификация ракеты с головным обтекателем высотой 17,3 метра и диаметром пять метров. Сейчас на ракетах "Протон-М" используются головные обтекатели высотой 15,3 метра и диаметром четыре метра.
Презентованная ранее "средняя" версия "Протона" также получит новый обтекатель. Его диаметр достигнет пяти метров, а высота останется прежней - 15,3 метра.
Как сообщалось ранее, выпускающий "Протоны" Центр им. Хруничева представил две новые модификации ракеты-носителя - "среднюю" и "легкую". "Средняя" версия состоит из первой и третьей ступеней базового "Протона", ее первый запуск должен пройти в 2018 году. "Легкая" также состоит из первой и третьей ступеней, но из шести двигателей первой ступени оставлены только четыре. Ее планируется впервые запустить в 2019 году, и ее четырехметровый обтекатель менять не планируется.
Головной обтекатель ракеты-носителя предназначен для защиты разгонного блока и полезной нагрузки от воздействия внешней среды как при наземных операциях, так и в полете.
Комментариями Центра им. Хруничева ТАСС пока не располагает.

[Salo]

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  1 ч.1 час назад  
Sat insurance: Launch+1st yr in orbit. Ariane 5 (~4-5%), Falcon 9 (a bit higher) & Proton (12-13%); available volume up.#satechrevolution
 

[Salo]

Peter B. de Selding ‏@pbdes  9 ч.9 часов назад  
Orbital ATK (platform) & Airbus (payload) & to build Eutelsat 5WB DTH sat to launch 2018 on ILS Proton w/ Orbital's sat-servicing vehicle.
 

[Salo]

http://spacenews.com/orbital-airbus-team-to-build-eutelsat-satellite-to-launch-with-orbital-satelilte-servicing-mission/

Orbital, Airbus team to build Eutelsat satellite to launch with Orbital satellite-servicing mission
by Peter B. de Selding — October 11, 2016
The Eutelsat 5 West B satellite, to be built by Orbital ATK and Airbus, will be launched in 2018 aboard an ILS Proton rocket that will also carry Orbital's Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV-1) satellite-servicing mission. MEV-1 and Eutelsat 5 West B both use Orbital's GEOStar platform, meaning they can be easily stacked one on top of the other, saving weight both launch and insurance costs. Credit: Orbital ATK

PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat on Oct. 11 said it had inaugurated its design-to-cost spending-reduction plan by ordering a direct-broadcast television satellite from Orbital ATK of the United States and Airbus Defence and Space of Europe.
In another cost-reduction measure, the satellite, Eutelsat 5 West B — benefiting from Orbital's smaller platform size — will be launched in 2018 as a co-passenger aboard an International Launch Services Proton Breeze-M rocket.
Riding to geostationary transfer orbit with the Eutelsat satellite will be  Orbital's precedent-setting satellite in-orbit serving Mission Extension Vehicle, MEV-1, which uses the same GEOStar-based platform as Orbital's telecommunications satellites.

Stacking the savings on a single Proton

Stacking two GEOStar-derived platforms on top of each other, without an adaptor between them, saves weight and will allow Eutelsat — and Orbital, for the MEV-1 — to save on launch costs.
Fleet operator Intelsat is Orbital's inaugural customer for MEV-1, which will perform a test mission with Intelsat before moving on to its operational scenario of docking with a satellite, assuming control of its propulsion and attitude control, and providing fuel to extend its service life.
MEV-1 then undocks and is available to perform similar mission-extension missions on several satellites. Like the satellites themselves, MEV-1 has an estimated 15-year service life.
Satellite insurers are taking a cautiously optimistic view of MEV-1 and similar satellite in-orbit servicing initiatives. They have said MEV-1 customers likely will be forced to sign amended, higher-premium insurance policies, which usually provide for annual coverage of healthy satellites in orbit, to reflect the higher risk associated with servicing missions.
Eutelsat 5 West B will replace the Eutelsat 5 West A satellite at 5 degrees west longitude. It will carry the equivalent of 35 36-megahertz Ku-band transponders to deliver direct-to-home television to audiences located mainly in France, Italy and Algeria.
Eutelsat 5A, which also carries a C-band payload, was launched in mid-2002 and is nearing retirement.
Eutelsat's revenue and profit warning in May had a chilling effect on the entire fixed satellite services industry. The company said the market reaction was overblown and that growth would return within three years.
Nonetheless, Eutelsat announced a broad cost-cutting program that included a 16 percent reduction — to 420 million euros ($470 million) per year for the coming three years from the earlier 500 million euros — in annual capital spending for three years.
The company said it would be pressuring its supply chain, notably satellite builders and launch-service providers, to minimize the effects of the lower spending on new capacity to be placed into orbit.
Dulles, Virginia-based Orbital's GEOStar platform occupies the lighter end of the commercial geostationary-orbit satellite market. Airbus said the Eutelsat 5 West B would have a launch mass of about 3,000 kilograms and would generate 5 kilowatts of power to the payload at the end of its 15-year life.
Eutelsat Chief Technology Officer Yohann Leroy said the idea to marry an Airbus payload with an Orbital-built platform emerged as the natural consequence of Eutelsat's bid request, whose power specifications were below what Airbus usually provides to customers.
Other companies besides Orbital can build small geostationary-orbit communications satellite platforms, but none could offer the relatively seamless stacking option to save on the launch costs that comes from having two nearly identical satellite skeletal structures as passengers.
Leroy said Oct. 10 that Eutelsat looked at the total cost of ownership of the 5 West B program, including launch cost. Eutelsat in late 2015 signed a Multi-Launch Agreement with Reston, Virginia-based International Launch Services (ILS), which markets Russia's Proton rocket.
Proton was coming off a string of failures that had tarnished its reputation among commercial satellite owners. Eutelsat said at the time that its agreement with ILS was done in part to ensure that at least three rockets remained regularly available to the commercial market. The other two are the Arianespace-provided Ariane 5 and the SpaceX Falcon 9.
The combination of previously negotiated cost reductions in the Multi-Launch Agreement and the ability to essentially cut launch costs in half by sharing a Proton mission have resulted in "substantial savings," Leroy said. He declined to be specific.
After 15 years of operations of the 5 West A satellite, Eutelsat has been able to reduce the coverage for the successor spacecraft based on the customer set that has developed over the years in France, Italy and Algeria. The successor satellite thus needs less power to serve the customer base, and does not need the C-band capacity aboard 5 West A.

[Salo]

http://tass.ru/kosmos/3695761

Новый европейский спутник Eutelsat запустят на "Протоне-М"
 11 октября, 17:32 UTC+3
 Запуск запланирован на 2018 год
 
МОСКВА, 11 октября. /ТАСС/. Европейский оператор спутниковой связи Eutelsat выбрал российскую ракету-носитель "Протон-М" для запуска в 2018 году своего спутника Eutelsat 5 West B. Об этом говорится в пресс-релизе, опубликованном на сайте европейского оператора связи.
"Уменьшение размеров спутника позволяет осуществить запуск с помощью ракеты-носителя компании International Launch Services "Протон-М" совместно с космическим аппаратом MEV-1", - говорится в сообщении. Запуск запланирован на 2018 год.
Eutelsat 5 West B заменит работающий на орбите Eutelsat 5 West A. Аппарат изготовят европейская компания Airbus Defence and Space и американская Orbital ATK.

[Salo]

http://www.roscosmos.ru/22741/

ЦЕНТР ИМ.М.В.ХРУНИЧЕВА. ПОДПИСАНЫ КОНТРАКТЫ НА ПУСКИ РН «ПРОТОН»
12.10.2016 16:40
 

   Дочерняя компания Космического Центра им. М.В.Хруничева International Launch Services (ILS), которая предоставляет пусковые услуги ракет-носителей (РН) «Протон» международным коммерческим операторам спутниковой связи, и один из ведущих операторов спутниковой связи Eutelsat Communications (Париж, Франция) объявили о подписании контрактов на два запуска в период 2018-2020 гг.

    

   Первый контракт предусматривает пуск РН тяжелого класса «Протон-М/Бриз-М» с парной полезной нагрузкой в составе созданных компанией Orbital ATK (США) космического аппарата связи EUTELSAT-5-West-B и первого аппарата для продления срока эксплуатации спутников (Mission Extension Vehicle) MEV-1 (в качестве дополнительной полезной нагрузки). Запуск запланирован на последний квартал 2018 г.

    

   Это первый контракт на парный запуск, заключенный ILS c Eutelsat. Запуски на РН «Протон-М» парных полезных нагрузок являются одним из наиболее интересных результатов адаптации носителя к требованиям заказчиков по снижению стоимости пусковых услуг за последние годы. Ранее, начиная с февраля 2009 г., состоялось шесть парных пусков на РН «Протон-М», осуществленных в интересах федеральных и коммерческих заказчиков.

    

   Второй контракт предусматривает запуск с полезной нагрузкой для Eutelsat в период 2019-2020 годов.  Для этого запуска планируется впервые использовать модификацию РН «Протон-М» среднего класса.

    

   В сентябре этого года Центр им. М.В.Хруничева объявил о расширении продуктовой линейки за счет создания двух дополнительных модификаций РН «Протон-М» (с разгонным блоком «Бриз-М») - легкого и среднего класса. Новые РН – это оптимизированные двухступенчатые версии РН «Протон-М», на которых будет выводиться исключительно коммерческая нагрузка в рамках контрактов, заключенных дочерней компанией Центра им.М.В.Хруничева International Launch Services (ILS). Ввод в эксплуатацию «легкого» и «среднего» «Протонов» позволит обеспечить экономически эффективное выведение на геостационарную орбиту (ГСО) малых и средних космических аппаратов (с массой от 3-х до 5-ти тонн) в соответствии с требованиями заказчиков и усилить коммерческий потенциал РН «Протон» на рынке запусков геостационарных спутников.

    

   Оба запуска будут осуществлены с космодрома БАЙКОНУР в рамках Пакетного соглашения на пусковые услуги РН «Протон», заключенного ILS и Eutelsat в октябре прошлого года. Пакетное соглашение предназначено для обеспечения компании Eutelsat гибкого графика экономически эффективных запусков в течение семилетнего периода. Первым запуском в рамках Пакетного соглашения был запуск КА «Eutelsat-9B», осуществленный 30 января 2016 г. «Eutelsat-9B», стал 11-м КА, запущенным за последние 15 лет для Eutelsat с помощью РН «Протон» по контрактам, заключенным ILS.

[tnt22]

Интервью президента ILS для SpaceNews magazine:

ILS and Khrunichev sharpen Proton's commercial edge

ILS and Khrunichev sharpen Proton's commercial edge

 Peter B. de Selding
 Feature, October 24, 2016


 

International Launch Services'  September announcement that its owner, Khrunichev Space Center, would develop two Proton rocket variants dedicated to the commercial market was perhaps the clearest-yet proof that Russia is serious about the commercial launch business.

It took Reston, Virginia-based ILS just a few weeks to line up its first customer for the two-stage Proton Medium vehicle. Paris-based Eutelsat, which had already signed a multi-launch agreement with ILS, will use the new Proton version for a 3,000-5,000-kilogram satellite in 2019 or 2020.

Kirk Pysher. Credit: International Launch Services

Eutelsat also announced that its Eutelsat 5 West B telecommunications satellite would share a ride to orbit in 2018 aboard the current Proton Breeze M vehicle with a satellite in-orbit servicing demonstrator that shares the same basic Orbital ATK-built skeletal structure as the Eutelsat satellite.

For ILS President Kirk Pysher, the new Proton vehicles are part of a renewed commitment to commercial business by Moscow-based Khrunichev, now run by former executives fr om Russia's Sukhoi jet program.

Pysher addressed the pro-business thinking at Khrunichev, and inside the Russian government, with SpaceNews' Peter B. de Selding at the recent Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

How can Khrunichev fund two new Proton variants for commercial-only use given its financial challenges? The Russian president and the head of Roscosmos have discussed this publicly.

The two variants are indeed being designed for commercial-only use and they are being procured with commercial specifications to establish a way for Proton to be viable and competitive going forward. That allows us to gain more access and more insight and helps us with the production cost of those vehicles.

By "us," you mean ILS?

Yes, ILS. That is the philosophy at Khrunichev today. Once these vehicles are on line and launching, the Russian government may decide that it wants to use them. But today commercial-only is the plan. The whole development of these vehicles has been done on a cost-conscious basis. There is a challenge in the Russian space industry today for dollars and rubles. Khrunichev does have debt and that is publicly known. I don't have a lot of insight into it to comment on it, but the investment required for the development of these vehicles is extremely minimal.

In order for Khrunichev to be viable in the future from a commercial perspective, for them to maintain revenue, we have to develop these vehicles, and to broaden and diversify the satellite market we provide launches for.

This investment will help solve some of Khrunichev's debt problems by expanding our market capabilities and bringing in more commercial revenue.

Was it ILS that sold Khrunichev on these new Proton variants?

It was a joint initiative that started last year. We sat down and talked about what we needed to do to be viable over the next 10 or 15 years before  the Angara rocket [now in development] shows up. So it became a joint project wh ere we were working with Khrunichev management to figure that out.

Will ILS have the pricing freedom needed to make the new variants a commercial success? Given the Russian ruble's value on foreign-exchange markets, this should help you.

We don't really include the exchange rate as one of our primary drivers because it changes so frequently. Today the exchange rate is an advantage. Next year it may not be. We don't know.

But yes, I believe we have enough leverage that the pricing will be competitive.

Will ILS have more pricing leverage with the Proton variants than with the current Proton Breeze M?

Yes, that's a fair statement. That's why we are procuring them commercially, because it does allow us that leverage.

Have you placed an order for a set number of these vehicles from Khrunichev?

Not yet.

But that will happen in 2016?

Yes.

Are you still developing the 5-meter fairing for Proton?

Right now our focus is on development of the two new launch vehicles. But we expect to have a 5-meter fairing in the 2020 time frame.

And the June anomaly on the second stage? What happened there?

First, it was an entirely successful mission. There was an in-flight anomaly when one of the four second-stage engines shut down nine seconds early. In the past, that investigation would have been done internally, by Khrunichev on its own.

But because of the new dedication to reliability, that anomaly investigation was turned over to a Russian State commission — much in the same way as would have happened if the launch had been a failure. It's the same process. That process has taken a little longer than we might have expected originally. But the investigation has been completed. I don't have the details yet, but it was isolated to a second-stage plumbing attachment.

Proton in the past has returned from failures more quickly than it has returned to flight this time after an anomaly that did not result in a failure. Why is that?

It's a combination of a couple of things. First of all, the quality assurance people at Khrunichev today come from the Sukhoi superjet program. They have a different viewpoint — I would say a more detailed viewpoint — on quality and investigations. And the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, is more involved in this whole process.

The Khrunichev team conducted the investigation and went to the Russian State Commission with their findings and the commission asked them to go back and do more work. That happened a couple of times.

So overall, the process I is more involved and more detailed than it would have been in the past, and this is because there's a new dedication to creating a reliable Proton for our customers.

So the fact that Proton has been grounded for six months after the anomaly is a good sign?

That's right. I think this is a positive step.

When do you expect to return to flight?

We are looking at November or December.

[ZOOR]

Salo пишет:
2017
....
начало года – Intelsat 35e – Протон-М/Бриз-М – Байконур  (Falcon 9)

А Kirk Pysher уже рвет себе волосы на голове от такой новости?

[tnt22]

Новости по AsiaSat-9

• ILS ‏@ILSLaunch 12 ч. назад
   
   The AsiaSat 9 #spacecraft has successfully completed the dynamics test phase: http://bit.ly/2jttpnq  @sslmda #AsiaSat9 #satellite #space
   
  

http://www.asiasat.com/news/blog/asiasat-9-spacecraft-dynamics-acoustic-testing?utm_source=joomla&utm_campaign=a9-dynamic&utm_medium=edm

25 January 2017

 AsiaSat 9 Update - Spacecraft Dynamics & Acoustic Testing

Ayman Kamel    
                              
AsiaSat 9 spacecraft has successfully completed the dynamics test phase which simulates environment exposures seen by the spacecraft during launch.
The first environmental test exposure is a high power acoustics field (a very large sound pressure wave). This simulates the rocket fairing environment during liftoff.
The second environmental is a 3 axis vibration test that simulates the vibration caused by the rocket engines during liftoff and other flight phases of the mission through separation of the spacecraft in orbit.

AsiaSat 9 spacecraft rolled into the stacked speakers circle in preparation for acoustics testing. The circle is closed off with additional speaker stacks for the actual acoustic test exposure.
 What is a dynamics testing?
Dynamics testing is performed to confirm the spacecraft can withstand the launch environments imposed by the rocket carrying the spacecraft into orbit. Highly specialised test facilities are used to expose the spacecraft to sound pressure waves and vibration levels created by the rocket. The levels used during test are higher than actual launch exposure to demonstrate the robustness of the spacecraft workmanship and design.

Click here to read more about the capabilities of AsiaSat 9, or contact us to find out more.

http://www.asiasat.com/technology/satellite-fleet/satellite-9

AsiaSat 9
    
High-performance satellite with enhanced power and coverage for Asia and Australasia
AsiaSat 9 is AsiaSat's next generation satellite, planned to replace AsiaSat 4 at 122 degrees East Longitude. AsiaSat 9 is a Space Systems/Loral 1300E satellite equipped with 28 C-band and 32 Ku-band transponders, and a Ka-band payload. AsiaSat 9 will provide additional capacity, enhanced power and coverage for DTH, video distribution, private networks and broadband services across the Asia-Pacific region. AsiaSat 9 is planned for launch in Q2 2017. 
 
             SATELLITE INFORMATION          

Launch Date:	Q2 2017
Model:	1300E Model   by Space Systems/Loral
Nominal Orbital Location:	122 degrees East

 
                                                
             COMMUNICATIONS PAYLOAD             
 C-BAND
 
Coverage:
Asia, Middle East, CIS, Australasia
 
No. of Transponders:
28 (linearised)
 
Transponder Bandwidth:
36 MHz
 
TWTA Size:
110 watts
 
 KU-BAND
 
Coverage:
5 beams: Australasia beam, East Asia beam, Indonesia beam, Mongolia beam and Myanmar beam
 
No. of Transponders:
32 (linearised)
 
Transponder Bandwidth:
54 MHz
 
TWTA Size:
200 watts

[Salo]

https://www.spaceintelreport.com/interview-kirk-pysher-president-international-launch-services

Interview: Kirk Pysher, president, International Launch Services
February 16, 2017

International Launch Services President Kirk Pysher
Credit: ILS

International Launch Services President Kirk Pysher views the engine-quality issues that have grounded Russia's Proton rocket since June as a sign that Russia's government and industry sector are serious about quality control. He's hopeful of a return to flight by April or May.
For Reston, Virginia-based ILS, which is responsible for Proton's commercial sales, the past eight months have not been easy. First there was a second-stage anomaly in June 2016 during the mission carrying Intelsat's IS-31 telecommunications satellite.
The problem, later tied to a missing or insufficiently tightened bolt, did not result in a failure, but it grounded Proton for several months. Then in December, a routine annual inspection of a Proton engine turned up a substandard soldering material.
Proton's planned December return to flight, with EchoStar Corp.'s EchoStar 21 S-band satellite for European mobile services, was scrapped and a full-scale investigation was begun.

The global satellite communications market awaits return of SpaceX, ILS

The continued grounding of Russia's workhorse rocket has come at a time when the SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle has had its own issues following a September failure. That has put two of the three principal commercial launch service providers — the third is Europe's Arianespace — on the sidelines.
The global commercial launch market being what it is, very few of the affected customers of SpaceX or ILS have been able to move elsewhere.
In a Feb. 15 interview, Pysher said ILS is cautiously optimistic of being able to return to flight, with the EchoStar 21, in April or May. Two further commercial launches, of Hispasat and AsiaSat satellites, are planned before the end of the year.
Pysher is asking customers to look beyond the pain of the launch delay to see just how seriously the Russian government and Russia's industry takes the issue of engine quality.

What can you tell customers about the Proton rocket's status?

Pysher: Let me start by saying that this is actually a quality- control success story.
As part of the standard quality process, and this may be unique to Russia, when they do engine builds, they actually have a periodic test program, where they will pull an engine fr om the production line once a year and do an extended duration test on it, typically at higher thrust levels than what is needed for flight.
The purpose is to validate the quality and production stability. They conducted that test on one of Proton's second-stage engines in early December. The engine survived the test, typically run at twice the flight duration and at higher thrust value for at least part of the duration.
Following that test, they do a destructive inspection of the engine. They cut it open and do visual and metallurgical inspections. On one component, they found the brazing did not have the proper bonding characteristics.
Roscosmos organized an investigation and they determined that the solder used in that brazing operation had a higher melt point than what they expected.

But that solder issue did not affect the test firing?

Pysher: That's right, the engine had survived the test. With the soldering, they lay sheets of the solder material and then put it in an oven and bake it. The solder then melts and flows throughout the engine. At a lower melt point, when it bakes in the oven at a set temperature it will flow better than a solder that has a higher melt point.
That leads to a decision point. Do they continue flying these engines or do they stop because of the uncertainties?
So the first point is the quality process did catch this before it got on a flight vehicle. It was found on the ground.
Second, fr om an engineering standpoint there was a decision to make.
You demonstrated the capability even with the higher-melt solder, but do you really want to take that risk? If you take the risk, how do you explain it to your customers?

Grounding Russia's work horse

So the decision was made: Let's ground the work horse of the Russian launch business and replace these engines with a component with the expected bonding characteristics.
This is part of the renewed emphasis of Roscoskos [Director-General Igor] Komarov and [Andrey V. Kalinovsky, director-general of Proton prime contractor Khrunichev Space Center] to ensure 100 percent mission success.

All this had no relation to the Proton anomaly in June?

Pysher: Correct. In fact, the paperwork has verified that the engines that had this higher-melt-point solder were not among the engines that were on the Intelsat IS-31 launch. There's no relationship between the two.

What was the root cause of the IS-31 launch issue?

ILS Chief Technical Officer John L. Palme: That was traced to a likely quality lapse in an attachment point on a line heading to the gas generator on the engine. That line was subjected to higher-than-expected vibrations that led to a fatigue failure and eventually a failure of the line to the gas generator, leading to an earlier-than-planned shutdown of the engine.
Khrunichev was able to duplicate that exact scenario on the ground and traced it to a mechanical attachment that did not meet the specifications for tightening, or may not have been present.

And that accounted for the vibration in the gas generator line?

Yes. Somehow one of the degrees of freedom that would have been taken out by that attachment was not adequately taken out and that led to higher vibrations in the line and a leakage of the oxydizer.

When was this issue resolved?

Palme: In August, and we had a final briefing with customers in early September.

What happened between September and December, when the solder issue was discovered?

Pysher: We had to implement the corrective actions from that anomaly investigation, which led us to the start of the launch campaign in mid-November.
Palme: We basically had to pause the EchoStar hardware at the factory until the investigation by the Russian committee was completed. That took time as they wanted to see evidence of testing to duplicate the exact situation. So that ended up to being an investigation of three months or so. Then we had to out-brief it and then the corrective actions on that engine on the vehicle meant the vehicle itself had to be system tested.
So we started the launch campaign in mid-November, preparing for a launch in late December.

Then came the test of the engine with the solder issue.

Pysher: Yes. You may remember in 1999, a Delta 3 flight failed with an issue with the RL-10 engine that was linked to brazing operations. It was a very similar thing. You lay in this cold solder, put it in an oven and bake it and you didn't get the proper flow characteristics. The difference was that the RL10 issue was discovered after a launch anomaly, whereas this was discovered on the ground before it found its way into a flight.

Was the soldering issue at the Voronezh manufacturing plant due to someone wanting to save money by using below-spec components?

Pysher: The investigation is ongoing. They are at the point wh ere they understand that the melt point was higher than expected. But how this found its way into the engine is not yet determined.
My impression is that this is not a case of a guy going to Home Depot and buyingsolder and installing it into the engines. The reality is there had to be a purchase order that was issued, someone had to have engineering behind the order, it's pretty complex. We'll probably find out over time what the story is.
I am guessing here, but the solder may be used on some other engine in the facility and there may have been some engineering which allowed that to be substituted. There have been reports that the technical documentation was confusing. But I don't think we're at the point wh ere we can say how it found its way into the engine.

What happens in the next couple of months?

Pysher: There is a launch opportunity in April or May. We're not 100 percent there yet, but we understand there is a viable opportunity for that to occur. Komarov has said there were seven planned launches for Proton this year and they expect to conduct all of them. We plan three commercial missions.

So the return to flight in April or May will be the ILS mission for EchoStar?

Pysher: That's our current expectation.

Proton's uneven record in recent years gives an impression of quality-control breakdowns. But for the engines, quality assurance seems extensive — and costly.

Pysher: Here's the engine test process for our third-stage engines, just to take an example. Each production lot is six engines. Two go into lot-acceptance testing. They pull out two of the six and do an extended-duration, extended-thrust level test firing. It's not the same as the periodic test, which is more severe.
Then they cut up those engines and evaluate the quality and only then are the other four allowed to be put on the vehicle. That's a very expensive process. And then you add the periodic-test engine, which is typically on an annual basis but is linked to time and the number of engines produced. So it could be conducted more or less frequently. But typically it's an annual basis.
It's a pretty extensive qualification test when it comes to engines. There has been discussion of eliminating that process to reduce cost. There is a lot of pressure on everybody to cut costs. But I don't think that's going to happen.
 
Peter B. de Selding

[Штуцер]

Гугл перевод

Они провели этот тест на одном из второй ступени двигателей Протон в начале декабря. Двигатель выдержал испытание, как правило, работают на удвоенной продолжительности полета и при более высоком значении тяги по крайней мере, части продолжительности.
После этого испытания, они делают разрушающий контроль двигателя. Они вырезали его открытым и делать визуальные и металлургические инспекции. На одном компоненте, они обнаружили, что пайку не имеют надлежащих характеристик скрепления.
Роскосмос организовал расследование, и они определили, что припои, используемые в этой операции пайки твердым припоем имел более высокую температуру плавления, чем они ожидали.

[tnt22]

ILS‏ @ILSLaunch 28 февр.

ILS and @Intelsat meet at the Proton Hotel in Moscow at the #Khrunichev #Space Center complex before touring #Proton manufacturing facility.
 

[tnt22]

ILS‏ @ILSLaunch 39 мин. назад
 
Siberian plant to start assembling #Angara #rockets in the second quarter of 2017: http://tass.com/science/933336

http://tass.ru/kosmos/4060015

Сборка ракет-носителей "Ангара" на омском "Полете" начнется в 2017 году
 
 Космос
 28 февраля, 21:52 UTC+3
 
Глава региона Виктор Назаров отметил, что такие проекты необходимы для развития промышленного потенциала Омской области
 
СОЧИ, 28 февраля. /Корр. ТАСС Алексей Петров/. Полная сборка ракеты-носителя "Ангара" будет запущена в омском ПО "Полет" (филиал ГКНПЦ им. М. В. Хруничева) в 2017 году, сообщил в интервью ТАСС на Российском инвестиционном форуме в Сочи губернатор региона Виктор Назаров.

Спойлер

"В 2017 году ракета "Ангара" уже будет собираться только на территории Омского региона. Работа над внедрением полного технического цикла изготовления проводится в настоящее время", - заявил Назаров.

По его словам, реконструкцию и строительство производственных помещений ПО "Полет" проводит Федеральное агентство по специальному строительству. Цех под полную сборку ракеты планируется сдать во втором квартале 2017 года.

"Для региона такой проект означает создание новых рабочих места, причем высокотехнологичных, что для нас очень важно. Сегодня в Омском Политехническом университете создан отдельный факультет ракетостроения, чтобы готовить специалистов именно для этой отрасли", - отметил Назаров. Для Омской области такие проекты необходимы для развития ее промышленного потенциала, считает глава региона.

"Ангара" - новое поколение отечественных ракет-носителей на основе универсальных ракетных модулей с кислородно-керосиновыми двигателями. Семейство включает носители от легкого до тяжелого классов. Первый запуск легкой "Ангары" состоялся в июле 2014 года, тяжелая "Ангара" впервые стартовала в декабре того же года.

Ранее генеральный конструктор Центра им. Хруничева Александр Медведев заявлял в интервью ТАСС, что стоимость запусков тяжелых ракет-носителей из семейства "Ангара" к 2025 году будет почти на 20% ниже, чем у "Протона-М".

Российский инвестиционный форум в Сочи проходил 27-28 февраля. Его программа концентрировалась на трех тематических блоках: "Новая региональная политика. Возможности для развития", "Повышая эффективность бизнеса. Возможности для роста" и "Реализуя проекты для жизни".

[свернуть]