On the night of Tuesday to Wednesday, a Russian rocket Soyuz-2 will start for the first time since the new Russian cosmodrome located in Siberia and to replace Baikonur in the future.
1) is intended to reduce dependence on Kazakhstan
Since the fall of the USSR, Russia must rent the land on which built his huge and legendary Baikonur Cosmodrome on the Kazakh territory. The lease extended until 2050, provides for an annual rent of $ 115 million. In recent years, relations are sometimes strained between the two historic partners. Kazakhstan requires including significant financial compensation in case of accidents, because of the pollution generated and toxicity of fuel for the population. Plesetsk, primarily dedicated to military launches, and not to cover all types of bets in orbit – because of its northern location – it was necessary to build a new facility on Russian soil to ensure the country a fully independent access to space. Currently no other flights are expected in 2016 and only one launch is announced in 2017. A smooth start.
2) means “East” in Russian
new cosmodrome is located in Siberia, the far east of Russia. So he was baptized, which means Oriental (Vostok designating the East). This has several advantages. Launches taking place eastward, debris fall in sea accident, which limits the risk of hazardous incidents for the people. This will also help to develop this region of Russia, for now abandoned. Finally, it is the only place in Russia that allows to install nearly up firing same latitude of Baikonur (51 ° N against 46 ° N) and thus cover the entire range of possible put in orbit.
3) the cosmodrome is a former missile base shooting
in 1996, Russian President Boris Yeltsin chose to convert the former base of fire Svobodny cosmodrome-18 missiles. The place has the advantage of having some road and rail infrastructure, as well as a city of embryo of a few thousand inhabitants. In 2007, only a converted missile launches rocket were made. The cost of maintenance of facilities is deemed too important, the site is closed. A few months later, Putin announced the construction of a new cosmodrome, he called on that occasion, on the ruins of the first.
4) A Soyuz launch pad inspired version Guyana
Arianespace Soyuz markets since 2011 in Kourou, French Guiana. Unlike Baikonur, the integration of the cap (the tip of the rocket containing the satellites) it is “vertically”, that is to say after observing the rocket – horizontally meeting. The Russians have benefited from this experience Guyana to develop a similar frame to complete this vertically integrated operation. This is a major difference from the launch pad Soyuz “classic” Baikonur.
5) Here will start the future Angara rocket
The first tests the future Angara launcher, the first of the post-Soviet era, were conducted from Plesetsk. But that’s Vostochny which is designed to accommodate the future range of Russian rockets. Their development has lagged far behind the construction of no corresponding shooting was delayed. It should not be ready before 2021, according to the specialized website RussianSpaceWeb. The date of the first manned flight aboard this rocket has been postponed (very optimistic) to 2023 (it was originally planned in 2018).
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