MOSCOW—Russia’s space activity is likely to be limited due to coronavirus restrictions, officials say.
Almost one-third of the nation’s launches are at risk, while the industry is exclusively focused on fulfilling defense contracts.
Russia had planned to launch 33 times this year, Dmitry Rogozin, head of the country’s space agency Roscosmos, reported during an online meeting with President Vladimir Putin last week. The manifest included nine commercial launches, 12 launches under the federal space program and three Soyuz-2 launches from French Guiana. That activity would have been a significant increase from the 25 launches executed in 2019.
But nine this year are now at risk because of the pandemic, Rogozin said. Most of the affected launches were contracted by OneWeb. The global internet provider filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 27 after failing to obtain financing “because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread of COVID-19.”
Russia launched two Soyuz-2.1b medium rockets from Baikonur this year in February and March. Each rocket carried 34 OneWeb satellites. They were the second and third launches contracted by the startup company.
The provider planned 14 more Soyuz launches from Baikonur, Vostochny and French Kourou through the third quarter of 2021. The next two launches were planned in May and June from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East.
Russia also managed to make two military satellite launches aboard Soyuz-2 from Plesetsk in February and March, and one piloted Soyuz MS 16 mission sent to the International Space Station from Baikonur on April 9.
Rogozin said further commercial launches may be at risk because the spacecraft have been held back due to foreign space agencies having suspended operations in the wake of the pandemic.
He added that Soyuz-2 launches have been suspended from the Guiana Space Center. “The French employees have left the site. Our people have remained to ensure the safe storage and deactivation of the space tugs that were fueled before the launches were canceled,” Rogozin said.
Andrey Okhlopkov, head of TsENKI, the operator of the Russian space ground-based infrastructure, added that the 21-member Russian crew would be evacuated from Kourou from April 27-30.
A coronavirus lockdown imposed by Russian authorities until April 30 has already slowed the manufacturing process. The Samara-based Progress Space Center had to reduce its workforce from 16,700 people to several hundred since the end of March, CEO Dmitry Baranov said. The company will gradually increase it to 1,500-2,000 employees this week, and may bring back the entire workforce after April 20 if safety measures allow.
Baranov also confirmed that the assembly of the Soyuz-2 had been suspended. “We have around 12 launch vehicles at launch sites, and about 40 launch vehicles are stored at the enterprise. Here we have a certain margin of safety,” he said.
Baranov said the company is now focused on key government programs and orders from the defense ministry, where “the work did not stop at all.” This includes production of the first Soyuz-5 rocket that is expected to be launched for the first time at year’s end. The Soyuz-5 will be able to orbit up to 17 tons of payload and also serve as the basis for a future super-heavy vehicle.
Another program that is not been affected is the construction of a new launchpad for the heavy Angara-5 at Vostochny.
“We have even slightly expanded the project to build infrastructure for the Angara heavy-lift carrier rocket due to the launch site’s isolated location,” TsENKI’s Andrey Okhlopkov said. The first launch of the Angara-5 from the new pad is planned for 2023. The launch of the future super-heavy lift rocket from Vostochny is planned for 2028, Putin said.
Rogozin also confirmed that those who will continue to work include all Roscosmos personnel involved in defense ministry contracts, around-the-clock operations, test stations for all our new rockets and support personnel for the Mission Control Center.
Fifteen Russian space industry employees had contracted COVID-19 as of April 15, Rogozin said. Four have recovered.
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