Rockot
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The Rockot (also Rokot) (Russian: ) is a Russian space launch vehicle that can launch a payload of 1,950 kilogrammes into a 200 kilometre high Earth orbit with 63° inclination. It is supplied and operated by Eurockot Launch Services. The first launches started in the 1990s from Baikonur Cosmodrome out of a silo. Later commercial launches commenced from Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a launch ramp specially rebuilt from one for the Cosmos-3M rocket. The cost of a commercial launch is estimated at 13 to 15 million United States dollars.
Rockot's total mass is 107 tonnes, its length 29 metres and its maximum diameter 2.5 metres. The liquid-fueled rocket comprises three stages: the lower two based on the Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile UR-100N (also known as the SS-19); the third stage a Breeze-KM. All stages use UDMH (unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine) as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide as oxidiser. The Strela is a similar rocket based on the SS-19.
The first suborbital test lauch succeeded on 1990 November 20 in Baikonur Cosmodrome. On 1994 December 26 Rockot brought its first satellite into Earth orbit. Eurockot Launch Services GmbH, a joint venture between EADS SPACE Transportation and the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, markets the rockets today, moving the launch site to Plesetsk. There, the first launch took place on 2000 May 16. Also the Russian space centre Svobodny has SS-19 launch silos, which can be modified for Rockots if required.
After a number of successful launches, on 2005 October 8 a Rockot carrying a European Space Agency satellite, CryoSat, the launch vehicle 2nd stage main engine was not shut down properly, resulting in a castrophic failure and automatic termination of the launch mission by the on-board computer, resulting in the loss of the payload.
Launch table
as of: 2005 October 8
| Date (UTC) | Type | Launch site | Payload | Payload type | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 November 20 | Rockot/Breeze-K | Ba LC131 | – | experimental payload | Suborbital, success |
| 1991 20 December | Rockot/Breeze-K | Ba LC175/1 | – | experimental payload | Suborbital, success |
| 1994 26 December | Rockot/Breeze-K | Ba LC175/1 | Radio-ROSTO | Amateur radio satellite | success, first orbital mission |
| 1999 22 December | Rockot/Breeze-K | Pl LC133 | RSVN-40 | experimental payload | no launch, rocket irreperably damaged during preparation |
| 2000 26 May | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | SimSat-1 und 2 | Iridium-mock-ups | success |
| 2002 17 March | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | GRACE-1 und 2 | research satellite | success |
| 2002 20 June | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | Iridium-97 und 98 | communication satellites | success |
| 2003 30 June | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | MIMOSA, DTUSat, MOST, Cute-I, QuakeSat, AAU-Cubesat, Can X-1, Cubesat-XI, Monitor-E mockup | small satellites and Monitor-E-Mockup | success |
| 2003 30 October | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | SERVIS-1 | Japanese test satellite | success |
| 2005 26 August | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | Monitor-E1 | earth observation satellite | success |
| 2005 8 October | Rockot/Breeze-KM | Pl LC133 | CryoSat | earth observation satellite | failure, launch terminated after 2nd stage main engine was not shut down correctly, resulting in an explosion, causing the vehicle to exceed its flight envelope limit and thereby causing the automatic termination of the launch and the re-entry of the combined Rockot 2nd stage/3rd stage/CryoSat spacecraft stack |
After the failure of 2005 8 October, all Rockot launches were suspended until the failure is explained. The root cause of the CryoSat failure on October 8, 2005 has now been unambiguously identified and corrective measures for Rockot`s return-to-flight are now under way for the South Korean Kompsat-2 earth observation satellite launch on July 28, 2006.
The campaign for the KOMPSAT-2 satellite is now underway in Plesetsk. Daily updates on the campaign including photographs can be found on the Eurockot website (see URL below).
External links
- [www.eurockot.com] Website of Eurockot Launch Service Provider
- [www.russianspaceweb.com/rockot.html] Rockot history
- [Space.com article] on CryoSat launch failure
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