Andrzej Jeziorski/SINGAPORE
Khrunichev will introduce modifications to its four-stage Proton booster by the middle of this year, after the booster's two launch failures last year.
The two 1999 losses, on 5 July and 27 October, happened under almost identical circumstances, with a fire in the second-stage turbopump leading to engine shutdown. The failures caused losses of the Raduga 1 military communications satellite and the Express A1 communications satellite.
"There will be several modifications in the structure of the Proton launchers," says Khrunichev, adding that it has "slightly changed-the fuel injection system and parts of the main engine" in the second and third stages. "The main problem is quality assurance, so we are working on the quality assurance process for the Proton and Angara launchers," says the research centre. The review board that investigated the failures attributed the October loss to metallic or mineral particulate matter inside one of the four second-stage engines. Poor workmanship at the Voronezh Mechanical Engine Plant was blamed (Flight International, 18-24 January).
Meanwhile, Khrunichev plans a pad-verification flight for the Russo-German Rockot launcher next month. This has been rescheduled after the cancellation of the original flight in December after the satellite fairing separated and suffered irreparable damage during pre-launch tests at Plesetsk.
The flight, which will carry a payload of two dummy Iridium mobile-communications satellites, is designed to test the newly commissioned Rockot launch pad before the vehicle's entry into commercial service. This launch will take place with the Rockot in full commercial configuration.
The Rockot is a development of the Russian SS-19 two-stage, intercontinental ballistic missile built by Eurockot, a joint venture of Khrunichev and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. The venture has been awarded a contract by Motorola to launch one Iridium pair, with options for the launch of 12 more pairs.
• Technical reasons have been cited in the delay from 12 to 29 March of the launch from Baikonur of the Russian Express A communications satellite.
The Proton launch of the satellite and the second craft, due to be launched later this year, have been insured for $600 million through the Eastern-European Insurance Agency for third party liability, says the Russian Space and Aviation Agency.
The agency had ordered Russian companies to insure all launches for third-party liability.
Source: Flight International