Dmitry Rogozin's new big interview at KP Radio dedicated to 5th anniversary of Roscosmos State Corporation (previously, Roscosmos was the Federal Space Agency). kp.ru/daily/27155/42…
Here is what he told in this interview (a quick summary).
1. About the number of launches. In Soviet times, there were sometimes 100 or more launches per year, because the satellite's life was very short. The modern satellite can work for 15 years and more, so we don't need so many launches.
2. Commercial launches. US is trying to drive Russia, China and even Europe out of this business, and monopolize it. In response, Russia creates launch vehicles of a new generation, with a more competitive price.
3. The lunar program. The American lunar program is mostly a political choice; it is not truly international and it reminds him of NATO: "There is America, everyone else must help and pay". Rogozin says, Russia isn't interested in this type of cooperation.
3.2. But there is another project Russia is interested in: a cooperation with China. Rogozin says, he had a conversation with the head of Chinese space program, "a good friend of his", and they have an agreement to discuss the project of Chinese-Russian lunar base.
3.3 This project might be truly international, but Russia and China will be in charge.
3.4 China showed a great progress in recent years, and is now a worthy partner for Russia. The flights to the Moon, Mars and beyond are expensive, and it's important that humanity can implement these projects together, sharing both responsibility and funding.
3.5. The next Russian missions to the Moon will be scout missions like Luna-25. They must explore the site for a future lunar base, which will be at the South pole of the Moon.
4. Cooperation with Europe. Europe is also a good partner of Russia, Together, we are working on ExoMars mission, which unfortunately will not fly to Mars this year.
4.1. The problem was the difficult COVID-19 situation in Italy that interrupted the work. If Roscosmos built the rover, it could be probably finished in time, because Roscosmos' enterprises didn't stop working during the pandemic.
5. Baikonur. The situation is very difficult in Baikonur, there is an outbreak of COVID-19. The upcoming launches on July 23 (Progress MS-15) and July 30 (Express-80&103) will be held in difficult conditions, but they won't be postponed.
There will be also another launch from Baikonur this August. Rogozin said at first it will be GLONASS, but quickly recovered: "Sorry, not GLONASS, but another satellite." That's interesting, because there is no launch from Baikonur in August on official schedule yet.
6. Soyuz MS-17. For the next crewed launch, there is a triple backup of crews is provided, and not a double as usual. It's the first time since Gagarin's times, but we need the third crew to be completely sure that the ISS program will not be interfered.
7. About Crew Dragon and Starliner. Our American colleagues are just at the very beginning of testing their new crewed ships. Soyuz still is the only reliable crew ship for now. But we wish our colleagues good luck, it is important to have a backup crewed ships.
7.1 The Russian cosmonauts will fly on the new American ships when they will be certified and Russian specialists will be sure they are safe. Rogozin added: "We won't risk the lives of our boys and girls".
8. Speaking of girls: Anna Kikina, the only woman among the Russian cosmonauts, will fly in next 2 years, said Rogozin.
9. MLM Nauka. It is a completely new module, all the equipment and all the electronics is modern, only the hull is old. Rogozin is very proud that this work was finished with the new team under his command.
9.1 There are some small problems that should be resolved before July 23, and Rogozin hopes that the module will leave for Baikonur on this day.
9.2. 2024 is still considered the end of the ISS, but we don't know how it will be develop in future. It is able to work in orbit till 2030 for sure, but maybe it will be disassembled as LEGO, and old modules will be deorbited, and new ones will be assembled in a new station.
10. Angara. Rogozin called the decision to replace it's production to Omsk "strange", and according to him, this is the reason there was such a big delay with the second test flight.
10.1 Angara has unique characteristics, and it will be much cheaper when it comes to the serial production. Then we will see what rocket will take better place on the launch market - Angara or Falcon 9!
11. Reusable rockets. Reusability according to Rogozin is not about 10 launches of the same booster. The real reusability is 100 launches and at least 3 engine starts during a single launch, and our specialists can develop such engines.👀
12. Sea Launch. Buying the Sea Launch is a bargain for our country, we can make it ready for launch in a few years, and the price is acceptable. Russia is developing a new rocket for it. It will be Soyuz-7 based on Soyuz-5, which will be ready to fly in 2023.
13. Tourist flights. Roscosmos is offering the option of a tourist spacewalk. Of course it is dangerous, but isn't skydiving with an instructor dangerous too? All the possible safety measures will be taken.
13.1 Roscosmos has already signed contracts with a few space tourists (for a flight, not for a spacewalk).
14. Crewed flights from Vostochny. According to Rogozin, the concerns about the Oryol's water landing are groundless. Oryol's SAS is strong enough to take its crew to orbit in most of the failure scenarios.
14.1 The first launch of Angara from Vostochny with an uncrewed Oryol is scheduled for 2023. The sond flight, with docking to ISS, for 2024. And the third flight with crew on board is scheduled for 2025.
14.2 Rogozin: The difference between Oryol and the new American ships are that they are only for low orbits – they are technically analogs of our Soyuz. Yes, more spacious, more glamorous, but it is still an analog of the Soyuz MS ship, our, as we say, grandfather.
15. At the end, Rogozin promises to fight for the leadership in space. That was all, folks! Hope you enjoyed the summary. If you want to read the full version, there is the link in the first twit of this thread.
