Space exploration in 2015

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PLANNED RUSSIAN SPACE MISSIONS IN 2015:

2015 or earlier: Russia to launch the Ekspress-AM4R communications satellite to replace Ekspress-AM4 lost in the Proton rocket failure in August 2011.

2015: At the end of December 2010, Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RAN, approved development of the MKA FKI No. 5 ARKA orbital solar observatory in cooperation with the US, where the project was identified as Coronal Science Investigation, CSI. Preliminary scheduled for launch in 2015, the spacecraft would observe the Sun in X-ray range of spectrum during a three-year orbital mission.

Based on the standard platform, known as Small Spacecraft, MKA, developed by NPO lavochkin, the satellite would carry a pair of solar telescopes with super-high angular resolution reaching around 100 kilometers. One instrument would be developed in Russia by Lebedev Physics Institute, FIAN, IFM in Novgorod and IKI in Moscow. Another instrument could be supplied by the US. In the United States, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and Marshall Space Flight Center were expected to take responsibility for the project. Two sides also considered an exchange of technologies between two instruments, for example, FIAN was proposing to develop optics or detectors for both telescopes, while US would supply stabilization system for two instruments.

New instruments onboard ARKA promised to increase the resolution of solar observations by 11.5 times comparing to the sensitivity of a telescope onboard Koronas-Foton spacecraft. They would also offer a four-fold and 6.5-fold improvement comparing to the latest US solar observatories – SDO and TRACE, respectively. Due to its very high magnification, telescopes on ARKA would see only a fraction of the solar disc, rather than a global view of the Sun provided by Koronas-Foton and SDO.

In addition to a pair of main telescopes, the available payload mass onboard ARKA offers an opportunity to install a third small instrument, most likely for hard X-ray observations of the Sun disc. It could be developed in a cooperative effort between FIAN and IKI. (447)

As of December 2010, the development schedule for the ARKA project envisioned following milestones:

2011: Preliminary design development;
2012: A mockup development;
2013, end of year: Delivery of the technical prototype of the spacecraft;
2014, end of year: Delivery of the flight version of the spacecraft;
2015: Pre-flight testing and launch.

As of 2008, the mission was expected in 2014. (299)

2014-2015: Russia to launch a solar telescope -- Koronas-4-Monitor -- to replace a failed Koronas-Foton spacecraft. (A February 2010 proposal from Astrophysics Institute at the National Nuclear Research University.) By the end of March 2010, a project to replace Koronas-Foton was identified as Solaris by the Solar System division within Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The division recommended Lebedev Physics Institute, FIAN, as a main developer of the satellite's payload. The issue of the spacecraft bus remained open at the time, with NPO Lavochkin's yet-to-be-flown Navigator platform as one of the contenders. Unlike Koronas-Foton, the new telescope was expected to be narrowly specialized in solar observations and it was to be inserted into very high orbit to minimize the shadow from Earth and the influence of the planet's radiation belt. As of April 2010, the project was yet to be approved for the inclusion into the Russian space program or to receive any funding.

2015: A Zenit-3SLBF/Fregat-SB to launch the Elektro-M (No. 1) weather-forecasting satellite into geostationary orbit from Baikonur. (As of 2009 388; In 2008, the launch was promised in 2014. 299)

2015: Russia to launch a pair of Arktika-R satellites into the polar orbit for radar observations of the polar areas. Originally planned for launch in 2014, by the end of 2010, the introduction of the system slipped to 2015. (442)

2015: Soyuz rocket to launch the Foton-M No. 5 spacecraft. The spacecraft is expected to be equipped with solar panels, modified service module, and the new liquid-propellant orbit correction engine. The orbital lifespan of the satellite to be launched into the 400-450-kilometer orbit was expected to increase to 60 days. (As of April 2009)

2015: Russia to launch Resurs-PM No. 1 remote-sensing satellite. (As of 2009 388)

2014-2015: Russia to launch a mission to Mercury. (A statement by Deputy Designer General of NPO Lavochkin Maksim Martynov at Farnborough air show in July 2010.)

2015: A Soyuz-2-1b rocket to launch the Bion-M No. 2 spacecraft for a biological and medical mission lasting up to six months in the 400-500-kilometer orbit. (As of June 2011. As of April 2009, the mission was promised in 2013.)

2015: A Zenit-3M/Fregat-SB rocket to launch the Spektr-UF ultraviolet observatory from Baikonur. Known to international participants as World Space Observatory Ultraviolet, WSO/UV, the spacecraft would feature a Russian-built T-170M telescope with a mirror diameter of 1.7 meters. Light captured by the telescope would be directed into three spectrometers sensitive to wavelengths from 102 to 310 nanometers, nm. Capabilities of the spacecraft were expected to be unmatched by any other instrument at the time. (452) Spanish, German and Ukrainian scientists were expected to participate in the mission. The flight control and science data receiving facilities for the mission were to be deployed in Russia and Spain. As of 2007, the launch of Spektr-UF was expected in 2010. In 2009, the mission slipped to 2013 as the earliest and in 2010 it was delayed again to 2014. In May 2011, the launch was expected no earlier than by the end of 2014 and in July 2011, a newly appointed head of the Russian space agency, Vladimir Popovkin, was quoted promising the mission in 2015.

2015: The Rus-M rocket to fly its first test mission from Vostochny with an unmanned prototype of the PTK NP/PPTS spacecraft or with the first cargo spacecraft TGKS (Parom). (376) (As of 2007-2011.)

2015: A Proton rocket to launch the Science and Power Module, NEM-2, to the ISS. (As of 2008)

For missions in 2016 click here

This page is compiled by Anatoly Zak

Last update: October 7, 2011

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