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With the end of the Cold War, the R-36M ballistic missile, the most fearsome weapon in the Soviet arsenal, turned into a space launcher, carrying commercial payloads into orbit. When the new agreement on the total elimination of multiple-warhead R-36M was reached at the end of the 1980's, total 308 missiles of this type had been deployed. Conditions of the treaty set year 2007 as a deadline for the elimination of the R-36M. As an alternative to the physical destruction of the missiles, developers studied different possibilities for civilian use of the weapon. Converted into a space launcher, the R-36M, could deliver up to 4.5 tons of payload into a 200-kilometer circular polar orbit. Apparently, a material-processing experiment had been considered as a payload. Developers also evaluated a project of a rescue system based on the R-36M missile. The idea was to rocket an emergency package or a floating device toward remote air or sea disaster sites. It was estimated that in less than an hour the R-36M missile would be capable of delivering 2.5-3 tons of cargo to an area 16,000 - 20,000 kilometers away from the launch site with the precision of one or two kilometers. For sea operations the missile would be equipped with unmanned boat self-navigated by an emergency beacon. Over land payload would be delivered on a parafoil with the autonomous control system. (35) None of these plans had been implemented. Upon exhausting all exotic ideas, developers turned to more traditional concept of "expending" R-36M missiles as a space launcher. Specifically for the purpose, in 1997, Russia and Ukraine formed a Kosmotras joint venture. According to Gazeta.ru, the company would charge its customers around eight million dollars per launch. The first Dnepr mission The first demonstrational launch of the R-36M missile converted into space vehicle took place on April 21, 1999. The rocket carried UoSat-12, a small satellite, built by the Surrey Satellite Technology, SSTL, of Great Britain, which successfully made it into orbit. The second Dnepr mission For the second mission of the Dnepr-1 launcher, Cosmotras was able to book five customers:
The launch campaign in Baikonur started on July 28, 2000, with the arrival of the Malaysian TiungSat-1 satellite to the processing facility at the launch site. The rocket was loaded with propellants on August 17, 2000. However, technical problems delayed the first launch attempt, originally scheduled for August 25, 2000, at 14:00 Moscow Time by 24 hours. The problems reoccurred during the next attempt on August 26, and Cosmotras officials made a decision to replace the rocket altogether, before the next launch attempt would be made. The decision meant a 30-day delay of the mission. The successful launch took place on Sept. 26, 2000, during a launch window extending from 14:01 to 16:17 Moscow Time. According to the official sources, the 214-ton missile used in the mission was manufactured in 1979 and remained in battle readiness until 2000. The Dnepr-1 launch sequence (Sept. 26 Moscow Time):
The payloads were delivered into a 650-kilometer circular orbit. Dnepr-M Even with five payloads, the second Dnepr mission would not turn profit and Cosmotras needed government subsidies to run its operations, the company's officials said. Only frequent launches and bigger payloads could make Dnepr launcher economically viable. (According to the official information, Cosmotras charged around $10,000 per kilogram of payload launched onboard Dnepr.) To expand the range of potential customers, Cosmotras studied the possibility of development of a new upper stage for the Dnepr launcher, which would enable the vehicle to deliver up to 500 kilograms of payload to the geostationary orbit. However, with absolute majority of geostationary satellites sporting much higher mass, the demand for Dnepr's geostationary launches remained unfulfilled at the turn of the 21st century. The third Dnepr mission The third Dnepr mission was originally planned for 2001, however, lack of customers pushed the launch well into 2002. At the time, struggling telecommunications industry deprived Cosmotras from the bulk of its potential customers. In addition, during 2001, a US company, which booked a Dnepr launch for its lunar spacecraft encountered problems in obtaining a license from its government to export the payload to the launch site. Former Satan lifts satellites Published: 2002 Dec. 21 A converted ballistic missile launched a cluster of commercial satellites from Baikonur. The R-36M missile, once most powerful ICBM in the Soviet strategic fleet, blasted off from Silo complex in Baikonur on Dec. 20, at 20:00 Moscow Time. Designated Dnepr, the rocket carried a cluster of commercial payloads, including UniSat-2 (Italy); SaudiSat-1C (Saudi Arabia); LatinSat-A and B (Argentina), Rubin-2 (Germany); and a Ukrainian-built mockup of the 2001 Trailblazer spacecraft developed by a private US company. The mission was previously planned in November 2001, a number of problems dealyed it until Dec. 4, 2002. Dnepr conducts its fourth mission Published: 2004 July 1 A converted Russian ballistic missile launched eight commercial payloads for a diverse group of international customers. The Dnepr booster, based on R-36M ICBM, blasted off from a silo launch complex at Site 109 in Baikonur Cosmodrome at 10:30 Moscow Time on June 29, 2004. The vehicle carried following payloads:
The original payload list also included the AKS-1 experimental satellite for the Russian private company Aerospace Systems. The spacecraft was intended to deploy membranous frameless structures, which could be used for solar sailing technologies and for reflective structures designed to illuminate dark areas on the Earth surface. According to Russian officials, 30 minutes after the launch, all eight payloads successfully separated for the upper stage into sun-sunchronous orbit. It was the fourth mission of the Dnepr booster since its the inauguration launch in 1999 and the first to reach sun-synchronous orbit. Fifth Dnepr orbits a pair of Japanese satellites Published: 2005 Aug. 24 A converted ballistic missile, successfully delivered two Japanese payloads into the polar orbit. The Dnepr launcher blasted off from a silo launch facility at Site 109 in Baikonur Cosmodrome at 01:10 Moscow Time on August 24, 2005, carrying the Optical Inter-orbit Communications Engineering Test Satellite, OICETS, spacecraft as the primary payload and the Innovative Technology Demonstration Experiment Satellite, INDEX, as a "piggyback." The OICETS spacecraft developed by the prime contractor NEC Toshiba Space Systems, Ltd. (NTSpace) is intended for experiments with laser communications between spacecraft, while the INDEX satellite of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, ISAS, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, would conduct observations of the aurora in the Earth atmosphere. Minutes after the launch both payloads were successfully deployed into sun-synchronous polar orbit. JAXA confirmed that the OICETS and the INDEX were separated at 6:25:10 a.m. and 6:25:14 a.m. Japan Standard Time, JST, respectively, and were injected into their planned orbits based on information from the ISC Kosmotras. JAXA's Kiruna Overseas Mobile Tracking Station received first signals from the OICETS at 7:39 a.m. JST, which confirmed the deployment of the solar arrays. JAXA was scheduled to receive a signal from the INDEX at 12:18 p.m. (JST) at the Uchinoura Space Center. Upon reaching the orbit, OICETS and INDEX were nicknamed "Kirari," and "Reimei" respectively. It was the fifth mission of the Dnepr launcher, which is a converted R-36M ballistic missile. The launch was delayed from Aug. 15, 2005. Russia inaugurates new space launch site Published: 2006 July 17 A converted ballistic missile orbited a commercial payload, using an operational ICBM base as its launch site for the first time. The Dnepr rocket, based on the R-36M UTTKh missile, lifted off from Dombarovskiy base in southern Russia on July 12, 2006, at 18:53 Moscow Time. It carried the Genesis Pathfinder-1 experimental payload for the US-based Bigelow Aerospace. The launch vehicle successfully released its cargo into nearly circular orbit with the altitude of about 500 kilometers and the inclination of 64.51 degrees toward the Equator. At 19:08 Moscow Time the control over the spacecraft was transferred to Bigelow, Roskosmos said. According to Bigelow Aerospace, the satellite aims to test inflatable structures, which the company claims could be used for the assembly of orbital hotels. In the meantime, back on Earth, Dombarovskiy provided Moscow-based Kosmotras, which markets Dnepr to commercial customers, with an alternative launch site on the Russian soil to the Baikonur Cosmodrome located several hundreds kilometers to the south in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan. The launch was previously scheduled for April, June 13 and June 16, 2006. Dnepr fails during launch with multiple payloads Published: 2006 July 26 In its second mission of 2006, a converted Russian ICBM failed early in flight, crashing downrange from Baikonur. Published: 2007 April 17 Almost nine months after its launch failure, a Russian-Ukranian rocket successfully returned to flight Tuesday, Kosmotras venture, which markets the vehicle around the world said. Russia launches German satellite Published: 2007 June 15 Russian rocket successfully delivered a long-delayed German Earth-watching satellite. The Dnepr booster, carrying TerraSAR-X remote-sensing satellite, lifted off at 06:14 Moscow Time from an underground silo facility Number 109 in Baikonur Cosmodrome. The 1,346-kilogram TerraSAR-X spacecraft was designed for observation of Earth surface with an X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR). It is capable of providing images with the resolution up to one meter. The program is a public-private partnership between the German Space Agency DLR and EADS Astrium GmbH. According to the satellite operator within the first half an hour after the launch, ground station in Malindi, Kenia, acquired first signals from the satellite, and after less than two hours the full command link to the spacecraft could be established. To accommodate the spacecraft, the Dnepr rocket was equipped with an extended space payload fairing developed by Yuzhnoye SDO and manufactured by YuzhMash Plant of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. In previous missions, the Dnepr was topped with a standard payload shroud inherited from the R-36M UTTKh ballistic missile. The Russian-ukrainian Kosmotras joint venture, which markets was offering this configuration specifically for the launches of large-size satellites of more than 5 meters in length and up to 2.7 meters in diameter. The mission was previously expected on Oct. 31, 2006, but it had to be delayed in the wake of the Dnepr failure in 2006. It was then postponed from Feb. 27, 2007, then from the end of March - beginning of April 2007 and from June 6, 2007. The TerraSAR-X satellite was shipped to Baikonur on February 26, 2007. Russia launches prototype of a private space station Published: 2007 June 28 A long-delayed mission launched the new version of the inflatable spacecraft, promising to become a precursor of future private space station. The launch of the Dnepr rocket took place on June 28, 2007, at 19:02 Moscow Time from a strategic missile base near Dombarovskiy in southern Russia, carrying Genesis-2 payload into the low-Earth orbit for the American private company Bigelow Aerospace. The vehicle headed northeast to reach orbit with the inclination 64 degrees toward the Equator. The first stage of the rocket was expected to impact in the Tyumen Region of Russia, the second stage would splash down in the Pacific Ocean, while the third would reach the orbit along with the Genesis-2 payload. The Genesis-2 spacecraft is a second copy of the inflatable module launched in 2006. It is advertised by developers as a prototype of a future private space station. According to Bigelow, another version of the Genesis-2 module called Galaxy is scheduled for launch in 2008, while larger models, which could eventually accommodate people, would fly in the future. Although it was promoted as an innovative space enterprise, Bigelow Aerospace surrounded the Genesis-2 mission with the Soviet style secrecy. The company released no information on the status of the mission on the eve of the launch and warned media that would release details on the flight only after the successful launch. The mission was originally scheduled for August 6, 2006, however it was delayed to January 30, 2007, by the failure the Dnepr rocket during its seventh mission in July 2006. Further technical and scheduling problems then pushed the launch to April 1, April 19, April 26 and May 23, 2007. It was the 10th mission of the Dnepr rocket. Dnepr delivers RapidEye satellites Published: 2008 August 30 A Russian-Ukrainian launcher successfully launched a cluster of remote-sensing satellites. The Dnepr rocket carrying five RapidEye remote sensing satellites lifted off from the underground silo at Site 109 in Baikonur Cosmodrome on August 29, 2008, at 11:15:53.783 Moscow Time (07:15 UTC). According to Kosmotras, a Russian-Ukrainian company, which markets the converted ballistic missile as a space booster around the world, 15 minutes after the launch, a mobile ground station in Oman confirmed that all satellites successfully separated from the upper stage of the launch vehicle. The spacecraft were deployed at the 630-kilometers Sun-synchronous orbit. The RapidEye constellation includes five 150-kilogram Earth-observation micro-satellites designed for a seven-year lifespan. Each spacecraft carries a camera capable of producing images of the Earth surface with the resolution of 6.5 meters in five optical bands, Kosmotras said. The mission was delayed from Nov. 26, 2007, and the first and second quarter of 2008. Published: 2008 Oct. 1 A converted ballistic missile launched a long-delayed Thai imaging satellite. The Dnepr rocket lifted off on October 1, 2008, at 10:37 Moscow Time from the operational ICBM deployment area near Dombarovskiy. It carried the 720-kilogram THEOS spacecraft built by EADS Astrium for the Thai Ministry of Science and Technology's Space Agency. The satellite was designed for imaging of the Earth surface with the resolution of up to two meters. Following the launch, the rocket headed south to reach the 820-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit and according to official report successfully entered the orbit. As reported in the Kommersant newspaper, lack of production capacity at KB Khimmash, which builds engines for the Fregat and Breeze upper stages, forced Khrunichev enterprise to withdraw its bid to launch the satellite on the Rockot booster with Breeze KM stage, instead giving priority to a Russian government mission. The mission was previously scheduled for launch as early as June 2007 and was delayed from October, December 2007 and Jan. 30, 2008, 09:33:59 Moscow Decree Time. It was delayed again from Feb. 27, 2008. An agreement with Kazakhstan on the new drop zone for the first stage of the launch vehicle was announced on April 30, 2008, however the mission was postponed again from end of June, July 24, July 29, Aug. 5 and 6, 2008. APPENDIX A complete list of Dnepr's missions:
Compiled by Anatoly Zak; last update: October 1, 2008 All rights reserved
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PICTURE GALLERY
The first Dnepr booster blasts off from Baikonur in 1999. Credit KB Yuzhnoe
The Lift upper stage proposed by NPO Lavochkin for the Dnepr booster. Credit: NPO Lavochkin
An estimated area, where Dnepr launcher crashed in July 2006. Click to enlarge. Copyright © 2006 Anatoly Zak
Dnepr lifts off on April 17, 2007, carrying out its 8th mission. Click to enlarge
Dnepr launches TerraSAR-X on June 15, 2007. Credit: Terrasar.de
Dnepr launches five RapidEye satellites on August 29, 2008. Credit: Kosmotras
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