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Upcoming book on space exploration Searching for details: The author of this page will appreciate comments, corrections and imagery related to the subject. Please contact Anatoly Zak.
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Above: Interpretive rendering of processing facilities in Vostochny projected on the October 2012 satellite image of Site 2. Copyright © 2013 Anatoly Zak |
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A scale model of the processing complex demonstrated to Roskosmos officials in 2010. Credit: Amur-Info
Originally, plans envisioned as many as 10 interconnected buildings in the processing complex in Vostochny. Credit: Amur-Info
Key elements and layout of infrastructure in Vostochny presented at a review meeting in July 2012, showing a possible expansion of the processing complex to the west (bottom left). Credit: TsSKB Progress
Artist renderings of the checkout and assembly building in Vostochny as it was envisioned in 2012. Credit: Ipromashprom
Beginning of construction at the technical complex in Vostochny around the first half of the summer 2012. Credit: Spetsstroi
Beginning of construction at the technical complex in Vostochny around December 2012. A blueprint visible in the photo apparently shows the first phase of the facility to be completed in 2015. Credit: Spetsstroi
Foundations of transborder gallery around March 2013. Credit: Spetsstroi
Artist rendering of a fire station at Site 2 in Vostochny. Credit: Ipromashprom
Artist rendering of an engineering and laboratory facility. Credit: Ipromashprom
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Previous chapter: Vostochny launch site Russia tries new space architecture in Vostochny At the future Russian space center in Vostochny, all preparations of rockets and spacecraft before their roll out to the launch pad will be conducted at a special facility identified as Technical Area, or Tekhnicheskaya Pozitsiya, TP, located at Site 2. Although it has been a traditional feature for many launch sites around the world, the processing facility at Vostochny was conceived to have a truly innovative architecture.
The rocket and spacecraft preparation facility Traditionally, Russian launch sites had separate processing and assembly facilities for each type of rocket. In many cases, a full complement of support infrastructure would have to be built even for individual launch pads. These large and expensive facilities were often sprawling over a considerable area, all requiring their own roads, communications lines, personnel and residential areas. In contrast, for Vostochny, developers at OAO Ipromashprom, (the main architectural contractor on the project), designed a single centralized processing and assembly hub, which would consolidate all preparation activities of the space center. Rockets of various sizes and their payloads would still be prepared inside their custom-built work sites, or modules, however they would all be located next to each other and linked by a single hallway known as "transborder gallery." Such an innovative solution promised to minimize the volume of each individual building, eliminate the duplication of support infrastructure, keep all spacecraft preparation activities under one roof and enable future expansion of the facility. The main transfer hallway would sport a pair of giant movable platforms or "transborders." Weighing 200-ton and measuring 6 by 28 meters, this truss structure would shuttle back and forth along rail tracks on four dual bogies. After a spacecraft or a rocket component had completed the processing inside its work site, it would roll onto the platform, which would then transfer it to the main assembly hall for final integration. (619) According to the original plans approved in 2010, the half-a-kilometer-long transfer hallway would be connected to the south sides of four processing buildings:
In addition, the same transfer hallway was to be connected to the north sides of five support buildings with storage rooms, fueling and power stations. However, when the development of the processing complex in Vostochny finally reached the construction phase in May 2012, visuals gleaned from reports in the official media revealed that only around a half of the original design had survived the reality check. Scheduled for completion at the end of 2015, the scaled down complex still sported a cavernous 180 by 60-meter launch vehicle assembly building. It was originally intended for Rus-M rockets, but after the cancellation of the project in 2011, the facility was re-purposed for a smaller Soyuz-2 and Soyuz-2-1v launch vehicles. The rocket assembly building was flanked by a spacecraft processing facility, which would now house work sites for unmanned satellites. Most importantly, the innovative centralized architecture of the overall complex has been retained, with the foundation of the transfer hallway clearly visible on satellite photos of the construction site in 2012. Publicly available blueprints also hinted at the plans to expand the transfer hallway westwards in order to accommodate a new processing area for the Angara family of rockets in the second phase of development in Vostochny. Optimistic plans of 2012 apparently aimed to bring Angara to Vostochny as early as 2018 to carry manned missions from the site. Support facilities Along with main processing complex for rockets and spacecraft, Site 2 would be home to various support facilities such as a fire station, a complex belonging to the Ministry of Emergency Situations and a propellant storage. Roskosmos scheduled the preliminary design for the support facilities to take place from May 2011 to March 2012. Proposed support infrastructure included:
The project relied on already completed designs for the Rus-M rocket. The construction was to be split into two phases: the first stage with a completion date in 2015 and a second stage with a completion in 2018. Construction activities at support sites The construction at Site 2 started roughly in parallel with the work at the Soyuz launch pad in the spring and summer 2012. According to the official press, foundations for a total 15 facilities of the technical complex had to be finished by the end of 2012. Signs posted at the construction site of the processing complex quoted completion dates as September and December 2015. Simultaneously, construction was picking up at various secondary locations beyond Site 2. By the beginning of 2013, Dalspetstroi (the main local contractor), reported the completion of renovation at five formers barracks capable of accommodating more than 1,000 workers. The Ledyanya train station at the junction between the main railway artery of the space center and the federal railway line was also under renovation, along with the construction of power lines, railway and automobile roads. Workers also broke ground at the industrial support zone located southeast of Site 2.
APPENDIX Key milestones in the development of the Soyuz processing complex in Vostochny: 2012 May - September 2015: The official dates of construction of the processing complex at Site 2. (As of 2012) 2012 July - December 2015: The official dates of construction of the Soyuz rocket stages storage facility. (As of 2012)
Construction specifications of the Soyuz-2 processing complex in Vostochny (Site 2):
Page author: Anatoly Zak; Last update: April 10, 2013 Page editor: Alain Chabot; Last edit: Jan. 13, 2013 All rights reserved |
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