Russia new generation spacecraft testing, Digi Mart USA News: As is usually the case with spaceflight development, the developers are reserved, since schedules are known to shift often. However, a new spacecraft appears to be taking shape.
Test cosmonaut Mark Serow told the news agency TASS that the development team has entered the phase of autonomous complex testing. The ship is therefore approaching preparation for flight tests.
“We already have a ship that is being assembled: its models, its experimental facilities,” Serow said. He and his colleagues are primarily working on ergonomics: How does the crew work on board?
What procedures must a person master in this ship? What do the human-machine interface and the arrangement of workstations look like?
He said this work has already been completed. Now the project moves to the next stage, which he described as “serious.”
No schedule announcements have been made, at least for now. Serow stressed that the work is proceeding according to plan, but the developers do not want to make results or individual stages public until specific metrics have been achieved.
Spacecraft for Lunar Flyby
Serow provided more detail on the purpose. The ship is an expedition vehicle designed for flights at the second cosmic velocity, the escape velocity from Earth’s gravitational field.
It was developed as part of preparations for Russia’s lunar program. Specifically named missions include a lunar flyby and flights to asteroids.
Serow said the ship is not really intended for Earth orbit. The flight tests are nevertheless to take place in orbit.
Serow had already worked in 2011 at the space company RKK Energia on ergonomic testing of the spacecraft “Federatsiya,” which was later renamed “Orel.” In 2019 he moved to S7 Space and afterward returned to Energia.
Rockets That Could Launch the Ship
A spacecraft of this kind requires suitable launch vehicles, and several projects are underway in Russia, although it has not yet been determined which rocket will launch the still unnamed new spacecraft.
The new medium-class rocket Soyuz-5, internally partly called Irtysh, completed its maiden flight this year. The Amur-SPG is next in line.
The manufacturer RKTs “Progress” says it has completed the design phase and is now working on hardware. The rocket will fly on liquefied natural gas, essentially methane, and is scheduled to make its first launch in 2031.
Its first stage is to land and be reused at least ten times, with a long-term goal of up to 50 reuses.
The Amur is to be launched from Vostochny, where a dedicated, simply designed launch complex is being built without service towers and underground facilities like those used for the Angara. Roscosmos head Dmitry Bakanov said planning has begun.
The first stage could later also serve as a side booster for the planned heavy-lift rocket Yenisei.
