Rokot Explained

Rockot (Rokot)
Upright:1.0
Function:Orbital launch vehicle
Manufacturer:Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Country-Origin:Soviet Union
Cpl:US$41.8 million http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-17-609
Stages:3
Capacities:
Status:Retired
Sites:Baikonur 175/1
Plesetsk 133/3
First:20 November 1990
26 December 1994 (orbital)
Last:26 December 2019
Launches:34
Success:31
Partial:1
Fail:2
Stagedata:
Type:stage
Stageno:First
Engines:3 RD-0233 (15D95)
1 RD-0234 (15D96)
Si:310 seconds
Burntime:120 seconds
Fuel:N2O4 / UDMH
Type:stage
Stageno:Second
Engines:1 RD-0235 (15D113)
1 RD-0236 (15D114)
Si:310 seconds
Burntime:180 seconds
Fuel:N2O4 / UDMH
Type:stage
Stageno:Third
Briz-KM
Engines:1 S5.98M
Si:326 seconds
Burntime:3000 seconds
Fuel:N2O4 / UDMH

Rokot (Russian: Рокот meaning Rumble or Boom), also transliterated Rockot, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) space launch vehicle that was capable of launching a payload of into a 200km (100miles) Earth orbit with 63° inclination. It was based on the UR-100N (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), supplied and operated by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The first launches started in the 1990s from Baikonur Cosmodrome out of a silo. Later commercial launches commenced from Plesetsk Cosmodrome using a launch ramp specially rebuilt from one for the Kosmos-3M launch vehicle. The cost of the launcher itself was about US$15 million in 1999;[1] [2] The contract with European Space Agency (ESA) for launching Swarm in September 2013 was worth €27.1 million (US$36 million).[3]

Specifications

Rokot's total mass was 107 tonnes, its length 29 metres and its maximum diameter 2.5 metres. The liquid-fueled launch vehicle comprised three stages. The lower two were based on the Soviet UR-100N ICBM; the first stage used an RD-0233 / RD-0234 engine complex, while the second stage used an RD-0235. The third stage was a Briz-KM (Russian: Бриз-КМ meaning Breeze-KM), which has a mass of about 6 tonnes when fuelled, and is capable of flying for 7 hours and reigniting its engine six times during flight, allowing different satellites to be placed into different orbits. All stages used Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) (unsymmetrical Dimethylhydrazine) as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) as oxidiser. The Strela is a similar rocket, also based on the SS-19.[1]

History

The first suborbital test launch succeeded on 20 November 1990 from Baikonur Cosmodrome. On 26 December 1994, Rokot brought its first satellite into Earth orbit. In 1995, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center formed a company with German DaimlerBenz Aerospace to market Rokot launches for commercial use. Later, the company was renamed to Eurockot Launch Services. Eurockot bought 45 Rokots from the Russian strategic missile forces to build its inventory. In 2000, Eurokot was partly bought by the German company Astrium GmbH, a shareholder of Arianespace. Astrium then held 51% of Eurockot's shares, while Khrunichev held 49%.[1]

Although there are several silos in Baikonur capable of launching Rokots, it was decided to build an open, non-siloed launch pad at Plesetsk Cosmodrome instead. This is because of concerns that the amount of noise generated during a silo-based launch would damage satellites. In the new pad, Rokot was wheeled up to the structure in a vertical position, and then embraced by its launch tower. The payload was lifted by a crane and placed on top of the bottom two stages. The procedure was in contrast to other Russian launchers, which had traditionally been assembled horizontally and then transferred to the launch site via railways. The first launch from Plesetsk took place on 16 May 2000.[1]

After six entirely successful launches, a launch failure occurred on 8 October 2005, leading to the loss of the European Space Agency's CryoSat spacecraft. The launch vehicle's second stage main engine did not shut down properly, leading to a catastrophic failure and the automatic termination of the launch mission by the onboard computer. As a result, the payload was lost. Following the failed CryoSat launch, all Rokot launches were suspended until the cause of the failure was identified. The root cause was unambiguously identified; it was a failure in programming of the Briz-KM (which was contracted to the company JSC "Khartron"). The failure of this high-profile mission led to major reforms in Khrunichev: the director of the company Alexander Medvedev was dismissed, new launch procedures were introduced, the lines of management were straightened out to catch errors and the new Khrunichev chief, Viktor Nesterov, was required to report directly to the head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoli Perminov.[1] Corrective measures for Rokot's return-to-flight were implemented for the South Korean KOMPSAT-2 Earth observation satellite launch which took place successfully on 28 July 2006. The Korean side reportedly praised the level of service they received, encouraging the Rokot team to rebuild its order book.[1]

Another launch failure occurred in February 2011, when a Briz-KM malfunction[4] resulted in the Geo-IK-2 No.11 (Kosmos-2470) satellite being placed into a lower orbit than planned.

The Rokot version with a Ukrainian control system stopped flying after 2019, due to Ukraine's ban on technology exports to Russia.[5] Rokot had its final flight on 26 December 2019.[6] A fully Russian-made Rokot light carrier rocket, named Rokot-M, may begin operations as soon as 2024.[7] The Rokot-M launch vehicle is intended for the Russian defense department.[8]

Launch history

Rokot

Flight No.Date / time (UTC)Rocket,
Configuration
Launch sitePayloadPayload massOrbitCustomerLaunch
outcome
120 November 1990
04:00
Rokot/Briz-KBaikonur, Site 131/29Experimental Payload
Suborbital test flight
220 December 1991
21:31
Rokot/Briz-KBaikonur, Site 175/58Experimental Payload
Suborbital test flight
326 December 1994
03:01
Rokot/Briz-KBaikonur, Site 175/58Radio-ROSTO
First orbital mission. Amateur radio satellite
N/A22 December 1999Rokot/Briz-KPlesetsk, Site 133/3RSVN-40
(failure pre-flight)
No launch, launch vehicle irreparably damaged during preparation. Experimental payload.
416 May 2000
08:27
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk, Site 133/3SimSat-1 and 2
Iridium-mock-ups
517 March 2002
09:21
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk, Site 133/3GRACE-1 and 2
NASA research satellite
620 June 2002
09:33
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk, Site 133/3Iridium-97 and 98
Communication satellites
730 June 2003
14:15
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk, Site 133/3MIMOSA
DTUsat
MOST
Cute-I
QuakeSat
AAU CubeSat
CanX-1
CubeSat Xi-IV
Monitor-E mockup
NLS satellites and Monitor-E-Mockup
830 October 2003
13:43
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3SERVIS-1
Japanese test satellite
926 August 2005
18:34
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Monitor-E1
Earth observation satellite
108 October 2005
15:02
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3CryoSat
Earth observation satellite. Launch terminated after 2nd stage main engine was not shut down correctly, resulting in an explosion, causing the vehicle to exceed its flight envelope limit and thereby causing the automatic termination of the launch and the re-entry of the combined Rokot 2nd stage/3rd stage/CryoSat spacecraft stack
1128 July 2006
07:05
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3KOMPSAT-2
Earth observation satellite
1223 May 2008
15:20
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2437
Kosmos 2438
Kosmos 2439
(3X Strela-3)
Yubileiny[9]
Communications and amateur radio satellites
1317 March 2009
14:21
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3GOCE[10]
ESA Earth observation satellite
146 July 2009
01:26
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2451
Kosmos 2452
Kosmos 2453
(3X Strela-3)
Communications satellites
152 November 2009
01:50
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3SMOS
PROBA-2[11]
SMOS: ESA Earth-observation satellite; PROBA-2: Sun-observation satellite testing a new spacecraft platform
162 June 2010
01:59
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3SERVIS-2
Japanese test satellite
178 September 2010
03:30
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-2
Kosmos 2467
Kosmos 2468
(2X Strela-3)
Communications satellites
181 February 2011
14:00
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Geo-IK-2 No.11
Geodesy satellite. Upper stage malfunction, reached lower orbit than planned.
1928 July 2012
01:35
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-3
Gonets-M-4
Kosmos 2481 (Strela-3)
MiR
[12]
Communications and amateur radio satellites
2015 January 2013
16:25
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2482
Kosmos 2483
Kosmos 2484
(3X Strela-3M)
[13]
Communications satellites. Briz-KM failed around the time of spacecraft separation, resulting in the loss of one satellite
2111 September 2013
23:23
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-5
Gonets-M-6
Gonets-M-7
[14]
Communications satellites
2222 November 2013
12:02
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Swarm A/B/C[15]
Magnetosphere research satellites; Briz-km failed deorbit burn
2325 December 2013
00:31
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2488
Kosmos 2489
Kosmos 2490
(3X Strela-3M)Kosmos 2491
[16]
Communications satellites
2423 May 2014
05:27
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2496
Kosmos 2497
Kosmos 2498
(3X Strela-3M)
Kosmos 2499
Communications satellites
253 July 2014
12:43
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-8
Gonets-M-9
Gonets-M-10
[17]
Communications satellites
2631 March 2015
13:47
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-11
Gonets-M-12
Gonets-M-13
Kosmos 2504
[18]
Communications satellites
2723 September 2015
22:00
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2507
Kosmos 2508
Kosmos 2509
(3X Strela-3M)
[19]
Communications satellites
2816 February 2016
17:57
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Sentinel-3A[20]
ESA earth observation satellite
294 June 2016
14:00
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2517 (Geo-IK-2 No.12)[21]
Geodesy satellite
3013 October 2017
09:27
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Sentinel-5 Precursor[22]
Earth observation satellite
3125 April 2018
17:57
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Sentinel-3B
Earth observation satellite
3230 November 2018
02:27
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2530
Kosmos 2531
Kosmos 2532
(3X Strela-3M)
[23]
Communications satellites. After launch, NORAD tracked another object (besides the Briz-KM upper stage) which could possibly be a fourth satellite.[24]
3330 August 2019
14:00
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Kosmos 2540 (Geo-IK-2 No.13)[25]
Geodesy satellite
3426 December 2019
23:11
Rokot/Briz-KMPlesetsk Site 133/3Gonets-M-14
Gonets-M-15
Gonets-M-16
BLITS-M
[26]
Final flight of Rokot; Communications and geodesy satellites;

Rokot-M

Flight No.Date / time (UTC)Rocket,
Configuration
Launch sitePayloadPayload massOrbitCustomerLaunch
outcome
1data-sort-value="December 2024" December 2024 [27] Rokot-M/Briz-KM2 Plesetsk Site 133/3No Payload (Test Flight)TBD
First test flight of Rokot-M/Briz-KM2

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Harvey, Brian. The Rebirth of the Russian Space Program. Springer. Germany. 2007. 1st. Launchers and engines. 978-0-387-71354-0.
  2. Web site: Rokot. Encyclopedia Astronautica. 16 September 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130522020752/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/rokot.htm. 22 May 2013.
  3. Web site: Rockot launch clears way for long-delayed ESA mission. Stephen Clark. Spaceflight Now. 12 September 2013. 16 September 2013.
  4. Web site: ru:Военный спутник, запущенный на "Рокоте", скорее всего, утрачен . http://www.rian.ru/defense_safety/20110201/329151467.html. RIA Novosti. 1 February 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110204194009/http://www.rian.ru/defense_safety/20110201/329151467.html. 4 February 2011. ru. 1 February 2011. dead.
  5. News: Последний запуск ракет "Рокот" с украинской системой управления состоится до 2020 года. ru. Last Rokot launcher with Ukrainian control system will fly before 2020. Interfax. 23 August 2018. 24 October 2018.
  6. Web site: Rokot conducts final launch – carries three Gonets-M satellites to orbit . William Graham . NASASpaceFlight.com. 26 December 2019. 27 December 2019.
  7. Web site: Russia's Rokot-M carrier rocket to be launched in 2024 — Khrunichev Center . . 3 May 2022 . 4 May 2022.
  8. Web site: Запуск ракеты "Рокот" без украинских деталей запланировали на 2022 год . ru. First launch of Rokot without Ukrainian parts is planned for 2022. RIA Novosti. 15 June 2020. 5 July 2020.
  9. Web site: Russia launches relay craft, commemorative satellite . Spaceflight Now.
  10. Web site: ESA launches Earth Explorer mission GOCE. ESA. 17 March 2009. 16 February 2016.
  11. http://www.eurockot.com/alist.asp?cnt=20040811&main=3&subm=97 Eurockot Launch Service Provider
  12. Successful launch of Strela-3 and Gonets-M communication satellites. Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Podvig. Pavel. 2012-07-28. 2012-08-09.
  13. News: Russia's Rokot Launch Vehicle Also Readying for Return to Flight. Marcia Smith . August 6, 2013. spacepolicyonline.com. March 15, 2023.
  14. Web site: Bergin . Chris . Russian Rokot launch vehicle lofts three Gonets-M satellites . 12 September 2013 . . 22 March 2020.
  15. Web site: Esa's satellite Swarm launch to map Earth's magnetism. Amos. Jonathan. 22 November 2013. BBC News.
  16. Web site: Bergin . Chris . Russian Rokot lofts three Rodnik satellites . 25 December 2013 . . 22 March 2020.
  17. Web site: Launch Log. Jonathan's Space Page. Jonathan. McDowell. 18 November 2014.
  18. Web site: Bergin . Chris . Russian Rokot lofts another Gonets-M trio . . 31 March 2015 . 18 March 2020.
  19. Web site: Russia's Rokot launches with three Rodnik satellites . 23 September 2015 . 23 September 2015.
  20. Web site: Third Sentinel satellite launched for Copernicus. ESA. 16 February 2016. 16 February 2016.
  21. News: Russian Rokot launches Geo-IK-2 – annoys environmentalists . . William . Graham . Chris . Bergin . 4 June 2016.
  22. https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2017/10/sentinel-5p-launch-russias-rokot-system/ Sentinel-5p launches on Russia's Rokot launch system
  23. Web site: Rockot launches Russian military satellites – Spaceflight Now. spaceflightnow.com. en-US. 2018-12-02.
  24. Web site: Russian military launches a fresh satellite cluster. www.russianspaceweb.com. 2018-12-02.
  25. Web site: Russia's Rokot vehicle successfully launches Geo-IK-2 satellite . NASASpaceFlight.com . 30 August 2019 . 30 August 2019.
  26. Web site: Rokot conducts final launch – carries three Gonets-M satellites to orbit. 2019-12-26. 2020-03-06. NASASpaceFlight.com. Graham. William.
  27. Web site: Moskvich . Yekaterina . Russia's Rokot-M carrier rocket to be launched in 2024 — Khrunichev Center . . 4 May 2022 . 30 March 2024.