Saudi Arabia and Malaysia are about to join the growing list of spacefaring nations. It was announced that a Russian booster will launch those countries' first-ever satellites later this year.
Though a firm launch date has yet to be set, the Russian International Space Company, ISC Kosmotras, is scheduled to use its Dnepr launcher to deliver five satellites -- two Saudi, two Italian and one Malaysian -- at the end of August.
Kosmotras was founded in 1997 with the goal of converting retired R 36-M ballistic missiles into the Dnepr space booster. During the height of the Cold War the R 36-M was known to the West by its NATO classification, the SS 18, or "Satan."
In its first space launch on April 21, 1999 the Dnepr successfully delivered the British test satellite UoSAT 12 into orbit.
All five payloads will be riding in a single launch container called KMPG (Encapsulated Module of the Payload). Around 14 minutes after launch the satellites will be ejected in 1.5-second intervals into a 404 mile (650-kilometer) circular orbit with an inclination of 65 degrees toward the equator.
The Dnepr 1 configuration, to be used in the upcoming launch, will be equipped with an upper stage featuring an exotic propulsion system. Unlike most upper stages placed behind the payload, the Dnepr 1 propulsion unit "pulls" the payload container in flight. The design is a legacy of Cold-War technology that allows the delivery of multiple warheads to the individual targets.
Kosmotras modified the upper-stage avionics in Dnepr 1 to allow it to reach orbit, as opposed to the suborbital launch profile typical for ICBMs.
The upper stage, pulling the payload container, continues firing at low thrust during the satellites' ejection, dispersing them at about 3.1-mile (5-kilometer) intervals into their final orbits.
Kosmotras signed four separate contracts, establishing a launch window between the end of August and the end of September for the following payloads:
- Two 22-pound (10-kilogram) research satellites, Saudisat 1-A and 1-B, for the Saudi Institute for Space Research
- A 22-pound (10-kilogram) UNISAT microsatellite from the University of Rome, La Sapienza, which will carry a micro-particle experiment and a small 3-mile (5-kilometer) resolution camera
(Both contracts were signed in Rome at the end of November, 1999.)
- A 119-pound (54-kilogram) Megsat 1 data relay satellite for MegSat Space Division, an Italian telecommunications company.
The spacecraft will store and relay data from mobile and stationary sensors.(The contract was signed in Moscow in February.)
- A 119-pound (54-kilogram) remote-sensing payload, TiungSat 1, for the Malaysian company Astronautic Technology. The platform for the satellite was developed by the British Company Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).
(The contract for the launch was finalized a week ago in Moscow.)
ISC Kosmotras would not comment on the price of the contract. However, the company's advertised cost for payload delivered by the Dnepr booster could be as low as $10,000 per kilogram.
In the August launch, the total weight of the payload with its container will be around 880 pounds (400 kilograms). A fully loaded rocket would be capable of launching 2,645 pounds (1,200 kilograms) of payload into the same orbit. As result, the cost of the delivering the payload will be higher than advertised.
Kosmotras representatives said that the August launch would not be profitable and it was partially subsidized by the Russian government.
The booster will launch from Area 109 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, site of the original Dnepr launch conducted in April 1999.
Kosmotras now has four launch silos available for Dnepr launches. One silo is in working condition, one needs minor repairs while the remaining two require significant renovations.
Dnepr 3
This week Kosmotras also unveiled its plans to develop a new version of the Dnepr launcher based on the SS 18/Satan ICBM.
The new upper stage will replace the standard third stage of the Satan Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) to create a booster designated Dnepr 3. Two unnamed Russian organizations are competing for the Kosmotras' contract to develop the stage.
There is another yet-to-be-developed propulsion unit being planned that will serve as a fourth stage of the Dnepr 3 booster. It would deliver a 1,102-pound (500-kilogram) payload into geostationary orbit.
"We believe we will be able to fill a new [market] niche for the small satellites in geostationary orbit," Vladislav Solovei, head of marketing at Kosmotras, told SPACE.com.
The majority of today's geostationary satellites have a mass of more than 1 ton.
"At this point we are in contact with four potential clients around the world" who are considering launching small satellites into geostationary orbit, Solovei said.
"I can tell with a certainty that at this point we have no competitors in this price range and weight requirement for geostationary orbit," Solovei said. "Eventually, Angara and similar launchers will take over this niche. However, in the meantime, we can have it."
Currently Kosmotras is considering the first Dnepr 3 launch into geostationary orbit in 2003.
Other plans
Currently a total of 150 Satan-type missiles are available to be converted into space launchers. In accordance with arms control treaties between Russia and the United States, the ICBMs have to be liquidated by the end of 2007.
At present, Kosmotras is in contact with 15 potential clients that are considering sending their payloads on Dnepr. Following the August launch, Kosmotras expects to send another Dnepr 1 booster into a sun-synchronous polar orbit at an altitude 435 to 495 miles (700 to 800 kilometers) with an inclination 98 degrees toward the Equator.
Sun-synchronous orbits allow satellites to circle Earth under constant daylight and cover the entire surface of the planet from pole to pole in 24 hours.
The launch is planned for the first quarter of 2001.
"Currently there are three potential clients for this launch, and we are working hard to find more," Solovei said.
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