Russia successfully launches the Angara booster on its first orbital flight. From the Russian news agency TASS: MOSCOW, December 23. /TASS/. A new Russian heavy rocket was successfully test-launched from the Plesetsk space center on Tuesday as planned at 08:57am Moscow time. The head unit has separated from the third stage of the Angara rocket, […]
Michal Gass, Former President and CEO of United Launch Alliance Following up on questions posed in a letter by U.S. Senator John McCain to the US Air Force chief of acquisitions, Reuters has been looking closer into the United Launch Alliance RD-180 issue, and the mysterious five person company RD-Amross, which serves as the Russian […]
Following last week’s finding by a Federal Judge that the absence of any proof that sanctioned Russian Defense and Space minister Dimitry Rogozin was benefiting from the sale of RD-180’s was good enough to lift a temporary injunction against further purchases, it might have looked as if the issue was reverting back to the […]
Yesterday, the Court of Federal Appeals issued a temporary injunction barring United Launch Alliance from making further purchases or receiving shipments of Russian built RD-180 rocket engines until the matter can be reviewed by three different oversight agencies. The order came as a result of the lawsuit filed Monday by SpaceX against the USAF/ULA EELV […]
Sources: RIA Novosti, Spacepolicyonline.com Investigation of a December 8 launch incident which saw a Proton booster deliver the Yamal 402 satellite to the wrong orbit has focused on a failed turbopump bearing in the Briz-M upper stage. Although the satellite was eventually boosted to the proper orbit using its own on-board propellant, the mission saving manuever did not come without a cost, most likely […]
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