After the collapse of the USSR, the space power was left without its own cosmodrome, because Baikonur went to Kazakhstan. The need to reduce dependence on launches from a neighboring country was obvious, and it would not hurt to save money - Baikonur costs Russia more than $ 100 million annually! In November 2007, the President of Russia signed a decree according to which the Vostochny Cosmodrome should appear in the country. Where is this unique facility located, at what stage of construction, how much money has already been spent on its construction? We will talk about this and much more in this material.
History
Initially, two options for the location of the object were considered - either the Khabarovsk Territory or the Amur Region. The Vostochny spaceport was decided to be built in Amurskaya. Of course, the main reason is the lack of significant infrastructure costs (Vostochny is located not far from the Svobodny cosmodrome disbanded in 2007). In addition, this region is characterized by low seismicity. It is also important that, according to calculations, the missiles launched from the cosmodrome in the Amur Region will have an absolutely safe trajectory - the first step will fall in the south of Yakutia, which is not populated, and the second in the Arctic Ocean.
The year 2010 was marked by the fact that a commemorative sign was laid in honor of the beginning of work in this place. A year later, technical and outline design began. And already in 2012 - the construction of the first launch complex, which was completed in the spring of 2016. It is worth saying that the construction was accompanied by high-profile corruption scandals, hunger strikes and strikes by workers who were not paid wages. But first things first.
general information
The total area of this Russian spaceport is about 700 square kilometers. It was decided that it would become the residential and administrative center of the Vostochny Cosmodrome, the city of Tsiolkovsky, which is being built on the territory of the ZATO of Uglegorsk.
Planned construction of ten sites - both technical and providing. In addition, a launch complex of a high-capacity launch vehicle will be built. There will be an airfield, roads and railways, two plants at once - oxygen-nitrogen and hydrogen.
Construction of the "East"
Now you know where the Vostochny spaceport is located. We offer to talk about how its construction is going. Work on the construction of the facility began in 2012. Then a pit was dug here, the foundations of some buildings were laid. In early December, began the construction of metal structures, the expansion of the railway station "Ledyanaya". In September 2013, Alexander Busygin, Deputy Director of the Federal Agency for Special Construction of the Russian Federation, reported:
From December 2011 to the present, the Spetsstroy of Russia has carried out a significant amount of work: the forest has been cut down, a site for construction has been prepared, temporary roads from the object to the object with a total length of almost 70 kilometers have been built to support all the work on the construction of the cosmodrome. All excavation work for the main facilities of the cosmodrome was completely completed: excavation and displacement of soil with a total volume of more than 7 million cubic meters were made. Temporary bases for the placement of equipment were organized, a shift camp for 4.5 thousand people was built and is already functioning. The entire infrastructure of temporary buildings and structures — concrete plants, rebar production, crushing and screening facilities — has been deployed. More than 120 thousand cubic meters of monolithic reinforced concrete have already been laid in the “body” of the structures of the future cosmodrome. Today, the construction of the main structures of the launch and technical complexes is in full swing.
In the spring of 2014, the initial stage of power supply was completed at the Vostochny Cosmodrome, and by July, all concrete work had been completed by 96%. Then began the construction of treatment facilities. In 2015, the installation of launch equipment for launch vehicles and the construction of a whole complex for storing rocket fuel components began. The telecommunication support of the spaceport began. Separately, it should be said about the railway - by May 14, 100 kilometers of routes from the Trans-Siberian Railway to the cosmodrome were ready. At the end of the same month, an All-Russian student construction site was opened at the facility. Student teams from all over the country underwent a serious selection, the best of the best got to the cosmodrome! More than 100 young people from leading universities in Tomsk, Kazan, Kursk, and the Amur Region preferred the building semester. It is worth noting that the teachers reacted to their forced absenteeism with understanding.
The first phase of construction was completed in the fall of 2016. All facilities were put into operation by the end of the same year. The second phase of construction began in the second half of 2017. It is planned that all work will be completed by 2021. In August last year, the Government of the Russian Federation allocated to the Ministry of Construction more than two hundred million rubles for design and survey work, which will allow the creation of a power supply project for the second construction phase. By the way, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu controls the progress of all work performed and the commissioning of the facilities.
Vostochny Cosmodrome: photo of the project and its cost
The first financial investments were made in 2011 - then 1.4 billion rubles were allocated for construction and installation works. With these funds it was planned to build power lines, railways and roads. 81 billion were allocated for the first stage of construction - to create the supporting infrastructure of the Vostochny spaceport. The funds were calculated for a period up to 2015. Another 92 billion was allocated to space technology.
It is planned that the construction of the entire facility will take about three hundred billion rubles. The budget for the construction of the second stage of the cosmodrome for 2017-19 has already been approved: it will amount to 25-30 billion a year.
Strikes and theft
Almost at the same time as the construction began, strikes of workers also began - they were delayed in paying wages. The President instructed Dmitry Rogozin, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, to solve the problem. In 2014, he was appointed construction coordinator. It is worth noting that Rogozin visited the construction site more than fifty times.
By April 2015, the situation with wages escalated so much that the builders not only went on a hunger strike, but also turned to the Direct Line with Vladimir Putin. The fact is that the total debt to builders at that time amounted to more than 150 million rubles.
Upon theft of the amount exceeding seven billion rubles, several criminal cases were instituted. For example, in relation to the leadership of the construction contractor - Pacific Bridge Building Company. The chairman of the board of directors of this company was sentenced to three years in prison. The court found that it was I. Nesterenko who organized the theft of the amount of 104.5 million.
Cosmodrome infrastructure
Initially, it was planned to build a number of different technical and supporting sites.
So, the structure of the finished Vostochny spaceport will include:
- launch pad launch vehicle;
- airfield for receiving aircraft of all types;
- car roads;
- railways;
- factories - oxygen-nitrogen and hydrogen;
- corps for testing and training manned spacecraft;
- material and technical warehouses;
- helicopter landing pad and helicopter parking;
- facilities for the training of astronauts;
- Shelters - both for equipment and for space center personnel;
- repair facilities.
Training specialists
Of course, it is impossible to imagine the activities of the Vostochny Cosmodrome without qualified personnel. Today, training of specialists is carried out at once in several Russian universities:
- South Ural State University;
- Amur State University;
- Moscow Aviation Institute.
Since 2012, training for all spaceport services began at the Bauman University in Moscow and the Pedagogical University in Blagoveshchensk.
Exploitation
The first launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome was originally planned for the end of December 2015. However, a number of facilities at that time was not yet ready, and therefore Vladimir Putin decided to postpone the launch to April 27, 2016. However, the launch rocket could not be launched on that day either: the start was delayed automatically due to the lack of a response signal in the rocket control system.
The first launch of the rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, insured for 1.84 billion rubles, took place a day later - on April 28, 2016. Then the Soyuz launch vehicle launched 3 spacecraft into orbit at once - Aist-2D, Mikhailo Lomonosov, and the Sam-Sat-218 nanosatellite.
Search Groups
The presence of search groups based on the cosmodrome is a prerequisite. What do the specialists of such groups of the Vostochny spaceport in the Amur Region do? First of all, they notify the population living within the area of the fall, conduct a prelaunch flight, the purpose of which is to evacuate hunters and other people who are in the area of the fall. They are engaged in post-launch inspection, search and evacuation of parts separated from missiles.
It is important to note that during launches from this cosmodrome, search teams are deployed in two districts of the Amur Region - Zeysky and Tyndinsky, and two regions of Yakutia - Vilyui and Aldan.
Country Value
Experts say that as a result of the construction of a new Vostochny spaceport, the country will receive absolute independence in space activities. It is also important that the socio-economic situation on the territory of the Amur Region will improve significantly - the development of the region’s industry begins, investment and private capital are attracted. A significant reduction in the cost of renting Baikonur also deserves special attention.
Benefits
Roscosmos television studio has prepared a presentation film that tells about the stages of construction of the facility, its disadvantages and advantages. The main thing worth noting is that the Vostochny spaceport is located 11 degrees south of Plesetsk. This, experts say, will allow the withdrawal of large loads. Among the advantages is the fact that the flight path of missiles does not pass either over the territories of other states or over densely populated regions of Russia. In addition, this facility is located very close to airfields, railways and roads.
Thanks to the advent of the new spaceport, political risks are reduced. The fact is that over the past few years Kazakhstan has repeatedly blocked the launch of Russian missiles under various pretexts. In addition, the new complex will reduce the load on Baikonur, however, there is no talk of a complete replacement of the speech - at least until the end of the lease term in 2050.
Difficulties
Of course, there were some difficulties. For example, there was an urgent need to transport spacecraft here, which means it was necessary either to lay a railway line or build an airfield. In addition, experts noted that during the transition from Baikonur to Vostochny, transportation costs will increase significantly - both in time and in finance. The fact is that the delivery distance of personnel and launch vehicle exceeds five and a half thousand kilometers! That is why in 2015 it was decided to transfer the assembly of Angara missiles to the city of Omsk.
The problem was the lack of housing and any infrastructure for the employees of the new spaceport. Only a little more than 6 thousand people can simultaneously live on the territory of Uglegorsk, and therefore a new settlement is needed. It is planned that the constructed city of Tsiolkovsky will be able to accommodate more than 12 thousand inhabitants.
disadvantages
If we compare the Russian spaceport with what is located on the territory of Kazakhstan, a number of shortcomings can be identified. So, "East" is located 6 degrees north of Baikonur. This will lead to a decrease in the mass of displayed cargo. But there is a plus in this - missiles from Baikonur are launched "bypassing China", and the second stages are falling in Altai. That is, missiles cannot take off along the most convenient and advantageous trajectory from here.
The disadvantage (and very serious one) is that the spent parts of the missiles fall directly into the taiga. This can lead to forest fires, which in this region are already a problem.
Interesting Facts
Everyone who was holding a two-thousand-ruble note issued in October 2017 by the Bank of Russia could see the Vostochny launch complex on the back. Recall that on the front side is the Russian bridge located in Vladivostok.
By 2021, it is planned to launch the Federation manned spacecraft from this cosmodrome - in an unmanned version. And in 2023 - already with the crew.