Sea Launch

Sea Launch is a floating cosmodrome in the Pacific Ocean to launch Zenit modification missiles. The last launch from it took place in 2014, since due to the deterioration of relations Moscow Kyiv , the supply of Russian engines of RD-171 production "" stopped. Energomash They were used in the Zenit rocket - the only one adapted for launches from a floating cosmodrome. Then "Sea Launch" was mothballed.

History

2024: Appointment of Petr Matyushenko as the new general director of Space Center Sea Launch LLC

In early September 2024, it became known that a new general director was appointed to Space Center Sea Launch LLC (a subsidiary of S7 Group). It was the former head of the Murmansk Shipyard of the Navy (MSRZ MF) Petr Matyushenko. Read more here.

2023: The ex-head of RSC Energia was accused of damage of 4.23 billion rubles in the implementation of a deliberately failed project

In November 2023, the investigation presented the final version of the charges to the former head of the Rocket and Space Corporation (SRC) Energia Vitaly Lopota, in which the amount of damage from his actions was reduced from 9 billion to 4.23 billion rubles. He is charged with illegally directing SRC funds to pay off debts of participants in the Sea Start project, buying shares of its participants and other purposes.

2021: Additional capitalization of the project for 5.8 billion rubles

In mid-July 2021, it became known about the significant additional capitalization of the S7 Group space project. According to Kommersant, citing data from the SPARK-Interfax system, the authorized capital of Space Center Sea Launch LLC (Primorsky Territory), which serves the floating cosmodrome of the same name, increased from 1 million to 5.84 billion rubles.

The change was made to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities on July 15, 2021. The only shareholder at this time is Siberia Airlines JSC, which is part of the S7 Group.

Space project S7 capitalized by 5.8 billion rubles

In July 2021, the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov noted that the share of private investment in space exploration is growing, it is becoming more applied, but without state support, space exploration is impossible.

We are also a country where private investments have also been carried out for several years - remember, this is Sea Launch - there was a good share of private investment, "he said, adding that" more and more private investment, "and also" the applied nature of space exploration will grow.

According to Peskov, private cosmonautics is somehow connected with quasi-support from the state - these are various forms of subsidies, lending, government orders, etc. Therefore, space exploration without the leading role of the state is almost impossible - it is too expensive, too large a process and capital intensive.

By mid-July 2021, the S7 development center continues to work on the creation of a two-stage launch vehicle with a liquid rocket engine with a returnable first stage. It is expected that its developments will be used in the industrial manufacture of a medium-class launch vehicle for launch from the Sea Launch cosmodrome.

By July 2021, the space center actually does not work due to the fact that since 2014 the United States has not used the services of a floating cosmodrome after the outbreak of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.^[1]

2020: "Sea Launch" arrived in Russia from the United States

The floating cosmodrome "Sea Launch" successfully moored at the Slavic Shipyard in Primorye, the director of the enterprise Andrei Yakimchuk told Interfax in March 2020.

"Everything went according to plan, like an hour," he said. According to him, four tugboats were involved, border, customs clearance is underway, the crew is on the ship.

Yakimchuk added that at the end of March, the Xin Guang Hua vessel with the launch platform of the Sea Launch floating cosmodrome will arrive at the plant.

2019

The State Department gave permission to relocate the Sea Launch to Russia

In December 2019, the US State Department issued permission to the S7 group of companies to relocate the Sea Launch floating cosmodrome to Russia, RIA Novosti was told in the press service of the S7^[2].

According to the interlocutor of the agency, the relocation will take place in 2020. The new port for Sea Launch will be the village of Slavyanka south of Vladivostok, 80 kilometers from the DPRK.

As a RIA Novosti source in the rocket and space industry reported, if the platform continues to be based in the United States, launches of a new rocket from it will be almost impossible: the agreement between Moscow and Washington provides only for the launch of the Russian-Ukrainian Zenit rocket.

The issue of changing the location of the platform to Vladivostok, Sovetskaya Gavan, Crimea and Vietnam was discussed in 2013 and 2015, but in 2016 S7 Group signed a contract with Sea Launch to purchase the Sea Launch project, which included the Sea Launch Commander ship, Odyssey platform, ground equipment in the base port of Long Beach and intellectual rights, including trademark.

Later, the S7 group of companies became the full owner of the floating cosmodrome, but did not continue launch activities.

For further operation of the platform in Russia, Roscosmos previously proposed to launch the Soyuz-5 rocket from it. To do this, as before, the platform will have to go to the equatorial region of the Pacific Ocean.

Sea Launch may relocate from California to the Russian Far East

The complex for launching satellites from the Sea Launch offshore platform may be relocated from the United States to the Russian Far East, RIA Novosti news agency reported in April 2019, citing a source in the rocket and space industry. The missile change will prevent the project from operating under American jurisdiction.

The main problem, says a RIA Novosti source, is the need to license a new Russian missile in American regulatory organizations. Initially, the project used the Ukrainian Zenit rocket, but its production was stopped in 2014. The project was reoriented to the promising Russian Soyuz-5 carrier. However, in order to obtain a license for a new missile, the Russian side will have to disclose all technical documentation to the American side. Since the disclosure of documentation for a promising carrier is not even considered in Russia, the only way out is to relocate the Sea Launch to Russian territory.

2018: Closing the deal for the purchase of the cosmodrome for 6.28 billion rubles

The deal to sell RSC Energia the assets of the Sea Launch project to S7 Group has been completed, the press service of the enterprise said on Tuesday. RSC Energia previously clarified that the purchase price of the assets of the Sea Launch complex is 6.28 billion rubles.

"To fulfill the agreement, it was required to obtain permits from the state bodies of Russia and the United States. In addition, it was necessary to sign several agreements between the organizations participating in the project on the settlement of certain obligations between them. At the moment, all these conditions have been fulfilled, "the company noted

The press service clarified that this made it possible to complete the transaction and make appropriate entries in the ship's register on the transition to buyers of ownership of ships, as well as sign transfer acts certifying the alienation of equipment buyers. Final settlement has been made with the sellers.

"In accordance with the agreement, RSC Energia will continue to participate in the Sea Launch project as a supplier of components and will assist S7 Group in the operation and maintenance of the complex. It is also planned that Energia will carry out development work to adapt the Soyuz-5 middle-class rocket for launches from the Sea Launch complex, the company added^[3].

In turn, the general director of S7 Space (a subsidiary of S7 Group), Sergei Sopov, said that the immediate plans are to restore the launch activities of the cosmodrome as quickly as possible.

"We estimate that in the next 15 years we can do about 70 space launches," he said.

The new owners are talking about their readiness to resume launches from 2019, purchase 50 new missiles and add an option for another 35.

S7 plans to replace the Ukrainian rocket with the Russian development Soyuz-5, but it will be tested only in 2024. Experts note that it is not yet possible to replace Zenit with another missile.

S7 Space CEO Sergei Sopov said that before the new middle-class carrier appears, the Zenit rocket will be used for launches.

The contract for the 12 first and second stages of Zenit was signed with Yuzhmash, two missiles are ready and are waiting for the supply of engines and control systems.

By November 2018, it is planned to deliver components to the port of the city of Long Beach in California. And there to carry out the final assembly of Zenit-3SL for Sea Launch in order to launch missiles at least four times a year starting in 2019.

In other words, Ukraine will not directly deal with the supply of missile technologies to Russia - formally they will be supplied to the United States.

At the same time, Sopov noted that the port of Long Beach is located only 14 kilometers from the office of SpaceX of the American billionaire Elon Musk.

"Our project will have to exist in conditions of fierce competition with American space companies," the head of S7 Space emphasized.

The main competitive advantage of Sea Launch, he called the price and quality of services.

necessary to make sure that the customer of the launches when working with us is warm, cozy and comfortable, and to fulfill all their obligations on time with the proper quality and within the framework of the money that we agreed on," Sopov said.

Interestingly, in March 2018, Sopov stated that Soyuz-5 comes out too expensive, moreover, it does not satisfy the company in terms of characteristics.

"In fact, this is a thickened and heavier Zenit rocket. Why make a new "Zenith" so that in 15 years it is outdated?, " 'he would say

At the same time, experts note that Musk's missiles, for example, have a second stage in dry mass twice as much as Zenit's. If Soyuz-5 is the same, or, as Sopov says, even harder, then it will automatically lose.

2016

Russian S7 announces the purchase of a cosmodrome

In 2016, it was announced that a group of companies would become the owner of Sea Launch. S7 The deal to buy the property of the floating cosmodrome closed on April 17, 2017.

The subject of the deal were the Sea Launch Commander, the Odyssey platform with missile segment equipment installed on them, ground equipment at the base port of Long Beach in the United States, and the Sea Launch trademark.

Settlement agreement between RSC Energia and Boeing: launch of American astronauts on the ISS at the expense of debt

On March 30, 2016, the head of the state corporation Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, announced that the Sea Launch project was being prepared for sale and a buyer had already been found. However, he did not specify who the investor was and the volume of the transaction.

In response to Igor Komarov's statement, Boeing in April 2016 filed a petition with the Central District of California to impose a ban on the sale of a floating spaceport and consortium. Boeing's lawsuit was upheld a month later. In May, a California court ordered RSC Energia to pay Boeing compensation in the amount of $330 million (about 20 billion rubles). The company has been trying to collect debt from project partners - Russian and Ukrainian enterprises - through the court for several years. In 2013, Boeing sued RSC Energia to recover $92 million and $130 million, as well as interest. This amount was formed after the bankruptcy of the consortium in 2009.

After the preliminary agreement of RSC Energia with Boeing on the settlement of the dispute over the Sea Launch project was reached on July 22, 2016, the court of the Central District of California suspended all actions to collect debts from the Russian enterprise. And on March 16, 2017, an American court closed Boeing's claim against RSC Energia: the parties signed a settlement agreement. After that, NASA entered into an agreement with Boeing to provide seats to American astronauts on Russian Soyuz manned spacecraft for flights to the ISS in 2017-2019, RSC Energia will provide seats as part of the repayment of debts to Boeing.

2014: Project freeze due to conflict in Ukraine

In 2014, Sea Launch, which also involved the United States and Norway, was frozen due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

On August 22, 2014, a message was published on the Sea Launch consortium website about the suspension of launch activities under the Sea Launch program. Due to the lack of orders, the floating platform and command vessel were mothballed. The program's missions were scheduled to resume between mid-2015 and mid-2016. But that didn't happen.

In September 2014, the first information about the sale of the project to an unnamed Israeli investor appeared in the media. However, the CEO of the Sea Launch consortium, Sergei Gugkaev, denied information about the sale plans.

2013:31 rockets launched all the time, two failed launches

Until 2013, 31 missiles were launched from Sea Launch. The two launches were unsuccessful.

2011: Resuming launches

In 2011, launches resumed.

2009: Bankruptcy, reorganization, SRC Energia receives 95%

In the summer of 2009, Sea Launch filed for bankruptcy. The low intensity of launches led to unprofitability. At the beginning of the Sea Launch project, it was expected that at least five launches would be carried out annually. However, in fact, in ten years (1999-2009) they were carried out 30 - on average three per year.

During the bankruptcy procedure, Boeing settled with creditors for the entire consortium, paying them $448 million. In the same year, the American company demanded that the partners reimburse their costs. The Norwegian company paid off its part of the debt in 2009-2010.

After the reorganization, SRC Energia took the lead in the project. As a result of the reorganization, the subsidiary of the Russian corporation Energia Overseas Ltd received a 95 percent stake in the company, three percent went to Boeing, two percent - Aker.

1996

The Sea Launch company was formed in 1996 with the aim of organizing the launch of communication satellites into geostationary orbit by the Zenit-3SL launch vehicle from the Odyssey floating platform. Starting from the equator allows (all other things being equal) to seriously win the mass of the output payload.

1995: Founding a consortium with $3.5 billion in investments

In 1995, the American Boeing, the Russian SRC Energia, the Norwegian shipbuilding enterprise Kvaerner, the Ukrainian design bureau Yuzhnoye and PO Yuzhmash founded the Sea Launch Company International Consortium to implement one of the most ambitious ideas in the history of astronautics.

The American side owned 40 percent, Russian - 25, Norwegian - 20 and Ukrainian 15 percent.

At the first stage, about $3.5 billion was invested in the project. The Sea Launch consortium was located in Switzerland - in Bern, subsequently the headquarters was moved to Nyon.

The Sea Launch floating cosmodrome is a former Norwegian oil platform that was adapted for the launches of Zenit-3SL missiles of the Zenit family, which experts call ingenious and perfect.

In 1995-2009, Boeing served as the lead integrator of the project. In addition, the American company created the head unit of the launch vehicle, designed to accommodate the payload, and provided its system integration.

Aker Solutions prepared an offshore platform and built a dedicated vessel to serve it. Installation of missile systems and equipment on the assembly and command vessel was carried out at the Kanonersky ship repair plant (St. Petersburg, Russia).

Zenit was then the only robotic missile suitable for launch from the Sea Launch platform: after being installed in a vertical state, it is independently refueled and discards docking mounts.

For Sea Launch, this was a prerequisite: there should be no people on the platform. As a result, a team of two hundred people is enough to launch Zenit, while at Baikonur, Soyuz launches serve almost 1.5 thousand.

Within the framework of the Sea Launch project, a rocket and space complex was built, in which specialists distinguish four components: the marine segment, the rocket segment, the spacecraft segment and the funds attracted.

The rocket segment consists of a three-stage environmentally friendly Zenit-3SL launch vehicle and complexes of technological equipment for preparing and launching the launch vehicle.

The Zenit-3SL launch vehicle includes:

• a two-stage Zenit-2S launch vehicle developed and manufactured by the Ukrainian design bureau Yuzhnoye and the Yuzhmash production association;

• DM-SL booster unit (third stage), created by SRC Energia Corporation;

• a payload unit developed by Boeing.

Responsible for the creation of the Zenit-3SL launch vehicle was the Yuzhnoye design bureau, which is located in the Ukrainian city of Dnepropetrovsk.

For each launch from Sea Launch, it was necessary to assemble the missile body in Ukraine, install Russian components on it, send it to the United States in parts, assemble and install the rocket on the vessel, set sail to the equator, launch and return back. Such an algorithm complicates and increases the cost of launches.

1993: Framework agreement to form a consortium with Boeing and Kvaerner

In March 1993, the Russian enterprise NPO Energia invited the American aerospace company Boeing to take part in the project. In November of the same year, in Turku (Finland), at a meeting of representatives of NPO Energia, Boeing, as well as the Norwegian shipbuilding enterprise Kvaerner (later Aker Solutions), a framework agreement was signed on the creation of an offshore cosmodrome and the need to establish an international company.

In March 1994, Ukrainian software "Southern Machine-Building Plant named after A. M. Makarov" (Yuzhmash) and the Yuzhnoye design bureau were involved in the work on the project.

1991-1992: NPO Energia is looking for a place to create a sea-based cosmodrome

In 1991-1992, NPO Energia named after S.P. Korolyov (since 1994 - RSC Energia named after S.P. Korolyov) conducted preliminary search research on the creation of a sea-based rocket and space complex.

Notes