Russia needs Kazakstan to waiver space launch ban
FLORIDA TODAY Space Online
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July 8, 1999
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MOSCOW (AP) - Russia needs Kazakstan to waive its ban on space launches from
the Baikonur cosmodrome so it can send food, fuel and equipment supplies to the
Mir space station, Russian space officials said.
But the head of the Kazak Aerospace Agency, Meirbek Moldabekov, said "not a
single launch" will be made until authorities have determined what caused Monday's
crash of a Russian military satellite, the Interfax news agency reported.
Authorities are also looking into the environmental damages caused by all the
launches.
The suspension of launches is a major inconvenience for Russia, which leases the
field for cargo flights to the Mir space station and for its launches of commercial and
military satellites.
The Russian Space Agency asked Kazakstan to relax the ban and allow it to launch
a Russian-Ukrainian Okean-O satellite today but was turned down.
Russia also needs to send a Progress cargo ship carrying food, fuel and equipment to
the Mir's crew on Wednesday, Interfax quoted space officials as saying.
The delay of Progress' launch could wreak havoc on the Mir. The Mir's crew -
cosmonauts Viktor Afanasyev and Sergei Avdeyev - would have to cancel a space
walk planned for July 23 if they don't receive scientific equipment on the cargo ship,
Interfax quoted officials as saying.
The Progress flight was also supposed to carry equipment needed to prepare the
station for when the crew returns to Earth in August. Russia can no longer afford to
keep up its missions to the station, and so plans to leave the Mir unstaffed and
monitor it from the ground until it is discarded early next year.
Russia says both launches planned this month from Baikonur will be boosted by
rockets that use less fuel and are safer than the Proton-type that failed in Monday's
launch. The Okean-O will travel with a Zenit-2 booster rocket, and the Progress
with a Soyuz booster, it said.
A Russian Raduga-1 satellite and parts of its Proton booster crashed Monday in
Kazakstan's central Karaganda region. No casualties were reported.
Russia's Foreign Ministry apologized Tuesday for the accident and said Russian
experts had left for the region to investigate, Interfax reported.
Kazakstan has long been worried about the potential harm caused during launches
from Baikonur, which was built under the Soviet Union. Environmentalists in the
region complain about the rocket fuel that gets dumped during each space launch.
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FLORIDA TODAY Space Online
"Planet Earth's best source for online space news"
July 8, 1999
Ban on Baikonur launches delays today's Zenit 2 flight
FLORIDA TODAY
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Today's scheduled launch of a Ukrainian Zenit 2
booster was postponed because of a ban on launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome,
a news report said.
Kazakstan officials ordered the halt in launches after a Russian Proton rocket
malfunctioned and crashed during a failed launch on Monday.
The Zenit 2 rocket is poised to carry a Ukrainian-Russian Earth sciences satellite into
space.
The Reuters news agency said Russian sources indicated the launch would probably
take place Friday or Monday.
"The delay of the launch was not connected with any technical problems, but with
Kazakhstan's ban on flights from the cosmodrome," a Russian space source said.
"We expect a decision this evening on whether it will take place tomorrow or
Monday."
Russia hopes the ban is lifted soon, because only six days remain before the planned
July 14 launch of a new navigation system needed for the space station Mir, Reuters
said. The computer system is due to be launched on a Soyuz rocket carrying a
Progress resupply ship.
Baikonur has been part of Kazakstan since the breakup of the former Soviet Union,
and the two countries signed a 1994 agreement allowing Russia to rent the facility for
20 years.
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