For satellites OneWeb buy Russian – Hardware News

Photo of the press service of Roskosmos / federalspace.ru/Олег Artemyev

The Russian companies will take part not only in the breeding orbit satellite fleet OneWeb – a number of domestic enterprises to take part in picking themselves spacecraft. According to a senior source “Izvestia” Roskosmos, the manufacturer of satellites – Airbus Defence and Space (ADS) – expressed its intention to purchase for spacecraft OneWeb stationary plasma thrusters (SPT), the Kaliningrad made OKB “Torch».

– Before ADS task is to make low-cost satellite, so that each unit in the series does not cost more than € 500 thousand ., – he explained in Roskosmos. – In orbit at the same time will be up to 900 devices to run them will be a lot, so the grade is determined by quality / price ratio. Engines SPD there is competition, they are supplied for export for foreign spacecraft. Also, from our European partners we know that ADS interested in products of the Krasnodar JSC “Saturn”, which supplies batteries for spacecrafts for various purposes. Their products are also used on the ISS.

The Moscow office of ADS declined to comment.

On the eve of the London company Arianespace and OneWeb reported signing c Roskosmos to launch space vehicles of the mobile satellite communication using OneWeb 21 rocket “Soyuz “from 2017 to 2019. Contract 672 provides a launch satellites, each weighing 150 kg. For their placement on the orbital positions you plan to use boosters “Fregat” production Khimki Lavochkin. Starting campaign will Roscosmos cooperation Make more than $ 1 billion.

The participation of Russian suppliers in complete spacecraft will enable businesses to earn an additional $ 20-25 million in the first stage – Further orders may follow when upgrading satellite fleet.

OKB “Torch” failed to promptly comment on the intentions of ADS, citing corporate etiquette prohibiting communication with the media on the phone. Contact with representatives of the Krasnodar “Saturn” failed.

In 2012, the Director General of OKB “Torch” in Michael Korkunov an interview with the “Russian space” described the company’s position in the market: “Torch” for decades the leader in the segment of development of various electric propulsion systems for spacecraft. The company is the world’s leading developer of stationary plasma thrusters and propulsion systems. In addition, we are the world leaders in the development of electro-motors and low-thrust propulsion systems based on them ».

Member -korrespondent Russian Academy of Cosmonautics Tsiolkovsky Andrew, son of John considers the creation of OneWeb dangerous adventure.

– This approach provides me thoughtless : UN regularly held Conference on Space Debris, which says that the problem must be addressed, and here we see the launch of a project to nearly a thousand units in low orbit, – says the son of Jonas. – I would like to hear how this project will affect the situation with space debris – as will be operated group, will be disposed of your old machines? What happens if they start to face, forming tens of thousands of small fragments? Even today, the ISS once a week maneuvers to evade the debris, and the project of this magnitude can do to close the space for humanity. And I do not see anything good that our companies will take part in this.

Investors OneWeb project are such well-known companies like Virgin, Qualcomm, Airbus, Hughes , Coca-Coola et al. The idea – to provide global access to the network from anywhere at any time. This is not the first attempt to implement the project of a global network of satellites. At the end of XX century, Microsoft founder Bill Gates was planning to implement the idea of ​​”heaven of the Internet”, circle the globe network of broadband Internet access of 980 satellites. In an ambitious project called Teledesic Gates drew a prominent businessman from Craig McCaw Cellular and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. But by the Incarnation Teledesic reality Gates and investors deterred the financial collapse of other satellite projects of the same period – Iridium and GlobalStar: two global satellite operator did not collect the expected number of subscribers and had to go through bankruptcy.