Success Rockets (SR Space) company plans to launch a rocket for the first time this year, which will reach the Pocket line (100 km above the Earth) — the conditional border with space. So far, the launch will be a test, so there are no plans to launch satellites. Oleg Mansurov, CEO of the company, told TASS in an interview at the last St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2022) about the preparations for the launch, plans to build his own rocket launch site and the freezing of cooperation with South Korea.
— Now our country is facing a large number of sanctions, including those related to the supply of microelectronics for space purposes. Are there any problems in your company because of this?
— Sanctions in the space sphere began to be introduced not this year, they began to be introduced about ten years ago. It was a smooth process. These sanctions exist, but the space industry has had time to adapt to the new realities. New logistics chains and equipment supplies were established. All these restrictions apply less to private companies, because they use, as a rule, more affordable components. For our small spacecraft, for example, we now use not only Space or Military class electronics, but also Industrial, which allows us to have access to a wide range of electronics, including European and American manufacturers.
Now there are a lot of questions about various kinds of sensors, sensors, optics. Many things are not produced here or are produced of the wrong quality and with the wrong parameters that we need, the same microprocessors. But at the moment we are not isolated. Yes, we have a number of suppliers that we cannot work with today, but we are closing most of the positions. Thank God, we live in a rather diversified world. Of course, there are many manufacturers in the world, particularly in Southeast Asia, who continue to work with us. In fact, the Russian space industry has long since switched to products from Southeast Asia, and not from Europe or the United States, in terms of foreign purchases. Therefore, in general, we do not feel any difficulties, although, of course, the cost and delivery time for individual components have increased.
— Do you plan to produce microelectronics yourself and maybe open up some new directions for yourself?
— We do not plan directly, we do not have such competencies. We are actively working with Russian manufacturers on this issue, because there are large holdings, concerns belonging to Rostec (for example, Roselectronics), as well as with some enterprises of the state corporation Roscosmos, AFK Sistema and other industrial groups that are working in this direction.
— And in general, are you going to open any new directions?
— In fact, initially as a Success Rockets company, we chose seven key areas for ourselves, and now we have actually grown into a group of companies that we will unite under the SR Space brand. We have separate areas dealing with rockets — this is SR Rockets, it is now the most active and fast-growing, because we emerged at the moment when other players began to leave the market, in particular, the CosmoCourse company closed last year, some of the specialists left there and work with us, A number of S7 Space specialists have joined our company. We understand that an ultralight launch vehicle is more in demand in the new realities, even many skeptics already recognize this.
In the second direction — SR Satellites — everything is much simpler: in fact, a design bureau is being completed, which provides services for the design and development of spacecraft production. And we already have commercial orders that we are currently fulfilling. This is already a full-fledged business, that is, it is no longer just about a startup or some kind of investment project, but about making money here and now.
— Are these satellites?
— Yes, they are satellites.
— And what orders do you have now?
— Now we are talking only about small cubesats. These are 1U and 3U, that is, while we collect it mainly from components that are produced by other enterprises both in our country and abroad.
— Are there any satellites in orbit already?
— It is our ones that are not there yet. If we talk about the plans, then in 2023 — the first launch of the device assembled by our specialists.
"Is that Diana?"
— We are still talking about small devices for various communication systems, remote sensing of the Earth. This implies the third direction of our work — SR Data — is data analysis, work with the decryption of satellite images. Here, too, we see a huge increase in opportunities for ourselves, because the main data providers were just foreign companies (more than 80% of the market). At the moment, we understand that we can occupy part of this market. Of course, for example, to remove clouds from images. There is an American service that does this successfully and which many have used. At the moment, this service is not available, respectively, a Russian analogue is needed.
— In Russia, radar satellites are just being prepared for launch, it turns out that with the help of your service it will be possible to remove clouds from conventional optical satellites, and everything will be visible?
— Yes, with the help of a database of satellite images, we can use the work of neural networks to remove objects or parts of images that interfere with us or are unnecessary or unacceptable for us. Another example is a snapshot repository based on distributed registries. This is important in order to understand when these pictures were taken, whether any changes were made to them or not. That is, if we want to use remote sensing images of the Earth as some kind of arguments or evidence base in courts or disputes, it is necessary to be able to confirm the authenticity of these images, to understand when they were taken.
— Do you still have plans to launch two missiles?
— The plans are still in place, that is, technically we will be ready. The question is how much we will be able to implement it organizationally. This is due, among other things, to the infrastructure facilities that we need for the launch. We will definitely understand at the end of the summer whether we are fulfilling these plans or not. We plan to make at least one launch this year.
Perhaps we will immediately fly 100 km, because in fact, conducting ground tests allows us to say with great confidence that the launch at once at 100 km will also be successful. Our global task is not to make two launches, but to reach 100 km. The question is, how will we go to this goal: step by step, that is, 50 km, then 100 km, or will we go 100 km at once?
— Will it be a launch from the Kapustin Yar test site again?
— Apparently, yes. This is still an open question. This issue affects the availability of a launch this year or its absence. But most likely, yes.
— Are you still considering the possibility of building your own spaceport? Or will you use existing ones?
— In any case, we need our own launch pad for the launch vehicles that we are creating. You can call it a cosmodrome, you can call it a launch complex. The question of where it will be located is open. That is, it can be, for example, a site on the territory of the Vostochny cosmodrome or on the territory of some landfill, or maybe a new site has been created. But what are the first and second cases good for? We get into the fall zones and flight paths of already existing launch vehicles or missiles that were tested or flown back in Soviet times. When creating our rockets, we take into account the availability of existing infrastructure, drop fields and launch vehicle routes.
— Have you already negotiated with Roscosmos on the topic of creating your site at the Vostochny cosmodrome?
— Yes, negotiations are conducted at the official level, including correspondence, exchange of documents. That is, we inform Roscosmos about all our products that we produce. Now the main task for accessing the infrastructure of Vostochny and, in general, placing some of its facilities there is to obtain a license.
To get to Vostochny, you need to obtain a license. To get a license, you need to create a production. To create a production, you must clearly understand what you will produce there, that is, at least you must have a draft design made. We are currently engaged in preliminary design.
— Preliminary design of missiles?
— Yes, rockets. Moreover, in parallel, the design of both the Cosmos rocket and the Stalker rocket is underway. "Cosmos" is a kind of intermediate stage, which, we believe, will be in demand on the market today and in the next ten years.
— When are you planning to launch a satellite on your rocket for the first time?
— We talked about the end of 2024 as an experimental flight. But, most likely, there will be no spacecraft there, and already 2025 is the likely date for launching our satellite on our rocket. We will be ready to take risks and launch our spacecraft on our rocket in order to show by personal example that it is possible and safe. Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos flew his rocket himself, and this significantly influenced the attitude towards his project. We act the same way: we want to show by our example that our rockets fly, that they are reliable and it is possible to do business with us.
— Earlier you announced the creation of a Stalker missile for South Korea. How does this relate to the document on the limitations of missile technologies? And do you have any difficulties with this?
— We have suspended cooperation with South Korea. This is due to the fact that South Korea was included in the list of unfriendly countries. But even if this had not happened, there would still have been no actual technology transfer, because it was about the fact that we are creating technologies together, there is no question of the proliferation of missile technology. But I repeat once again that at the moment we are not carrying out any cooperation.
— Do you continue to create a Stalker rocket, maybe for yourself?
— Yes, that's right.
— Are you looking for another partner now, or will it still be purely your rocket?
— At the moment, this is absolutely our development. Of course, we are looking for partnerships in different countries, but this is primarily within the framework of the supply of production equipment that we need. This is the supply of components, certain competencies, because, for example, we understand that modern production technologies that are available abroad make our missiles more economical, cheaper, and we, of course, want to use the best.
— Tell me, do you have many foreign partners now and are you looking for new ones, and for which projects?
— We continue to interact with the Middle East, in particular, they are interested in spacecraft, remote sensing devices of the Earth. Also, of course, they are interested in carriers. We are currently working with Turkish colleagues. They are interested in the withdrawal of their cubesats with the help of our missiles. We are also working with our Indian colleagues now, they have a request for the withdrawal of stratosatellites, that is, we are not even talking about orbital rockets, but about cooperation within the framework of suborbital launches.
Two more destinations are Africa and Latin America. There, the demand has even increased for cooperation, because more and more players understand that they need their own independent space infrastructure. This, for example, is very relevant for developing countries such as the countries of Central Africa, where launching communications satellites is much easier and safer than creating all the necessary ground towers from scratch.
— Have you considered creating a spaceport closer to the equator?
- yes.
— Are negotiations on this topic planned with any countries?
— Yes, we are negotiating. This is also one of the options for the cosmodrome, because for the development of us as a global company, of course, it would be good to have a launch pad outside the Russian Federation. Here we can talk about Kenya, just there there are sites on the coast of the Indian Ocean that can be taken as a concession or lease. We talked to the Kenyan Space Agency about this.
But again, it is premature to talk about any specific agreements yet, in order for them to happen, we need to have ready-made missiles that are already clear. Depending on the launch site, changes will also be made to the structure and technical parameters of the rocket. Plus, you need to understand that the climate on the East is one story, and the climate on the equator is completely different conditions. And all this, of course, must be taken into account at the production stage. In general, there are such plans.
— Tell me, is there any understanding now when a climate system can be created?
— According to the climate system, we understand that now there are narrow or important components that need to be addressed. And we will continue to deal with them. The creation of a full-fledged system will depend on the availability of investments. That is, we consider the project promising, necessary, and we will continue to develop it in every possible way, but the question is how much resources we have enough to implement it in modern conditions. Perhaps now it is worth focusing on other areas, and it will create the necessary amount of finance in order to reinvest it in climate monitoring, satellite Internet and other projects necessary for the sovereignty and security of the country.
TalkingEkaterina Moskvich
