Alexander Lopatin, Deputy Director General of the state Corporation for Launch Facilities, operation of ground-based space infrastructure, quality and reliability assurance, in an exclusive interview with TASS, told what is the secret of trouble-free operation of Russian launch vehicles, how many remarks are eliminated during the preparation of the rocket for launch without the need to postpone the launch and how the modernization of verification measures is taking place.
— With the launch of Progress MS-22 in February, Roscosmos for the first time reached the figure of 100 trouble-free launches in a row, and by the end of 2023 the figure exceeds 110. What is the reason for such reliability?
— An indicator of the actual level of reliability of space rockets is their trouble-free operation. From 2018 to the present, all spacecraft launches carried out by domestic launch vehicles have been successful. This is, of course, the result of the coordinated work of all the teams involved in the design, manufacture and operation of the launch vehicles.
We are expanding and deepening our work with external suppliers, aiming them at the production and supply of defect-free products. The development of regulatory quality assurance and reliability of our equipment continues. In addition, the domestic rocket and space industry has clear reliability targets defined by relevant strategic-level documents. Current measures aimed at ensuring the quality and reliability of rocket and space technology for the period up to 2025 are defined by the plan approved this year by Yuri Borisov, CEO of Roscosmos State Corporation.
— What improvements has the quality control system of withdrawal products undergone over the past few years?
— Quality control begins with the input control of materials, semi-finished products and components. To increase the reliability of the input control results, manufacturers are using more and more advanced and effective means. The share of objective quality control tools directly in the production and testing process is increasing.
On issues of product quality assurance, regular audits of industry organizations and cooperative enterprises are carried out. This work has been put on a systematic basis and undoubtedly gives positive results. Roscosmos, with the participation of the main research organizations, regularly conducts inspections - during their course problematic issues are identified, recommendations are developed. These recommendations are not only corrective, but also, most importantly, preventive in nature. Representative offices of Roscosmos carry out quality control of manufacture on an ongoing basis.
— What improvements are planned to be implemented?
— Now the work is mainly aimed at consolidating the results achieved by developers and manufacturers of withdrawal tools, as well as spreading this valuable experience to other enterprises. In addition, improvements are planned based on the introduction of information technology, strengthening human resources, as well as managing the nomenclature of suppliers of materials, semi-finished products and individual components.
— How does the operation of this system on the East differ from its operation on Baikonur?
— There are no significant, fundamental differences in the operation of the quality control system for space rockets at the Vostochny and Baikonur cosmodromes, since the organization of work and the regulatory framework for quality assurance are uniform.
There are some features associated with the fact that the Vostochny cosmodrome is under development.
Naturally, this is reflected in certain issues of product quality control.
— You also said that new automated control systems for the preparation for launch and the launch itself for Soyuz-2 are being put into operation. Are they already being applied? If not, when are you planning to start?
— As part of the Soyuz-2 space rocket complex at the Vostochny cosmodrome, an automated control system for preparation and launch was created and tested during flight tests. It provides interconnected management of technological operations for the preparation of launch vehicles at the technical and launch complexes of the Vostochny cosmodrome in accordance with the approved schedule. We have also implemented new versions of software and mathematics to optimize the technology of missile control system checks.
— Are there any control operations during the verification of Soyuz-2, which in any case will have to be carried out by a person? What is the maximum proportion of verification activities that can be automated?
— This question should be answered somewhat more broadly. The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle was developed based on the groundwork for the design of a rocket created in the 1950s. This is due, among other things, to the technology of preparation of the launch vehicle at the launch complex.
The management of pre-launch preparation at Vostochny is carried out by the head of work using an automated system that provides the issuance of control and information messages-commands to the consoles of the heads of calculations. At the same time, all control and verification operations are carried out in an automated mode under the control of the launch calculation, so there is no need to increase the automation of verification work.
— Has the time limit for checking missiles before launch been reduced in recent years?
— I have already mentioned the modernization of the Soyuz-2 training technology at the technical and launch complexes of the cosmodrome. It allowed us to implement a mode in which the operation of the control system is simulated at the stages of preparation for launch and the flight itself. This mode allows us to carry out additional automated checks, which, in turn, made it possible to optimize the checks of launch vehicles within the established schedules without loss in quality and reliability.
— How much do you think checks can be accelerated while maintaining the same level of reliability?
— Planning of launches is carried out in advance with reference to a specific date and astronomical time. Based on this, the timely delivery of launch vehicles to the cosmodrome, their preparation, including the necessary checks and pre-launch work, is ensured. The preparation process is quite optimized — it is carried out according to the developed and approved documentation and does not contain any unnecessary operations that could be eliminated or reduced.
Further reduction of the training cycle is possible on promising products by introducing innovative solutions based on improving the design and technology of preparation of launch vehicles, increasing the level of automation of work taking into account the development of information technologies, etc.
— On average, how many comments are eliminated when preparing a rocket for launch without the need to postpone the launch?
— Indeed, during the preparation of the launch vehicle at the launch complex, individual inconsistencies are sometimes identified, the elimination of which is carried out within the established training schedule. In rare cases, due to the need to carry out work to eliminate them, the launch date had to be postponed.