The Checkout and Testing Center at RSC Energia after S.P. Korolev hosted the
meeting between Yu.P. Semenov, the General Designer, Technical Director of
the Russian Manned Programs, the RAS academician, and the representatives of
the Russian central and regional mass media.
At the meeting held before the upcoming Cosmonautics Day, Yu.P. Semenov told
the journalists about the main landmarks in the history of the national
cosmonautics, its achievements and current problems, including those of
assuring the International Space Station flight in a man-tended mode. He
laid special emphasis on the issues of financing the activities under this
large-scale project in Russia stating that manned cosmonautics is the key
direction of the national rocket and space industry development. A wide
range of high technologies which is unique to Russia and fostered in this
country, provides background for solving many challenging problems arising
out of other activities.
As an illustration of the above, Yuri Pavlovich dwelt on the activities
concerning the Yamal-200 new generation of telecommunication satellites
designed using the Yamal unified space platform, which are currently being
assembled at the enterprise and will have to be ready for launch in the
third quarter of 2003. Also he familiarized the journalists with the
information about step-by-step upgrading the world-wide renowned and highly
reliable rocket and space complex ‘Soyuz’ created by the OKB-1 team (RSC
Energia now) under the lead of S.P. Korolev and having been flown for about
50 years now. In addition, he outlined the enterprise activities now under
way on introducing high technologies into the manufacture of non-space
products: automatic environmental monitoring stations, fuel cell batteries
for automobile transport, vacuum cleaners, kitchen units, mixers,
prosthetic-orthopedic articles, filters for water, etc.
Then Yu.P. Semenov replied to a lot of questions asked by the journalists
and congratulated those present at the meeting on the coming already
international holiday, the Cosmonautics Day.
Subsequently, the journalists visited the shop of the Yamal satellites and
DM type Upper Stages final assembly and integrated tests, which was put into
operation in late 2002 again after it had gone through a considerable
modernization and reequipment. Now the shop is in full conformity with the
modern international requirements imposed on space production by all
industrial cleanliness indices. Here Yu.P. Semenov and the key corporate
specialists gave the journalists the necessary explanations, answered their
questions. The meeting, which lasted more than 3 hours, ended with visiting
the shop dealing with final assembly and integrated tests of the Soyuz
manned vehicles, the Progress cargo transport vehicles and the orbital
station modules.
