Russia abandons successful Rokot launch vehicles due to Ukraine's refusal to maintain them
Moscow – Kyiv, February 12 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – Russia will be forced to cease using Rokot launch vehicles due to Ukraine's refusal to supply the control system for the Briz-KM upper stages, Izvestia reports , citing Roscosmos. Rokot launch vehicles are regularly used to launch spacecraft for the Russian Ministry of Defense.
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On March 3, the last launch of Rokot will take place from the Plesetsk cosmodrome and these rocket systems will no longer be used, said an informed source in Roscosmos. Ukrainian authorities have prohibited the Khartron company from supplying equipment to Russia that could be used in military programs. Control systems for upper stages for Rokots were also banned.
Rokot carriers are constantly used to launch spacecraft in the interests of the Ministry of Defense: for example, they are used to launch the Rodnik communications satellites of the GRU of the General Staff of the Russian Federation. It was “Rokot” that in May last year launched into orbit the “killer satellite” that thundered throughout the world - the newest secret experimental device “Cosmos-2499”, performing maneuvers in space. With the help of the Rokots, it was also planned to further launch satellites of the Gonets system into orbit.
The main advantage of the Rokot is its relative cheapness: the RS-18B ballistic missile is removed from combat duty and adapted for space needs.
“Cooperation in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the Rokot project between the Ukrainian company Khartron and the Khrunichev Center has indeed been terminated,” official representative of the Khrunichev Center Alexander Shmygov told Izvestia. The interlocutor at Roscosmos explained that today three Briz-KM upper stages have already been delivered to the Russian Federation, but launching without the participation of Khartron representatives will be problematic - it is the Ukrainian colleagues who must enter the flight mission into the system.
Khrunichev declined to discuss the possibility of operating Rokot rockets without the participation of Khartron representatives. However, the newspaper notes that Roscosmos is reducing its dependence on Ukrainian suppliers. In January of this year, it decided to cancel the purchase of Dnepr launch vehicles manufactured at Yuzhmash in Dnipropetrovsk, and also to end the Dnepr launch program.
“This is not the first time that Ukrainian enterprises have refused to cooperate on military programs,” says military expert Alexey Ramm. “Recently, they have refused to supply us with propulsion and power plants for patrol ships, and have also stopped selling small gas turbine engines for cruise missiles.”
Russia is abandoning its successful Rokot launch vehicles because Ukraine refuses to service them.