The voids revealed recently near Vostochny have provoked a new scandal in the Russian rocket and space industry. Now the media have announced the reason for their appearance.
Russia's new Vostochny cosmodrome, designed to complement Kazakhstan-based Baikonur, is often criticized. This is due to the numerous thefts during its construction, as well as to the frequent postponements of the completion dates.
On the eve, experts have identified a new problem. It turned out that the recently built complex is already in need of renovation. Difficulties arose due to the voids that formed under the service tower. “Voids appeared in the ground under the reinforced concrete base of the mobile service tower of the first launch complex on Vostochny. A contract has been signed to liquidate them,”an anonymous source told TASS.
It also became known that Roscosmos intends to spend 4.6 million rubles to eliminate the problem. The corresponding application is posted on the public procurement portal.
Now the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Facilities (TSENKI) has recognized the problem and named the cause of the voids. According to experts, this was provoked by poor-quality concrete pouring by the previous contractor in the person of Spetsstroy of Russia. In its statement, TsENKI notes that the organization has a number of other claims against Spetsstroy. The announced defect, according to TsENKI, is not critical. It is planned to be eliminated by October 5 this year.
Cosmodrome "Vostochny" / © spostroy
The identified errors promise to be taken into account when creating the second stage - the launch pad for the Angara launch vehicles. Let us recall that three launches have already been made from Vostochny: launches of Soyuz-2.1a carrier rockets, as well as one Soyuz-2.1b launch. During the second launch, an abnormal situation occurred when, due to the failure of the upper stage, two Russian research vehicles were lost, as well as a number of foreign-made vehicles.
In turn, the only launch of the Angara-A5 launch vehicle, which was repeatedly criticized for its high price, was made from Plesetsk. This rocket, we recall, is now seen as a replacement for the Proton-M.
Another scandal that erupted in the rocket and space industry is related to the poor-quality assembly of the Soyuz manned spacecraft. Let us remind you that recently a hole was found in the inner case of the Soyuz MS-09 household compartment. According to one of the versions (however, which has not found its confirmation), the reason for its appearance was the deliberate damage to the spacecraft by one of the crew members of the International Space Station.