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                       The Cosmos 1 Update
                        January 31, 2003

Solar Sail Launch Awaits Clearing of Volna Rocket
by Project Director, Louis Friedman
The Planetary Society

The development of the Cosmos 1 solar sail spacecraft is going well 
despite some delays with some of the spacecraft electronics.  We are, 
however, waiting for problems to be resolved with our launch vehicle, 
the Volna. Until then, we are prisoners on Earth, trapped in our 
planet's gravity well.

During the sub-orbital test launch in July 2001 the solar sails failed 
to deploy because of problems during the test vehicle's separation 
from the rocket. At the time we thought the vehicle failed to separate 
from the launcher, but later events have cast doubt on that 
assessment. In July 2002, a European payload failed to separate 
properly from its Volna launcher during another sub-orbital flight. 
Telemetry revealed that the problem was not a failure to separate, but 
rather a premature separation of the payload while it was still inside 
the second stage of the rocket. 

An extensive failure commission set up by the Russian space agency 
concluded that the cause of the 2001 and 2002 problems was most likely 
the same. As a result they have grounded the Volna until changes to 
the payload separation system can be implemented and thoroughly 
tested. 

It is strongly suspected that the payload separation problem was 
caused by a malfunction of the second-third rocket stage separation., 
This is likely a result of a design change made when the Volna was 
converted from an ICBM to a peaceful civil payload launcher. It seems 
that the redesign of the joint between the second and third stages of 
the rocket did not adequately account for the combination of forces 
during launch

Correcting the problem is relatively simple, but the test program to 
verify that it is correct is not. The Russian space agency is
demanding an extensive series of ground tests. These would involve, 
among other things, a drop tower vacuum chamber in which the second 
and third stage separation can be tested simulated free flight in 
space. This test program will be conducted at the Makeev Rocket Design 
Bureau in Miass, Russia. They are responsible for the Volna launch 
vehicle.

Although regrettable, this is hardly a unique situation in the space
business. The recent failures of the Proton and Ariane 5 and other
examples show that payloads often have to wait for launch vehicles.

The Makeev test is currently scheduled for April, but it cannot begin 
until they receive engineering hardware from our project at the 
Babakin Center. That engineering model hardware is being used right 
now in thermal-vacuum tests on the spacecraft. Once these tests are 
completed, the model will be shipped to Makeev.

All components for the spacecraft, save one radio system, have now 
been delivered and system tests are underway. The development of the 
new S-band radio by our Russian and Ukrainian contractors has proved 
more difficult than expected.  Nevertheless, its completion should not 
delay the spacecraft's assembly. The final assembly will probably be 
done in late May or early June, after all ground tests on the 
engineering model and electronics are complete.

The ground tests on the Volna will help determine whether another 
sub-orbital test flight will be required. If it has to be done, 
further delays are to be expected. Our hope is that the ground tests 
will prove satisfactory, so that no sub-orbital flight will be 
necessary. We, like our colleagues at Babakin and at Makeev have to 
weigh the additional value of another flight test against the 
diversion and delay it can cause. This is especially true as the 
requirements for a sub-orbital flight are very different from orbital 
flight requirements. 

If the ground tests and verification of payload separation go well at 
Makeev, and all spacecraft tests go well, we will launch about two 
months after the final assembly. This means July at the earliest, but 
possibly not until September.

Delays are disappointing and they cost us extra money. The failures 
connected with the launch have also made us more sensitive to other 
possible failures in getting the spacecraft into orbit and operating 
successfully. We are making some additions to our flight plan to 
increase reliability, and these too cost us money. This is typical in 
aerospace work, but it is hard on a space-interest group working with 
private funds.

Amid the trees, we must not lose sight of the forest. The launch 
vehicle problem is completely unrelated to our solar sail spacecraft. 
Solar sailing has not advanced since the mid 1970s because no one has 
been able to procure an affordable launch vehicle and build a working 
spacecraft. We still have the best hope of ANYONE to fly the first 
solar sail mission.

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