20-ton “Perseus” can hit the Earth after the New Year

by time news

The space industry analyzed the consequences of the first test launch of the upper stage

New Year’s holidays can be marked with a “star rain” from the wreckage of the new Russian upper stage “Perseus”. Such an end to the story with the first test launch of the apparatus on the heavy rocket “Angara-A5” is not excluded by experts in the space industry. The launch took place on December 27 at 22.00 Moscow time, and in the morning of the next day, the American space tracking service NORAD reported an unknown object “A” numbered 50505, which is in orbit with a perigee of about 180 km and an apogee of about 200 km. The launch site in the message was designated as “the territory of the former USSR, CIS, Plesetsk rocket and space complex.” By all indications – this object is very similar to our “Perseus”, stuck in low orbit along with the payload model. If so, then a total of about 20 uncontrollable tons are flying over us, which will sooner or later fall. Well, if to the Pacific Ocean …

Let us remind you that this was the “extreme” New Year’s launch from the Plesetsk military cosmodrome. For the heavy “Angara” – the third test, for the upper stage (RB) – the first. The Perseus was installed between the third stage and the head fairing. Under the fairing there was a mass-scale payload mock-up that was inseparable from the upper stage, that is, a spacecraft mock-up similar in mass and size to that which this RB will subsequently launch into space. So, under the fairing there was a mock-up of the satellite – under the conical metal shell of which, most likely, an economical concrete “filling” is hidden. Nobody announced the weight of this structure. According to rough estimates, the total mass of the payload, the new upper stage, and the fuel poured into its expanded (compared to the previous model) tanks was more than 20 tons.

And all this, after separation from the launch vehicle, was supposed to reach an altitude of 35,800 kilometers, simulating the delivery of the satellite to the GSO, and then, along with the same model, go to the burial orbit, making the fifth activation of the propulsion systems.

The rocket was launched at 22.00 Moscow time. All three stages of the “Angara” worked out, delivering the “Perseus” with a cargo to low orbit. Further, turning on its engines three times, the accelerator had to “crawl” to the geostationary by itself. However, he was able to perform only one turn on …

Evil tongues claim that there is no way to control this apparatus from the Earth. Even if there were, rechargeable batteries designed for only 10 hours of work would not allow.

If this is the case, then the 20-ton blank or what remains of it will smoothly descend for another two or three weeks, until most of it with the remaining fuel burns out in the dense layers of the atmosphere. Where the leftovers will fall is a question. Basically, the same NORAD tracking service provides us with the ability to track its flight trajectory on a daily basis.

Here you can follow the flight of object “A”





It would be logical to receive clarifications from our specialists from Roscosmos at this moment. Maybe their American “colleagues” are mistaken, maybe they are slandering? After all, it turns out that, despite the successful operation of the Angara-A5, the launch will still be considered unsuccessful with the loss of the payload. On the other hand, even if the new product did fail, it doesn’t matter either. That is why they are testing in order to work out all possible stages of flight and find the weak points of complex space technology.

But for two days now there is no information from Roskosmos about the abnormal removal of the upper stage. The press secretary of the department, Dmitry Strugovets, told MK that “the launch was ordered by the military department, so the state corporation does not give any comments on it.”

It remains for earthlings only to guess on the coffee grounds, without waiting for Christmas, how it will all end. Some, discussing this situation with “Perseus” on the Internet, jokingly complain that as a payload, New Year’s gifts were not packed into a mock-up: that they would have fun flying over the Earth, delighting everyone around!

What else can people hope for, except for a miracle … Meanwhile, the same “malefic” Americans are only adding fuel to the fire – they posted on their website information that on December 28 they also separated from the same mysterious object “A” three fragments: C, B and D, all three at different times. This, most likely, suggests that the prefabricated structure “Perseus” plus a model “is beginning to gradually fall apart. Well, not gifts from the sky, so at least we can observe an unscheduled meteor shower?

Help “MK”

The Perseus upper stage was originally developed at RSC Energia for the Proton-M launch vehicle, and then it was adapted to the Angara-A5.

Published in the newspaper “Moskovsky Komsomolets” No. 28698 of December 30, 2021

Newspaper headline:
Return of the obstinate “Perseus”

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