Excalibur - the return of the diamond

The old TKS spacecraft is about to return to space as a vehicle for wealthy tourists. Engineers who worked on its development during the Soviet period are partners in the attempt to revive it

Amber dew Galileo

The name Excalibur is associated with King Arthur and the legends of the Knights of the Round Table, the wizard Merlin and ancient times. However, this is the name chosen for the spaceship that will carry space tourists and astronauts together for a tour in low orbit around the Earth. What is special about the project is that it is a spacecraft based on a Soviet spacecraft that was originally intended to transport cosmonauts to the Soviet Union's Almaz (Diamond) military space stations, which operated in the 20s and XNUMXs.

The spacecraft was developed in the USSR by Vladimir Chelomei's planning office, which competed against the number 1 planning office led by the chief planner of the space sector in the USSR, Sergey Korolev. Korolev's design won the premiere: these are the Soyuz spacecraft, which, although they made their first manned flight into space in 1967, continue to fly astronauts into space to this day, and are expected to have many more years of service.

The Soviet spacecraft TKS (also known by the name of the entire military program, Almaz) flew into space, docked at the Salyut space station and even returned to Earth, but without its crew. The spacecraft was more sophisticated and more expensive than the Soyuz spacecraft, and was even designed to be reused. Two TKS spaceflights took place, the project was abandoned for many years, and the company that built the spacecraft placed it in the company's museum in the Moscow region.

Today, a commercial company called "Almaz-Excalibur" (founded in 2005 and consisting of partners in Russia, Great Britain and the USA) is planning to revive the old Soviet spacecraft, and to offer space tourists orbital space flights (at an altitude of about 400 km above the earth's surface) that will last up to a week. On top of that, the spacecraft will allow crews to be flown to the International Space Station, if the station's partners agree to it. According to the company's schedule, the first flight of the spacecraft is planned for 2012 and paid flights will begin in 2013. The company also intends to use the spacecraft to perform scientific experiments of various types in the microgravity conditions that prevail in the spacecraft, and in the future also allow some of the experiments to be exposed to the vacuum of space (in this sense, the spacecraft is reminiscent of the private Dragon spacecraft being developed by Space X, and see this section, "Galileo" 106).

legacy

The former Soviet spacecraft will of course undergo a comprehensive upgrade, especially in the areas of avionics, the propulsion system and the docking system in space. The Russian company NPO Mash (Mashinostroyenia) is a partner in the project, and veteran engineers who worked in the Soviet era on the original spacecraft are partners in the attempt to revive it. Due to the fact that key components of the spacecraft were proven at the time in a real space mission, the development time of the renewed spacecraft is greatly shortened (several space flights were carried out between the years 1985-1976. In these flights, the ability of the spacecraft to maneuver, dock and land, as well as to remain in a functional state even after a long exposure of months for space conditions).

On top of that, an element of saving the costs of experiments and tests will translate into lower prices that the future users of the spacecraft will have to pay. As of the beginning of 2010, the prices that the company plans to charge from those flying in the spacecraft or from the entities that will fly into space for various experiments have not yet been officially published.

The structure of the spaceship

The Excalibur-Elmaz spacecraft consists of a reusable crew compartment, and its conical shape is similar to the Apollo spacecraft or the future US spacecraft, Orion. An orbital assembly is attached to the spaceship, which allows the crew an activity space during their stay in space. The spacecraft also includes a service unit with a propulsion system, survival systems for astronauts, solar cells for electricity generation and other related systems. The two units attached to the part intended to return to Earth are separated from it before returning to the ground, fall and burn up in the Earth's atmosphere (in this sense, the general design of the spacecraft is similar to the old Russian Soyuz spacecraft). The Soviet planning did not go down the drain with the decision not to equip the new spacecraft, and units of the "Mir" space station were based on the spacecraft. Also, the knowledge gained in Russia was used to build some of the complexes of the International Space Station.

Operation of the spacecraft

Excalibur-Elamaz is designed to be launched into space using a variety of launchers, but at this stage the company has not yet published what they are. It is understood that it will also be possible to make a routine using the Russian launchers that were originally designed to carry the spacecraft into space (the Proton and Soyuz launchers). It will be possible to launch the spacecraft from a variety of launch fields into space, which will provide maximum flexibility in choosing the trajectory for the spacecraft. In the first phase of the spacecraft's operation, it seems that the launches will take place from the space base (cosmodrome) in Ikonor in Kazakhstan. The vice president of the company recently stated in an interview that the company is considering using the launcher developed by Space X, the Falcon 9.

Using different launch bases will allow landing in a variety of landing sites. The mission commander is expected to be an astronaut with operational experience in the Russian or US space agency, and the number of passengers in the spacecraft will be adjusted to the customer's requirements.

future developments

The company bought two space station assemblies in Russia, ones that are also used by the International Space Station, and are based on the Soviet/Russian Mir space station. At this stage, the assemblies have been moved to storage and there is no immediate intention to use them, but with the expected increase in space tourism, the company will be able to use these assemblies, launch into space and become the owner of a commercial private space station.

A possible collaboration with Bigelow Aerospace, which specializes in the production of inflatable assemblies for space, will further expand the operational flexibility of the spacecraft on the one hand, and on the other hand will increase the number of space flights for tourists and researchers: since Bigelow has already placed two experimental assemblies in space that have proven themselves, and intends to launch the first private space station at the same time as the Excalibur spacecraft began service.

* Tal Inbar is the head of the Center for Space Research, the Fisher Institute for Strategic Air and Space Research, and the chairman of the Israel Space Association.

The article was published in Galileo magazine, February 2010

Further reading

• Excalibur-Almaz website
• Historical information about the Almaz spacecraft during the USSR