Summary of 2005

[shoogerbrugge]

Summary of launched 2005<br /><br />OK, 2006 has finally begun, time to look back over our shoulders and see what happened in the space launching business last year. A total of 57 attempts to reach orbit actually left the launch pad, 3 of these attempts failed, on which more later. We had to say goodbye to no less then 2 vehicles, the Atlas 3, Titan 4. On the other hand, 2005 saw the introduction of another vehicle, not the Falcon I though, that treat is reserved for next year. Russia introduced a new SLBM, the Bulava<br /><br /><b>Country ranking</b><br />Russia was the most active country when the number of launch vehicles are counted, no less then 27 launch attempts were made from Plestek, Biakonur, and from a submarine. These 27 exclude the 4 successful launches of SeaLaunch, which is an international venture. The USA launched 14 vehicles, ESA 5, China 5, Japan 2 and India 1.<br /><br /><b>Launch vehicle ranking</b><br />Maybe it’s a sign of the times, but Soyuz was the most used Launch Vehicle (LV) in 2005. No less then 12 were launched, which is the highest number since some time. The high launch rate was because of the ISS and a high number of foreign commercial launches. 2005 was also the year of the 1700th Soyuz LV family flight. On a less positive note, it also saw a failure of the Molinya M, a 4 stage Soyuz version launched from Plestek<br /><br />Proton is the runner up, 7 launches, which is a significant drop in activity compared to earlier years. Both the Ariane 5 and Long March had 5 launches in 2005, while the Zenit 3SL left the launch pad 4 times. Kosmos 3M signed up for 3 launches in 2005 while all other launch vehicles have 2 or 1 launch in the previous year<br /><br /><b> The failures </b><br />The previous year sadly enough saw 3 launch vehicles fail, all Russian. As noted before the Molinya M had a 3rd stage failure. It was the first failure in 250+ launches of this Soyuz subversion. The second failure was of a Rockot, a converted ICBM, were a premature shu

 

[mikkelrj]

Very nice summary of 2005. It sure does look like The Russian space program are picking up momentum again, along with their recovering economy, which seems to be going awfully good with the rising gas prizes. I hope we get to see alot more frem their side in 2006.<br /><br />In 2005 we also saw the beginning of a "new" space race between China and USA, or maybe not a space race, but some strong indications from both sides, that the interest in setting foot on the moon again surely exists.

 

[shoogerbrugge]

One thing must be added though, most money is made in building the payloads, the satellites. A satellite is way more complex and expencive then a Launch Vehicle, so even though Russia might launch more rockets then any other country, the bulk of the payloads is build by American or European countries, making all the big $, bringing payload in orbit has become a commodity.