Soyuz is as popular a Russian name in rocketry and spacecraft as Kalashnikov is in rifles, or MiG is in aircrafts. Or to borrow a more commonplace analogy, vodka is in spirits. One of the fallouts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and sanctions against Moscow has been Russia’s refusal to fly OneWeb satellites and carry out other launch projects aboard Soyuz. In the past space has largely been immune from geopolitical tensions between the US and Russia.
Post the 1970s, space cooperation between NASA and Soviet Union remained steady over the decades, even at the peak of the Cold War and what appeared to be the ultimate denouement –the fall of the USSR.
It would sound incredulous that what’s today a symbol of Russia’s enviable spacing prowess and a reminder of its glory days in the 1960s (a series of firsts that triggered the space race and transformed science, technology, and innovation forever), was slated for replacement by another more powerful and advanced rocket in 1985. The project failed to take off because of the complexity, chaos, economic collapse, and turbulence that followed the disintegration of the Soviet Union.
Last of the league
Zenit was the last rocket to be designed in the Soviet Union. With more payload capacity than the Soyuz, it was intended to replace it. But in 1991, Russia discontinued the plan due to reluctance over a rocket manufactured in a neighboring country becoming the mainstay of its space program. Moscow was wary of going ahead with a rocket being designed and manufactured in Ukraine due to financial constraints, political compulsions, and the emergence of new fault-lines and alignments in the post-Soviet world.
However, space cooperation between Russia and Ukraine on Zenit and rocket engines continued with intermittent disruptions until it was cancelled in 2015 in the aftermath of Russian intervention in Crimea. Same year, Russia put an end to all space cooperation with Ukraine and stopped supplying rocket engines. Though an exception was made for the few existing Zenit rockets in Russia.
In a 2015 interview, Elon Musk, the maverick technology entrepreneur, called Zenit his favorite rocket (other than the ones made by Space X of course).
In December 2017, AngoSAT-1, a communications satellite built by the Russian company RKK Energia, was launched aboard Zenit 3F. That was its last flight till date.
Rocket City
Dnipro was the center of Soviet missile and launcher industry. The eastern Ukrainian city’s sobriquet was ‘Rocket City’ owing to the presence of space industry and heavy manufacturing there. Dnipro was among the main hubs of Soviet space, military, aviation, and nuclear sectors. Although now just a shadow of its former self, the city is still the hub of the Ukrainian space and avionics sector. It also has a sprawling space museum and a premium aerospace university.
Yuzmash, a Soviet era space company founded in 1944, and currently a Ukrainian state company with a global market presence, manufactured most of Soviet Union’s ICMBs (Inter Continental Ballistic Missiles), starting from the first nuclear-powered missile R-5M. By the 1980s, it produced 120 ballistic missiles in a year. Zenit rocket series was designed by Yuzhonev, a rocket and satellite designer, that still has a close association with Yuzmash.
Engine of ESA’s Vega rocket is made in Ukraine, and the rocket that carries supplies to the ISS (International Space Station), has been jointly developed by Northrup Grumman and Ukrainian firm Yuzhovne, as per the DW.
Attempted resurrection
Fast-forward 2022, as the conflict in Ukraine rages along with debates over future of European security and unraveling of the world order or the New End of History redux, Ukraine is eagerly pushing for the revival of Zenit rockets.
“My message to everyone is: leave Soyuz, go Zenit. You can cut ties with Russia and bring in Ukraine and we will be ready for the task”, said Volodymyr Usov, former chairman of the Ukrainian Space Agency, in a recent interview with Space.com.
Propping a Soviet-made rocket against another Soviet-made one, as a symbol of assertive Ukrainian solidarity against Russian belligerence seems farcical.
