S7 Space cannot return Sea Launch to Roscosmos

It seems that the assumptions of S7 Space, a subsidiary of the S7 Group and the biggest Russian private space company, have been deemed false. It was assumed that S7 Space could make a reverse the purchase transaction of Sea Launch, a spacecraft launch service that used a maritime launch platform for commercial payloads on the Zenit-3SL rockets, and return the Sea Launch to Roscosmos, incurring only small losses. This was a worst-case scenario, which seems to have arrived, as the next failure of Sea Launch is on the horizon.

However, It became apparent today that “there is no clause in the contract between S7 Space and Roscosmos that allows to reverse the transaction and return the Sea Launch,” Sergey Sopov, S7 Space General Director, told Asgardia Space News. In that regard, the S7 Space company may accumulate sensitive losses. The cost of maintenance of the Sea Launch complex, which contains a command ship, a towed platform and coastal infrastructure costs about $25 million annually.

The main problem in the Sea Launch operational chain is the production of the Zenit launch rocket. The Sea Launch was developed exclusively for the Zenit rockets.

The fact is that the partial production and assembly of the rocket was previously carried out by the Ukrainian production association Southern Machine-Building Plant Yuzhmash. But with the collapse of the USSR, and after the events of 2014, collaboration of Roscosmos divisions and Ukrainian enterprises became difficult, if not impossible.

Unrest has increased amidst a sharp downturn in the relations between Russia and Ukraine because of the incident in the Kerch Bay. On 25 November, Russian border guards fired upon and detained three Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea. The ships were trying to pass through the Kerch Strait. In Crimea, 24 Ukrainians who were on the ships have been arrested on charges of illegally crossing the border. Moscow accused Ukraine of organising a provocation, and Kiev responded by accusing Russia of aggression and violating the right to free navigation. Against the backdrop of martial law between Russia and Ukraine, it is difficult to predict when the Zenit rocket vehicles will be ready for launch from the Sea Launch cosmodrome.

However, as of now, S7 Space has already invested about $160 million into the purchase of the Sea Launch and the production of launch vehicles. The restoration of the complex and its return from conservation cost approximately $30 million.

“In the cooperation agreement on the resumption of the launch activity of the Sea Launch project with the state corporation Roscosmos, there is no clause to reverse the transaction. This contract was executed in the interest of the Russian state, which coincided with the interests of S7 and Roscosmos; therefore, there is no point to oppose these interests,” said Mr. Sopov.

In December 2019, the S7 Space plans to realise the first launch from the Sea Launch. However, for this plan to become reality, S7 Space will need to complete production of the first Zenit rocket before the end of this year.

Photo credit: Sea Launch

Source: Asgardia Space News