Problem found with Soyuz set for Arianespace commercial launch
Russian engineers have found a problem with Freget upper stage used on their Soyuz rocket and set for an Arianespace commercial launch in French Guiana this spring.
According to the source, “a microhole has been found in one of the upper stage’s pipes, which apparently emerged during a long transportation of the booster to the spaceport in French Guiana.”
“Now the specialists of the Lavochkin Research and Production Association [Fregat’s manufacturer] are dealing with this malfunction, by the end of the week they should specify the types of the works needed for eliminating it,” the source said.
The launch may be postponed from late February until March due to this situation.
This problem might not be related to Russia’s ongoing quality control problems. It could simply be a consequence of the difficulty of shipping a rocket across the globe. At the same time, the thought must not be dismissed. They say the microhole occurred during transport, but there is no way to confirm this.
Either way, the problem and delay does not do the Russians good. I wonder if OneWeb, the commercial customer for this flight, is beginning to have regrets about its contract for 21 Soyuz launches to get a large percentage of its satellite constellation into orbit.
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Russian engineers have found a problem with Freget upper stage used on their Soyuz rocket and set for an Arianespace commercial launch in French Guiana this spring.
According to the source, “a microhole has been found in one of the upper stage’s pipes, which apparently emerged during a long transportation of the booster to the spaceport in French Guiana.”
“Now the specialists of the Lavochkin Research and Production Association [Fregat’s manufacturer] are dealing with this malfunction, by the end of the week they should specify the types of the works needed for eliminating it,” the source said.
The launch may be postponed from late February until March due to this situation.
This problem might not be related to Russia’s ongoing quality control problems. It could simply be a consequence of the difficulty of shipping a rocket across the globe. At the same time, the thought must not be dismissed. They say the microhole occurred during transport, but there is no way to confirm this.
Either way, the problem and delay does not do the Russians good. I wonder if OneWeb, the commercial customer for this flight, is beginning to have regrets about its contract for 21 Soyuz launches to get a large percentage of its satellite constellation into orbit.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
If OneWeb isn’t having second thoughts, it should be.
What is described as a “microhole” is almost certainly a crack of some sort in one of the many bent-tube components that one finds as parts of every liquid-propellant rocket engine. Bending a metal tube inevitably compresses the metal along the inside diameter of the bend and stretches it along the outside diameter. Stretching also thins the cross section of the tube along that outside diameter and, if either the alloy formula or heat treatment are off, cracking can occur that may range from superficial surface cracks to cracks running all the way through the tube. Virtually every step in the lifecycle of such a component presents opportunities for cracks to either form or worsen.
1) off-nominal alloy formulation during initial smelting.
2) crack formation/propagation during any of the steps needed to produce a seamless tube including heat treatment.
3) crack formation/propagation during bending operations on tube due to bad alloy or improper setting or adjustment of bending machinery or errors by machine operator(s).
4) crack formation/propagation due to errors during component handling after fabrication is complete – e.g., dropping the part on a hard surface.
5) crack formation/propagation due to stresses from incorrect installation procedure of part onto engine.
6) crack formation/propagation due to misadventure – e.g., bumping or dropping – with entire assembled engine.
7) crack formation/propagation due to stresses from incorrect installation procedure of entire engine into upper stage.
8) crack formation/propagation due to stresses from incorrect handling of entire upper stage during any phase of surface or air transport to launch site.
9) crack formation/propagation due to incorrect handling during assembly of mission rocket stack at launch site.
That is a minimally complete list of possible sources of the reported problem. Chasing down the precise etiology of the reported “microhole” is a non-trivial job and may not even prove possible given the degree of arse-covering-to-avoid-retribution that seems to be baked into the whole Russian space industry these days.
In addition to their contracts with ArianeGroup for Soyuz launches, OneWeb also has launch contracts with Blue Origin for New Glenn launches and with Virgin Orbit for LauncherOne launches. If the Russian rockets prove too troublesome, BO and VO will, I’m sure, be more than pleased to step in and replace them.
Because the test or inspection that found the “microhole” at the launch site was almost certainly performed after assembly and prior to shipment, the most likely sources on Dick Eagleson’s list are items 8 and 9. Otherwise this problem would have been found prior to transport to the lauch site.
With a few exceptions, most satellites are designed and built so that two or more launch vehicles can be used, just in case the primary vehicle becomes unavailable.
Robert wrote: “Either way, the problem and delay does not do the Russians good.”
It is unfortunate that this happened, because even though this is something that could have happened to any of the world’s rockets (Electron has recently had problems crop up), the Russians have had particularly bad quality control problems over the past decade or so, causing reduced confidence in their ability to successfully launch payloads. The corruption at the Vostochny launch site and recent use of cheaper but deficient materials in engine parts add to a sense of systemic problems in Russia.
There once was the thought that at least the quality control problems hadn’t affected the Russian manned program, but that all changed last year.