The European Union and Ukraine are becoming partners in space exploration and confirming this not only words but deeds. Last year, thanks to the efforts of National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU) representatives, this country was entered in the White Paper that determines EU space policies. Moreover, the European Commission, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the NSAU held a joint workshop, Cooperation between Ukraine and Europe in Space Exploration, in Kyiv on January 29-30, 2004, in order to discuss the implementation of specific projects.
NSAU Deputy General Director Eduard Kuznetsov thinks the partners met at precisely the right time, for Ukraine has a fifty-year experience in space exploration, while the EU is only forming its space policy. Kuznetsov is convinced Ukraine will be an active participant in Europe’s space program. Hartwig Bischoff, cochairman of the joint Ukraine-EU space research task force, believes that Ukraine has vast potential in space exploration and technologies and will find a fitting place in European space policy and European space cooperation. In his view, this applies, above all, to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) system. Bischoff thinks that the Galileo navigational system, now being developed in Europe, should also cover the territory of Ukraine. In his view, negotiations are being held to involve Ukraine in establishing a European global navigation system which, unlike the US- designed GPS, could have civilian applications. There is also a good chance for cooperation in the field of space sciences and spacecraft launching.
Mr. Bischoff also admits there are problems in space cooperation. One of these is that it is not easy for Ukraine to become involved in European research programs and consortiums. “We, the European side, should provide more support and generate more ideas about how to integrate Ukrainian scientists into high-profile projects,” Mr. Bischoff said. He noted at the same time that, while it will take a long time for Ukraine to be admitted to the ESA, the partners could work within the framework of the existing Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between Ukraine and the EU.
Conversely, the NSAU deputy director general sees no major obstacles to cooperation between Ukrainian and European space explorers. “We understand one another very well, our interests coincide, and all we need to do is find and try to reach common goals,” Mr. Kuznetsov noted. According to him, the Ukrainian space industry is developed enough to be able to attract foreign capital to interesting and important projects. He is convinced that Ukraine will participate in the global project of the Galileo European navigational system, which calls for launching thirty satellites. “Even today we are investing in research projects and have good facilities for receiving information from Galileo satellites. We have a ready-for-use ground-based infrastructure that fits this system,” Mr. Kuznetsov said.
As Academician Oleksandr Konovalenko, director of the Kharkiv-based Radio-Astronomy Institute, explained to us, the point is to use the RT-70 antenna in Yevpatoriya for receiving remote sensing signals from European long-range spacecraft, such as the Mars Express. A few days ago this institute signed a contract with the ESA on implementing this year a pilot project to test Ukrainian-made antennas designed to track European spacecraft. If the antenna proves to be highly effective, it will be operated on a routine basis such that it will be adjusted to receiving spacecraft signals according to a certain schedule, Mr. Konovalenko said.
The NSAU deputy general director noted Ukraine has good prospects to participate in the Galileo project’s space segment. As the first of the thirty satellites will be launched in 2007-2008, we have enough time to get things done, Mr. Kuznetsov believes. If we actively cooperate in research, space exploration, designing new equipment, electronics and microelectronics, we will be able to make a contribution to developing these spacecraft and improving the existing ground- based facilities, he noted. Giangrande Barresi, business development manager of the British NTA company, said in turn that the Kharkiv- based Khatron Company, specializing in the manufacture of space control systems, was also being involved in European space projects. In addition, European satellites will be maneuvered in orbit with the aid of Ukrainian-made engines. The Pivdenne General Design Bureau is slated in February to sign a contract with the Italian company Avio on supplying six RD-868R upper stages a year for the European launch vehicle Vega, said Oleksandr Zhyvotov, a Pivdenne designer. He believes that Pivdenne has been working for four years to make the RD-868R, a unique fourth-stage liquid-propellant rocket engine with a thrust of 250 kilograms. The Ukrainian designer noted that Europeans had opted, after a long search, for our engine, which is superior to other existing engines of similar thrust and size. Many representatives of the Ukrainian space industry are unanimous that we should actively cooperate with the EU. This is especially typical of those who work in the rocket factory. In particular, Mr. Zhyvotov revealed that Russia was increasingly opting for the launch vehicles manufactured at our plants.
Moreover, Ukrainian rocket-makers have something to offer not only Europeans but also Americans, who have announced their intention to set up a lunar station and then send a spaceship to Mars. US scientists have already evinced interest in the Pivdenne-designed unique DU-802 fourth-stage engine. This engine employs an air-pump-operated fuel feeding system, while an ordinary engine receives fuel from tanks under pressure created by a turbo-pump unit. As Mr. Zhyvotov noted, the proposed innovation will drastically reduce the overloading of tanks; as a result, the factory can manufacture lighter tanks and ensure far better performances of the fuel feeding system. The new engine also employs the combustion chamber of the RS-24 (SS-18 Satan) missile now being discarded. It is also planned to make an orbital unit equipped with this engine in 2005. Thus the Satan, once an IBM, will be used for peaceful purposes in outer space, said the designer. In his words, this converted rocket can fit a wide range of missions, including flights to the Moon and Mars.
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the EU Roman Shpek believes that space cooperation between Europe and Ukraine is certain to increase our entry into the EU. To achieve this, Ukrainian companies should seek opportunities for cooperation and know how to project their image. Only then will the road to the EU be discernible and realistic, he emphasized.
