The first launch of the rocket into space. The latest missile launches. Statistics of launches of space rockets

Today, any launch of a missile, which is described in the news, seems like a familiar part of life. Interest from the townsfolk, as a rule, arises only when it comes to grandiose projects for the exploration of outer space or serious accidents happen. However, not so long ago, at the beginning of the second half of the last century, each launch of the rocket made the whole country stand still for a while, after all the successes and accidents followed. It was also at the beginning of the space age and in the US and then in all countries where they developed their own flight programs to the stars. It was the successes and failures of those years that laid the foundation on which rocket engineering grew, and with it cosmodromes, and increasingly sophisticated apparatuses. In short, the rocket with its history, features of the structure and statistics is worthy of attention.

Basically in a nutshell

The launch vehicle is a variant of a multi-stage ballistic missile, whose mission is the removal of certain cargoes into outer space. Depending on the mission of the launch vehicle, the rocket can lead it to a geocentric orbit or accelerate it to leave the Earth's gravity zone.

In the overwhelming majority of cases, the launch of a rocket comes from its vertical position. It is very rare to use an air start type, when the device is first delivered by an airplane or other similar device to a certain altitude, and then launched.

Multistage

One way to classify carrier rockets is by the number of steps in their composition. Apparatuses that include only one such level and are capable of delivering a useful cargo to space, for today remain only a dream of designers and engineers. The main character at the cosmodromes of the world is a multistage apparatus. In fact, it is a series of connected missiles that consistently turn on during flight and disconnect after completing their mission.

The need for such a construction lies in the difficulty of overcoming earthly gravity. The rocket should tear off its own weight from the surface, which includes mainly tons of fuel and propulsion system, as well as the weight of the payload. As a percentage, the latter is only 1.5-2% of the starting mass of the rocket. Detachment in flight of the exhausted stages allows to facilitate the task of the remaining ones and make the flight more efficient. This design also has the reverse side: it makes special demands on the cosmodromes. A zone is needed, free from people, where the worn-out steps will fall.

Possibility of reuse

It is clear that with such a design, the launch vehicle can not be used more than once. However, scientists are constantly working on the creation of similar projects. Completely reusable rocket for today does not exist because of the need to use high technologies, people are not yet available. Nevertheless, there is an implemented program of a partially reusable device - this is an American "Space Shuttle". It should be noted that one of the reasons why developers are trying to create a reusable rocket is the desire to reduce the cost of launching devices. However, the Space Shuttle did not bring the expected results in this sense.

The first launch of the missile

If we go back to the history of the issue, then the appearance of the carrier rockets itself was preceded by the creation of ballistic missiles. One of them, the German "V-2", was used by the Americans for the first attempts to "reach out" to space. Even before the end of the war, in early 1944, several vertical launches were carried out. The rocket reached a height of 188 km.

More significant results were achieved after five years. The missile launched in the US, at the White Sands training ground. It consisted of two stages: the V-2 and VAK-Kapral missiles and was able to reach an altitude of 402 km.

The first launch vehicle

However, the beginning of the space age is 1957. Then the first real launch vehicle in all senses, the Soviet Sputnik, was launched. The launch was made at the Baikonur cosmodrome. The missile successfully coped with the task in hand - put the first artificial Earth satellite into orbit.

The launch of the Sputnik rocket and its modifications of Sputnik-3 was made in total four times, three of which were successful. Then, on the basis of this apparatus, a whole family of carrier rockets was created, characterized by increased power and some other characteristics.

The launch of the rocket into space, produced in 1957, was a landmark event in many respects. It marked the beginning of a new stage in the man's exploration of the surrounding space, actually opened the space age, pointed to the possibilities and limitations of the technique of that time, and gave the USSR a notable advantage over America in the space race.

The modern stage

Today, the most powerful rockets are the Proton-M rockets of Russian production, the American Delta-IV Heavy, and the European Ariane-5 missiles. The launch of this type of missile makes it possible to take a useful cargo weighing up to 25 tons to a near-earth orbit, which lies at an altitude of 200 km. Prior to the geo-interim orbit, such vehicles are capable of carrying about 6-10 tons and up to geostationary - 3-6 tons.

It is worth to stop on the rocket-carriers "Proton". In Soviet and Russian space exploration, he played a significant role. It was used to implement various manned programs, including for sending modules of the Mir orbital station. With his help, Zarya and Zvezda, the most important blocks of the ISS, were delivered to space. Despite the fact that not all the latest missile launches of this type were successful, Proton remains the most popular carrier rocket: it annually produces about 10-12 of its launches.

Foreign colleagues

"Ariane-5" is analogous to "Proton". This booster rocket has a number of differences from the Russian, in particular, its launch is much more expensive, but it has a large carrying capacity. The geostationary orbit "Ariane-5" is capable of producing two satellites at once. It was the launch of a space rocket of this type that was the beginning of the mission of the famous Rosetta probe, which, after ten years of flight, became the companion of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

"Delta-IV" began his "career" in 2002. One of its modifications, Delta IV Heavy, according to data for 2012, had the greatest payload among carrier rockets worldwide.

Components of success

The successful launch of the missile is based not only on the ideal technical characteristics of the apparatus. Much depends on the choice of the starting point. The location of the cosmodrome plays a significant role in the success of the mission of the launch vehicle.

Energy costs for launching a satellite into orbit are reduced if the angle of its inclination corresponds to the geographical latitude of the locality in which the launch is carried out. The most important consideration for these parameters is for the launch of vehicles delivered to the geostationary orbit. An ideal place for launching such missiles is the equator. Deviation by a degree from the equator translates into the need to set the speed at 100 m / s more. In this parameter, among the more than 20 cosmodromes of the world, the most popular position is occupied by the European Kuru located at latitude 5º, the Brazilian Alcantara (2.2º), and the Sea Launch, a floating spaceport capable of launching missiles directly from the equator.

Direction matters

Another point is related to the rotation of the planet. The rockets starting from the equator get immediately quite impressive speed in the direction to the east, which is due precisely to the rotation of the Earth. In this regard, all flight trajectories, as a rule, are laid in the east direction. Israel was not so lucky in this regard. He has to send missiles to the west, making extra efforts to overcome the earth's rotation, as hostile states are located to the east of the country.

Falling field

As already mentioned, the spent rocket stages fall to Earth, and therefore a suitable zone should be located near the spaceport. An excellent option - the water area of the ocean. Most of the cosmodromes, therefore, is located on the coast. A good example is Cape Canaveral and the American cosmodrome located here.

Russian launch sites

Cosmodromes of our country were created during the Cold War, and therefore could not be located in the North Caucasus or the Far East. The first polygon for launching missiles was Baikonur, located in Kazakhstan. There is a low seismic activity, good weather for most of the year. The possible fall of missile elements to the countries of Asia imposes a certain imprint on the work of the test site. At Baikonur, there is a need to carefully plot the flight path so that the spent steps do not find themselves in residential areas and missiles do not get into the airspace of China.

The Svobodny Cosmodrome, located in the Far East, has the most successful placement of fall fields: they fall to the ocean. Another cosmodrome, where you can often see the launch of a rocket, is Plesetsk. It is located north of all other similar world sites and is an ideal place for sending vehicles to polar orbits.

Statistics of missile launches

In general, since the beginning of the century, activity at the cosmodromes of the world has fallen markedly. If we compare two leading countries in this industry, the US and Russia, the first year produces significantly fewer launches than the second. In the period from 2004 to 2010 inclusive, 102 rockets launched successfully from the US launch sites, which successfully completed their mission. In addition, there were five unsuccessful launches. In our country, 166 starts were successfully completed, and eight ended in an accident.

Among the unsuccessful launches of vehicles in Russia, the "Proton-M" crashes stand out. In the period from 2010 to 2014, as a result of such failures, not only rocket carriers, but also several Russian satellites, as well as one foreign apparatus, were lost. A similar situation with one of the most powerful carrier rockets did not go unheeded: officials who were involved in the emergence of these failures were dismissed, projects began to be developed to modernize the space industry of our country.

Today, like 40-50 years ago, a person is still interested in mastering outer space. The current stage is characterized by the possibility of full international cooperation, which is being successfully implemented in the ISS project. However, many points require further development, modernization or revision. I want to believe that with the introduction of new knowledge and technologies, the statistics of launches will become more and more joyful.