http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...XPK_story.html
"ITAR-Tass cited the Roscosmos press service Tuesday as saying that
third-stage booster rockets from two Soyuz spacecraft that were have
to been launched from French Guiana have been returned to Russia for
inspection. The rockets are powered by the same RD-0110 engine that
malfunctioned on the Progress.
The planned launch of another two Soyuz carriers from the Guiana Space
Center this year will go ahead as their third-stage booster rockets
are powered by a different type of engine."
Doesn't identify payloads or dates for either Soyuz pair.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...yfIYpsc2putr8g
"A Soyuz-U rocket carrying an unmanned cargo ship to the International
Space Station failed to reach orbit on August 24, instead crashing in
Siberia shortly after blast-off.
The first such failure since Soyuz rocket launches began in 1978
prompted Russia to ground its manned flight programme until the causes
of the accident were found and raised fresh doubts about the
reliability of its Soviet-era technology.
Soyuz rockets are used to launch the unmanned Progress cargo vehicles
as well as the Soyuz manned capsules going to the ISS.
Roskosmos also announced plans to send the first post-crash unmanned
cargo Progress ferry to the ISS on October 30."
Trying to follow the organization chart could be a challenge:
http://www.federalspace.ru/main.php?...1744&hl=guyana
"The official ceremony marking ESA’s handover of the Soyuz launch site
to Arianespace took place on May 7 at Europe’s Spaceport in French
Guiana, after the site was declared ready for the first flight and the
completion of a simulated launch campaign.
The French space agency, CNES, as prime contractor for the building
work, along with its European and Russian partners, has spent recent
months qualifying the site.
In March, the ‘acceptance review’ declared that it was ready for its
first rocket and at the same time CNES handed over the facilities to
ESA. The last step was ESA’s hand-over to Arianespace on 31
March. . . .
‘Soyuz at CSG’ – drawing on the French name of Centre Spatial Guyanais
– is an ESA programme with the participation of seven Member States.
The decision to develop the infrastructure to enable Soyuz to be
launched from French Guiana was of mutual interest to both Europe and
Russia. From a European perspective, closer cooperation with Russia
brings significant benefits, such as a reduction in the development
and production costs of new launcher systems, as well as opening the
door to other possible commercial partnerships in the future.
Construction of the Soyuz site began in February 2007, although
initial excavation and ground infrastructure work began in 2005 and
2006, respectively.
Russian staff arrived in French Guiana in mid-2008 to assemble the
launch table, mobile gantry, fuelling systems and test benches.
The first two Soyuz launchers arrived from Russia by sea in November
2009 to be assembled in the new preparation and integration building.
The launch site is almost identical to the other Soyuz sites in
Kazakhstan and Russia, although adapted to conform to European safety
regulations.
The most visible difference is the 45 m-tall mobile gantry, which
allows payloads to be installed on the launcher vertically on the
launch pad. Its internal movable work platforms provide access to the
Soyuz at various levels for checkout activities.
Soyuz fits neatly between the Ariane 5 and Vega launchers developed by
ESA. Ariane 5 meets the requirements for larger satellites and Vega
will complement this for smaller payloads.
Soyuz also introduces the exciting potential for upgrading the new
launch facility to allow manned launches to the International Space
Station from French Guiana. "
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