Today, any rocket launch that is covered in the news seems like a familiar part of life. The interest on the part of the inhabitants, as a rule, arises only when it comes to grandiose space exploration projects or serious accidents occur. However, not so long ago, at the beginning of the second half of the last century, every launch of a rocket made the whole country freeze for a while, and everyone followed their successes and accidents. It was also at the beginning of the space era in the United States and then in all countries where they launched their own programs of flights to the stars. It was the successes and failures of those years that laid the foundation upon which rocket science grew, and with it cosmodromes, and increasingly sophisticated vehicles. In a word, a rocket with its history, structural features and statistics is worthy of attention.
The main thing in a nutshell
The launch vehicle is a variant of a multi-stage ballistic missile, whose purpose is to launch certain cargoes into outer space. Depending on the mission of the launched vehicle, a rocket can put it into a geocentric orbit or give acceleration to leave the Earth's gravity zone.
In the vast majority of cases, the launch of a rocket occurs from its vertical position. It is very rare to use an air type of start, when the device is first delivered by a plane or other similar device to a certain height, and then it starts.
Multistage
One of the ways to classify launch vehicles is by the number of steps included in their composition. Devices that include only one such level and are capable of delivering payload into space at the same time, today remain only the dream of designers and engineers. The main character at the cosmodromes of the world is a multi-stage device. In fact, it represents several connected missiles that are connected in series during the flight and disconnected after completing their mission.
The need for such a design lies in the difficulty of overcoming gravity. The rocket should tear off its own weight from the surface, which includes mainly tons of fuel and propulsion, as well as the weight of the payload. In percentage terms, the latter is only 1.5-2% of the starting mass of the rocket. Disconnecting the spent stages in flight makes it easier for the remaining ones and makes the flight more efficient. A similar design has a downside: it makes special demands on spaceports. A zone free of people is needed where the spent steps will fall.
Reusable
It is clear that with this design, the launch vehicle cannot be used more than once. However, scientists are constantly working on the creation of such projects. A fully reusable rocket today does not exist due to the need for high technology, so far inaccessible to people. Nevertheless, there is a realized program of a partially reusable spacecraft - this is the 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 vehicles. However, the “Space Shuttle” did not bring the expected results in this sense.
First rocket launch
If we return to the history of the issue, then the appearance of launch vehicles proper 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" into space. Even before the end of the war, at the beginning of 1944, several vertical launches were carried out. The rocket reached an altitude of 188 km.
More significant results were achieved after five years. There was a rocket launch in the USA, at the White Sands training ground. It consisted of two steps: the V-2 and VAK-Corporal missiles and was able to reach an altitude of 402 km.
First booster
However, the year 1957 is considered the beginning of the space era. Then the first real launch vehicle in all senses, the Soviet Sputnik, started. The launch was made at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The rocket successfully coped with the task - it launched the first artificial Earth satellite into orbit.
The Sputnik rocket and its Sputnik-3 rocket were launched four times in total, three of which were successful. Then, on the basis of this device, a whole family of launch vehicles was created, characterized by increased power values and some other characteristics.
The launch of a rocket into space, made in 1957, was a landmark event in many respects. It marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of human surroundings, actually opened the space age, pointed out the possibilities and limitations of the technology of that time, and also gave the USSR a noticeable advantage over America in the space race.
Modern stage
Today, Proton-M launch vehicles of Russian production, the American Delta-IV Heavy, and the European Arian-5 are considered the most powerful. Launching a rocket of this type makes it possible to put into a near-earth orbit, which lies at an altitude of 200 km, a payload weighing up to 25 tons. Such devices are capable of delivering about 6-10 tons to the geo-intermediate orbit and 3-6 tons to the geostationary orbit.
It is worth stopping on the Proton launch vehicles. In Soviet and Russian space exploration, he played a significant role. It was used to implement various manned programs, including for sending modules to the Mir orbital station. With his help, “Dawn” and “Star”, the most important ISS blocks, were delivered into space. Despite the fact that not all recent launches of missiles of this type were successful, Proton remains the most popular launch vehicle: approximately 10-12 launches are made annually.
Foreign colleagues
Arian-5 is an analogue of Proton. This booster has a number of differences from the Russian one, in particular, its launch is much more expensive, but it also has a greater carrying capacity. “Arian-5” is capable of launching two satellites at once into the geo-intermediate orbit. It was the launch of this type of space rocket that was the beginning of the mission of the famous Rosetta probe, which, after ten years of flight, became the satellite of the comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Delta IV began its “career” in 2002. One of its modifications, Delta IV Heavy, according to 2012 data, had the largest payload among launch vehicles in the world.
Components of success
A successful launch of a rocket is based not only on the ideal technical characteristics of the device. Much depends on the choice of the starting place. The location of the spaceport plays a significant role in the success of the mission of the launched vehicle.
The energy consumption for putting a satellite into orbit is reduced if the angle of its inclination corresponds to the geographical latitude of the terrain in which the launch takes place. The most important consideration of these parameters is to launch the vehicles delivered to the geostationary orbit. An ideal place to launch such missiles is the equator. Deviation by a degree from the equator results in the need to set speed 100 m / s more. According to this parameter, among the more than 20 cosmodromes in the world, the European Kourou, located at a latitude of 5º, Brazilian Alcantara (2.2º), as well as Sea Launch, a floating cosmodrome that has the ability to launch rockets directly from the equator, occupy the most favorable position.
Direction matters
Another point associated with the rotation of the planet. The rockets starting from the equator immediately receive an impressive speed towards the east, which is connected precisely with the rotation of the Earth. In this regard, all flight paths, as a rule, are laid eastward. Israel has no luck in this regard. He has to send missiles to the west, making extra efforts to overcome the Earth's rotation, because hostile states are located to the east of the country.
Fall field
As already mentioned, the spent rocket stages fall to the Earth, and therefore, a suitable zone should be located next to the cosmodrome. A great option is the ocean. Most cosmodromes are therefore located on the coast. A good example is Cape Canaveral and the American spaceport located here.
Russian launch sites
The cosmodromes of our country were created during the Cold War, and therefore could not be deployed in the North Caucasus or the Far East. The first testing ground for launching missiles was Baikonur, located in Kazakhstan. There is low seismic activity, good weather for most of the year. The possible fall of missile elements in Asian countries leaves a certain imprint on the operation of the landfill. At Baikonur, there is a need to carefully lay the flight path so that the worked steps do not end up in residential areas and missiles do not enter China's airspace.
The Svobodny Cosmodrome, located in the Far East, has the most successful placement of fall fields: they fall on the ocean. Another spaceport 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 to send vehicles to polar orbits.
