MOSCOW, November 28. /TASS/. Splashdown trials for the reentry module of Russia’s future manned spacecraft Federatsiya (Federation) will begin at Russia’s Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the spring of 2019, the institute’s director general, Kirill Sypalo, told TASS.
According to the officials, all required calculations have already been completed.
"Right now we are planning experimental trials of a model, [to be held] at our hydrodynamic test canal," the scientist said.
The TsAGI is the traditional partner of the Energia Space Rocket Corporation (the developer of the Federatsiya spacecraft) and is responsible for the air segment of the trajectory of space and aerospace systems. In January, the TsAGI chief executive said tests of the spacecraft’s model for the stage of its descent in the atmosphere had been held in the institute’s wind tunnels.
The Federatsiya spacecraft is being developed by the Energia Space Rocket Corporation. The spacecraft is designed to deliver humans and cargoes both into a near-Earth orbit and into deep space. The spacecraft will have a crew of up to 4 persons. It will be capable of operating in the mode of an autonomous flight for up to 30 days and for a term of a year as part of an orbital station.
As the Energia press office reported, the corporation has issued the main volume of working design documentation for holding autonomous and comprehensive trials. Energia has also launched work to make the mockups of the spacecraft’s compartments, including their structural design and onboard systems. The promising transport spacecraft is scheduled to enter flight trials in an unmanned mode in 2022.