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Vostochny's processing area features new architecture In Vostochny spaceport, all preparations of rockets and spacecraft before their roll out to the launch pad are conducted at a 104.3-hectare facility identified as Technical Area, or Tekhnicheskaya Pozitsiya, TP, located at Site 2. Although it has been a traditional feature for many launch sites around the world, the processing facility at Vostochny was conceived to have a truly innovative architecture.
Aerial view of the processing complex on July 1, 2014. The rocket and spacecraft preparation facility Traditionally, Russian launch sites had separate processing and assembly facilities for each type of rocket. In many cases, a full complement of support infrastructure would have to be built even for individual launch pads. These large and expensive facilities were often sprawling over a considerable area, all requiring their own roads, communications lines, personnel and residential areas. In contrast, for Vostochny, developers at OAO Ipromashprom, (the main architectural contractor on the project), designed a single centralized processing and assembly hub, which would consolidate all preparation activities of the space center. Rockets of various sizes and their payloads would still be prepared inside their custom-built work sites, or modules, however they would all be located next to each other and linked by a single hallway known as "transborder gallery". Such an innovative solution promised to minimize the volume of each individual building, eliminate the duplication of support infrastructure, keep all spacecraft preparation activities under one roof and enable future expansion of the facility. A total area of the processing complex was expected to reach 39,000 square meters. Giant windows of the complex would have a total area of more than 13,000 square meters. Early blueprints also showed the plans to expand the processing complex westwards in order to accommodate a new assembly building (INSIDER CONTENT) for the Angara family of rockets in the second phase of development in Vostochny. Optimistic plans in 2012 aimed to bring Angara to Vostochny as early as 2018 to carry piloted missions from the site. In reality, the Angara's first launch from Vostochny would not take place until 2024. (INSIDER CONTENT) In November 2015, Russian officials said that the new vehicle assembly building for Angara rockets would be built along with a new preparation facility (INSIDER CONTENT) for the PTK NP spacecraft to ensure the first unmanned launch at the end of 2021 and the first piloted mission (INSIDER CONTENT) from the site in 2023. However, ultimately, the Angara's preparation was accommodated in the same building with Soyuz rockets. By 2024, Roskosmos also made plans (INSIDER CONTENT) to prepare the yet-to-be developed Start-1M rocket (INSIDER CONTENT) at Site 2 in Vostochny. The project involved the construction of a new vehicle assembly building for the rocket, while its payloads would be prepared in existing processing and fueling facilities. (1065) Soyuz rocket assembly building, MIK RN
The main building of the processing complex, MIK RN, is dedicated to the assembly of launch vehicles. Storage and vacuum facility (INSIDER CONTENT)
Across the main transborder gallery from the launch vehicle assembly building was the storage facility for rocket stages. The same building of the processing complex was also allocated for the installation of the large vacuum chamber with a volume of 900 cubic meters for testing future spacecraft. Spacecraft processing building, MIK KA
The spacecraft processing building has specialized work sites for processing and handling various satellites, Fregat and Volga upper stages and payload sections integrated under their payload fairings. Fueling and neutralization station, ZNS
On the opposite end from the transborder gallery, the spacecraft processing building is flanked by the the ZNS station. It was designed specifically for fueling of the spacecraft prior to their mating with the launch vehicles, which required to include this facility into the first phase of construction to be completed before the end of 2015. In addition to storage for hazardous propellants, the ZNS building also included means for collecting and neutralization of industrial waste and hazardous vapors. Floors of the three-story, climate-controlled facility were paved with special acid-resistant tiles.
The main transfer hallway (transborder gallery) also designated GP-12 and developed at KB Motor had a total area of 10,000 square meters. It would sport a pair of giant movable platforms or "transborders." Weighing 200-ton and measuring 6 by 28 meters, this truss structures would shuttle back and forth along rail tracks on four dual bogies, carrying cargo with a mass of up to 120 tons. The platform was equipped with a system of sensors and drivers that enable an operator to maintain a highly accurate vertical and horizontal position of the cargo relative to the rail line. After a spacecraft or a rocket component had completed the processing inside its work site, it would roll onto the platform, which would then transfer it to the main assembly hall for final integration. (619) The transborder gallery promised to save time and improve safety during the assembly of rocket and space systems as compared to the use of cranes. According to the original plans approved in 2010, the half-a-kilometer-long transfer hallway would be connected to the south sides of four processing buildings:
In addition, the same transfer hallway was to be connected to the north sides of five support buildings with storage rooms, fueling and power stations. Scaling down When the development of the processing complex in Vostochny finally reached the construction phase in May 2012, visuals gleaned from reports in the official media revealed that only around a half of the original design had survived the reality check. According to a statement from the Spetsstroi contractor, a total of 24 buildings and facilities were included in the first phase of the general plan. Scheduled for completion at the end of 2015, the scaled down complex still sported a cavernous 180 by 60-meter launch vehicle assembly building. It was originally intended for Rus-M rockets, but after the cancellation of the project in 2011, the facility was re-purposed for a smaller Soyuz-2 and Soyuz-2-1v launch vehicles. The rocket assembly building was flanked by a spacecraft processing facility, which would now house work sites for unmanned satellites. Most importantly, the innovative centralized architecture of the overall complex has been retained, with the foundation of the transfer hallway clearly visible on satellite photos of the construction site in 2012. Power block On its south side, the transborder gallery is also flanked by the so-called "Energoblok," the facility for power supply of the entire processing complex and for battery charging. The facility will also contain the main console of the centralized automated system for the control of water and gas supply, heating, air conditioning, ventilation and sewer systems of the entire processing complex. The system should ensure clean-room environment inside the processing halls of the center matching the R9 standard for air purity. Support facilities Along with main processing complex for rockets and spacecraft, Site 2 would be home to various support facilities such as a boiler, a propellant storage, a fire station along with a complex belonging to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Roskosmos scheduled the preliminary design for the support facilities to take place from May 2011 to March 2012. Proposed support infrastructure included:
The project relied on already completed designs for the Rus-M rocket. The construction was to be split into two phases: the first stage with a completion date in 2015 and a second stage with a completion in 2018. The propellant storage area The propellant complex located around 10 kilometers from the main processing complex of the launch site occupied an area of around 40 hectares. It was designed to store up to 39 tons of oxidizers in special mobile containers with a volume ranging from 100 to 2,000 litters and up to 84 tons of hydrogen peroxide. The facility would also store rocket fuel, technical gases used in rockets, means of propellant neutralization and a facility for testing of gases and other chemicals. The water supply facility at the storage area promised to have a water-treatment plant with microfiltration and fully automated control system. Construction activities at Site 2 The construction at Site 2 started roughly in parallel with the work at the Soyuz launch pad in the spring and summer 2012. According to the official press, foundations for a total of 15 facilities of the technical complex had to be finished by the end of 2012. Signs posted at the construction site of the processing complex quoted completion dates as September and December 2015. Simultaneously, construction was picking up at various secondary locations beyond Site 2. By the beginning of 2013, Dalspetsstroi (the main local contractor), reported the completion of renovation at five formers barracks capable of accommodating more than 1,000 workers. Ledyanaya train station The Ledyanaya ("icy") train station at the junction between the main railway artery of the space center and the federal railway line was also under renovation, along with the construction of power lines, railway and automobile roads. Workers also broke ground at the industrial support zone located southeast of Site 2. Processing building for Angara payloads (INSIDER CONTENT) The satellite photos of the technical complex taken around Summer 2023 revealed work on the foundation of a new processing building intended for the payloads and the upper composite of the Angara rocket family. The construction of the facility continued in 2024.
Key milestones in the development of the Soyuz processing complex in Vostochny: 2012 May - September 2015: The official dates of construction of the processing complex at Site 2. (As of 2012) 2012 July - December 2015: The official dates of construction of the Soyuz rocket stages storage facility. (As of 2012) 2023: Construction of the processing building for Angara payloads is underway
Construction specifications of the processing complex in Vostochny (Site 2):
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