News

December 2, 2011.
RSC Energia held a session of the Council of Chief Designers for the Russian Segment of the International Space Station

S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia held a session, chaired by the Corporation President and General Designer V.A. Lopota, of the Council of Chief Designers for the Russian Segment of the International Space Station (ISS).

Heard during the session were the following reports:

progress report on the preparations for the launch of a manned transportation spacecraft Soyuz TMA-03M;
about the results of the ISS flight, the mission program for the upcoming period, status of ISS, Lead Operations Control Team and flight support assets readiness for accomplishing the program of the next expedition ISS-30;
about Soyuz-FG launch vehicle readiness for the launch of Soyuz TMA-03M;
about the readiness of the launch pad for the launch of the integrated launch vehicle carrying Soyuz TMA-03M;
about the status of the ISS US segment and its readiness for the next phase of the mission;
about the readiness of the ground control equipment and infrastructure for upcoming operations with Soyuz TMA-03M and ISS;
about the readiness of the means of search and rescue for performing work in support of Soyuz TMA-03M launch;
about the readiness of the ISS-30/31 crew for carrying out their mission on-board ISS;
about the health status of the crews of ISS-29/30 and ISS-30/31;
about conformity of Soyuz TMA-03M to specifications and standards.

Presented to the Council of Chief Designers were supplementary reports, announcements and findings from chief designers and responsible representatives of organizations and companies participating in the ISS program.

There are no obstacles to continuing the work under the ISS program.

The Council of Chief Designers made the decision to:

approve RSC Energia proposals on the outstanding activities plan to prepare Soyuz TMA-03M for launch on December 21, 2011; on the delivery to the ISS of the next expedition crew of three (O. Kononenko, D. Pettit, A. Kuipers) and ISS mission plan for the period immediately ahead; on the program of research and experiments for the next stage of the ISS Expedition;
clear the ISS RS to proceed with the next phase of the ISS operation.

Taking part in the proceedings of the Council of Chief Designers were heads of Roscosmos, representatives of space agencies from abroad (NASA, ESA, JAXA), subdivisions of RSC Energia, organizations and companies implementing the ISS program.