Ukrainian Zenith Shows Class

The Sunday before last, in the morning (Kyiv time), a Zenith-3SL Ukrainian carrier-rocket was successfully launched from a floating launch pad built as part of the Sea Launch international project, press service chief of the Pivdenne Design Bureau Yuri Aleksieyenko announced.

Unlike during the previous trial launch on March 28, this time the rocket put into orbit was not a mock- up but a full-fledged US satellite. The Ukrainian rocket put an almost 3.5-ton Direc TV1-R satellite into a 36,000-km-high geostationary orbit. According to Mr. Aleksieyenko, Pivdenmash has secured orders for eighteen Zenith rockets. The next launch is planned for January next year. Incidentally, our rockets are pollution-free, for they are fueled with liquid oxygen and kerosene.

Now Ukrainian rocket builders have every reason to be proud of their achievements. For as recently as last year a Zenith exploded during an attempt to put into orbit twelve communication satellites. That failure seemed to spell the death of Ukraine's hopes to join international space programs.

In addition, the US State Department has accused Boeing, the leading member of the Sea Launch program, to the effect that its partners, Ukrainians and Russians, are stealing American secrets. But these accusations proved to be groundless, for it is the Ukrainians and Russians who, unlike US rocket builders, introduced their own know-how in the project.

Since each of the project partners has its own share of capital (Boeing 40%, Russian Rocket Building Corporation 25%, Norway's Kvaerner 20%, and the Ukrainian enterprises Pivdenne and Pivdenmash 15%), they share the profits according to their individual contributions.

One launch costs, estimate project leaders, $40 million. The European Arianespace company, which launches satellites from a space center in French Guyana, charges $55 million.