Other Names: KB Pivdenne or KB Yuzhnoye (Державне конструкторське бюро "Пiвденне" iменi М.К. Янгеля)
Location: Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine
Website: http://www.yuzhnoye.dp.ua/
Subordination: National Space Agency of Ukraine
Structure: Facilities that comprise Pivdenne State Design Bureau include:
Design Bureau No. 2 - responsible for designing missiles;
Design Bureau No. 3 - primarily responsible for satellite development;
Design Bureau No. 4 - responsible for engine design;
Design Bureau No. 5 - responsible for instrumentation.[1]
The design bureau has also opened a branch office in Brussels in order to develop its contacts with the French and European Space Agencies and advance its space-related proposals such as designing a space shuttle.[2]
The history of the Pivdenne (Yuzhnoye in Russian) State Design Bureau dates to 1951 when the Soviet government decided to convert a large automobile factory in Dnipropetrovsk into a dedicated facility for the serial production of ballistic missiles developed by Scientific Research Institute 88 (NII-88, currently the Central Scientific Research Institute of Machine-Building, or TsNIIMash)[1,2] Under the leadership of General Designer Vasiliy Sergeyevich Budnik, the facility, officially the design division of Plant No. 586, recruited young professionals who endeavored throughout the early 1950s to organize serial production of R-1 [NATO designation SS-1A 'Scunner'], R-2 [NATO designation SS-2 'Sibling'], and R-5M [NATO designation SS-3 'Shyster'] missiles, as well as the engines for these missiles. On 10 April 1954, in recognition of the work performed by Budnik and his colleagues, the Soviet Council of Ministers adopted a decree creating Experimental Design Bureau No. 586 (OKB-586), an independent design bureau that was renamed the Yuzhnoye State Design Bureau in 1965 under the newly created Ministry of General Machine-Building of the USSR [2,3,4]
Academician Mykhaylo Kuzmych Yangel, previously head of Experimental Design Bureau No. 1 (OKB-1, currently RKK Energiya) of NII-88, became the first General Designer of OKB-586. Under the direction of Yangel and Budnik, who served as First Deputy General Designer, Experimental Design Bureau No.586 tackled the task of developing strategic missile complexes that would be produced by the A.M. Makarov Yuzhniy Machine-Building Plant, or Yuzhmash (currently known as Pivdenmash).[3,5]. Yangel passed away in 1971 and was succeeded by Volodymyr Fedorovych Utkin, another of his deputies, who headed Yuzhnoye until 1990 when current General Director/General Designer Stanislav Mykolayovych Konyukhov assumed control over the organization. In the 1980s, Yuzhnoye State Design Bureau and Yuzhmash, together with the Dnipropetrovsk branch of the Scientific Research Institute of Machine-Building Technology, briefly united forces as the Yuzhnoye Science and Production Association (NPO Yuzhnoye), but this association became defunct shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union.[2]
Unlike other design bureaus active at the time, OKB-586 focused upon storable liquid fuels primarily due to the personal interests and beliefs of Yangel. Over time OKB-586 would become one of the most prominent organizations in the USSR dedicated to development of military missile complexes.[3] It produced the widest variety of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).[2] The fruits of its efforts include the R-12 [NATO designation SS-4 'Sandal']; R-14 [NATO designation SS-5 'Skean']); R-16 [NATO designation SS-7 'Saddler']; R-36 [NATO designation SS-9 'Scarp']; MR-UR-100 [NATO designation SS-17 'Spanker']; R-36M [NATO designation SS-18 'Satan']; and the RT-23 [NATO designation SS-24 'Scalpel'].[1,2,3] The first missile developed by the design bureau, the R-12, incorporated a completely autonomous, jam-resistant control system, and, along with other missiles designed by Yuzhnoye, became the primary asset of the Strategic Rocket Forces upon their creation in 1959.[1,3,6] Yuzhnoye also designed the first MIRVed (multiple independently targeted reentry vehicles) Soviet missile, the R-36; single-warhead and MIRVed versions of the R-36M, one of the largest and most powerful strategic missile systems ever created; and the RT-23, the first and only rail-mobile missile system.[1,7] At one point the design bureau simultaneously was engaged in the design of five different missile systems.[7]
In addition to its work on military missile complexes, Yuzhnoye also participated in the development of satellites and space launch vehicles. Many of the rockets designed for space launches borrowed generously from technology developed for military purposes. The design bureau has developed a total of 67 types of satellites and 12 different space complexes.[1] Its Kosmos, Interkosmos, and Tsiklon boosters have launched into orbit more than 1,000 satellites, including 400 satellites developed and produced by the combination of Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash, in connection with a variety of military and commercial programs.[1,5] Beginning in the 1970s, these same two organizations, together with the Pavlohrad Mechanical Plant, also successfully cooperated on the creation of solid fuel engines for the R-12, the R-39 [NATO designation SS-N-20 'Sturgeon'], a naval surface-to-surface missile, and the RSS-40 [NATO designation SS-X-26], a mobile ICBM project later cancelled.[1]
With the demise of the Soviet Union, the design bureau lost many of its traditional sources of funding, while Ukraine could not maintain the level of financing previously provided to the facility. For example, in 1997, the design bureau received 43% of the funding necessary for its operations and in 1999 government financing met only 12% of its needs. This has led to a 50% decrease in the number of people employed by Pivdenne since the collapse of the Soviet Union, to 4,500 employees.[8,9,10] In order to ensure its economic viability, the design bureau began to diversify production. It opened branches that focus upon the production of agricultural machinery such as combines; a line of food processing accessories; and trolleybuses.[1,5] Through the first six months of 2003, Pivdenne produced goods worth 42 million hryvna (about $8.2 million as of 1 August 2003), announced total sales of 25 million hryvna (about $4.8 million) -- an increase of 86.2% over 2002, and paid an average salary of 418 hryvna (about $80).[5] The financial stability of Pivdenne also depends to a great extent upon its participation in a number of international commercial space projects that garner the design bureau approximately $100 million annually and help to create jobs.[11]
Activities: Once Ukraine gained its independence, Pivdenne, the sole Soviet missile design facility located outside the territory of the Russian Federation, discontinued its work on ballistic missiles.[1,2,3] However, since 1994 its personnel, under a contract with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces, have continued to provide a wide range of services aimed at extending the service life of those missile complexes still in use.[1,3,4]
Pivdenne did maintain its programs dedicated to the development of booster rockets and satellites and, as a result, has become one of the leading design bureaus in the former Soviet Union in terms of adapting military technology for civilian and commercial use. Following a decision in 1999 to subordinate Pivdenne to the National Space Agency of Ukraine, the design bureau became the primary research and design organization for projects included in the Ukrainian National Space Program.[2,5] Its contributions to this program include efforts to develop the Sich and Okean satellites designed to observe the surface of the Earth, including environmental monitoring; the Lybed geostationary space communications system; and the MS-1-TK micro-satellite.[1,2,6,7] The first Ukrainian satellite, the Sich-1, launched in 1995 with the assistance of a Tsiklon-3 booster rocket, both of which Pivdenne designed.[5] Furthermore, despite a serious funding shortage, Pivdenne also continues to investigate new technologies, such as the Mayak booster rocket that would utilize an environmentally friendly form of fuel consisting of oxygen and kerosene.[2,5]
The design bureau also participates in a number of international projects.[2,5,6] Pivdenne has shaped its design efforts to take advantage of international commercial opportunities. For example, the design bureau, in collaboration with Pivdenmash, developed and produced the first two stages of the Zenit-3SL booster rocket used in the Sea Launch program. Sea Launch, founded in 1995 by Boeing Commercial Space Co. (40% share), RKK Energiya (25%), Kvaerner Maritime (20%), and Pivdenne, which together with Pivdenmash has a 15% share in the project, provides commercial space launch services from a floating platform in the Pacific Ocean.[2,5] Sea Launch is a $2 billion project of which Russia will provide approximately $660 million.[8] It also enjoys the support of a World Bank program that aims to reduce non-commercial risks so as to encourage private investment. As a result of this program, Pivdenne and Pivdenmash received $100 million from Chase Manhattan Bank and Boeing, and ten years of guaranteed orders.[9]
As a member of the Space Transport Systems (Kosmotras) joint venture formed in 1997 by the National Space Agency of Ukraine and the Russian Aerospace Agency (Rosaviakosmos), Pivdenne developed the Dnepr rocket on the basis of the R-36M [NATO designation SS-18 'Satan'] ICBM. Plans called for 30 to 100 of these missiles to be modified at a cost of $100 million. Although the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces reportedly took great interest in the initial launches of the Dnepr, which differed from the Satan only in its software program, Kosmotras emphasized the civilian nature of this new technology. The project shows that close ties remain between organizations in Russia and those in Ukraine that were links in the same missile production chain during Soviet times.[2]
In July 2003, Ukraine and Brazil announced plans to form a joint venture that would provide launch services from the Brazilian Alcantara Space Center using Tsiklon-4 booster rockets, the latest generation in launch vehicles developed by Pivdenne. According to Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology Roberto Amaral, who visited Kiev to seal the deal, cooperation between the countries may also involve information sharing that would allow Brazil to develop its own space launch vehicles.[10] According to the General Director of the National Space Agency of Ukraine, Oleksandr Negoda, the Tsiklon-4 is an inseparable part of the Ukrainian National Space Program for 2003-2007, which will help finance its further development and construction.[11]
In June 2001, Pivdenne participated in and won a tender to design, prepare, and launch the first Egyptian satellite dedicated to remote Earth sensing. Its bid was chosen over proposals from companies in Great Britain, Russia, and Italy, and involved development of a satellite weighing approximately 100kg to be launched into orbit by a Dnepr booster rocket. Pivdenne, together with Pivdenmash, Khartron, and other partners, also agreed to create a ground control system for the satellite, modernize an existing data processing station, and train Egyptian personnel.[2,12]
The design bureau also plays an important role in the realization of a presidential decree issued on 6 February 2001 that promotes the use of technologies developed for space programs to stimulate economic growth. As part of this program, the bureau created the KZS-9-1 (Slavutich) grain combine, developed an experimental method for burning low-quality coal, and constructed instruments that provide for the wet and dry cleaning of gases produced during the electricity generation.[13]
10/20/2003: SEA LAUNCH PROGRAM TO EXPAND TO LAND LAUNCH
A press release issued on 20 October 2003 by the Sea Launch Company, LLC, based in Long Beach, California announced that the company, which is 15% owned by the Pivdenne State Design Bureau and Pivdenmash, intends to expand its successful Sea Launch program to provide land-based space launch services as well. The Land Launch program will use a version of the Pivdenne-designed Zenit-3SL booster rocket to lift commercial satellites into orbit from the Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first launch tentatively will take place in the fourth quarter of 2005.
["Sea Launch to Offer Land-Based, Medium-Lift Launches from Baykonur in Cooperation with Space International Services," Sea Launch LLC Company Web Site, http://www.sea-launch.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
8/11/2003: SEA LAUNCH SENDS ECHOSTAR-9 INTO ORBIT
A press release distributed by the Pivdenne State Design Bureau Information Center on 11 August 2003 announced the successful launch on 8 August 2003 of an Echostar-9 satellite from the Odyssey floating launch platform off the coast of Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean.[1] The floating station allows launches to take place in close proximity to the equator, maximizing the effect of the Earth’s rotation and increasing the effectiveness of the launches.[2] Pivdenne designed the first and second stages of the Zenit-3SL booster rocket, produced by Pivdenmash, that propelled the $90 million telecommunications satellite into orbit. This launch was the tenth within the framework of the Sea Launch program, which came on line in 1999, although plans call for five-six launches per year.[1,3] It was the second of three planned launches in 2003; the first launch took place in June 2003 and involved a Thuraya D2 satellite from the United Arab Emirates.[2] The 8 August launch also was the first since the Boeing Corporation, the largest shareholder in the joint venture at 40%, indicated that it intended to withdraw from the commercial space launch market for a period of five years due to unfavorable conditions in the market and a desire to focus on launches for the U.S. Department of Defense and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).[3] Boeing later indicated that it remains committed to the project.[4]
Sources:
[1] GKB 'Yuzhnoye' Information Center, "Press-reliz o zapuske rakety-nositelya 'Zenit-3SL' s kosmicheskim apparatom 'Echostar-IX'," 11 August 2003, Yuzhnoye State Design Bureau Web Page, http://www.yuzhnoye.dp.ua.
[2] "S plavuchego kosmodroma 'Morskoy start' zapushen telekommunikatsionnyy sputnik SShA," NEWSru.com, 8 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[3] Ivan Safronov, "Boeing prodlil vizu v kosmos," Kommersant, No. 141, 11 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[4] Aleksey Berezhkov, "'Boing' ostayetsya priverzhennym proyektu 'Morskoy start,' nesmotrya na rezkoye sokrashcheniye kosmicheskikh zapuskov," ITAR-TASS, 16 September 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com. {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
8/1/2003: PRESIDENT KUCHMA VISITS PIVDENNE DESIGN BUREAU
UNIAN reported on 1 August 2003 that President Leonid Kuchma had paid a visit to the Pivdenne State Design Bureau as part of a one-day trip to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. During the course of his stay, the president, who also stopped at Pivdenmash, met with workers from Pivdenne and became acquainted with the latest developments in space and rocket technology. He also inspected commercial civilian goods produced by the design bureau, including new trolley buses, which will be presented on 24 August during Independence Day celebrations. [Note: The President began his professional career at Pivdenne as an engineer and rose through the ranks to serve as First Deputy General Designer from 1982-1986.]
["Prezident posetil konstruktorskoye byuro 'Yuzhnoye,'" UNIAN, 1 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
6/11//2003: UAE SATELLITE ORBITED BY SEA LAUNCH
An article posted on E1.Ru on 11 June 2003, with reference to RIA Novosti, indicated that an enhanced Zenit-3SL booster rocket had successfully launched into orbit a telecommunications satellite from the Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company of the United Arab Emirates. A series of design innovations allowed the rocket, the first two stages of which were designed by the Pivdenne State Design Bureau and produced by Pivdenmash, to lift the Thuraya-2 satellite, which weighed over 5 metric tons, into orbit as part of the Sea Launch program. The Thuraya-1 satellite, launched in October 2000 within the framework of the same commercial program, also used the Zenit-3SL.
["'Zenit-3SL' smozhet vyvodit na orbitu do 6 tonn gruza,", E1.Ru, 11 June 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
6/6/2003: UKRAINE, BRAZIL TO CREATE JOINT SPACE LAUNCH VENTURE
Pravda.Ru reported on 6 June 2003 that Brazil and Ukraine intend to create a joint venture in order to provide commercial space launch services from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil. Ukraine will contribute its newest booster rocket, the Tsiklon-4 developed by the Pivdenne State Design Bureau, Pivdenmash, and AO Khartron, to the joint venture. The article also quotes Mr. Roberto Amaral, the Minister of Science and Technology of Brazil, as informing senators in the National Congress that cooperation on space with Ukraine under the terms of agreements to be finalized in the near future may include information sharing that could allow Brazil eventually to develop its own booster rockets.
[Andrey Lubenskiy, "Ukraina i Braziliya vmeste budut zapuskat v kosmos 'Tsiklony'," Pravda.Ru, 6 July 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
12/21/2002: KOSMOTRAS LAUNCHES THIRD DNEPR
The Press Service of the Russian Space Forces announced on 21 December 2002 the successful launch of a modified Dnepr-1 booster rocket carrying six small satellites from the Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. This was the third launch since the creation in 1997 of the Russian-Ukrainian joint venture Kosmotras to adapt R-36M [NATO designation SS-18 'Satan'] intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for commercial launches. The Pivdenne State Design Bureau, Pivdenmash, and NPO Khartron together hold a 50% stake in the venture.
["Eks-satana vyvela na orbitu shest sputnikov," ForUm, 21 December 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
4/11/2002: PIVDENNE WINS TENDER FOR EGYPTIAN SATELLITE
On 11 April 2002, ForUm reported that the Pivdenne State Design Bureau had won a tender to design, produce, and launch a remote Earth sensing satellite for Egypt in a competition that also included firms from France, Great Britain, Italy, Russia, and South Korea. In addition to creating and deploying the satellite using its Dnepr booster rocket, Pivdenne will provide training in Dnipropetrovsk to Egyptian specialists and build ground control and data collection stations in Egypt.
["KB 'Yuzhnoye' v zhestkoy borbe vyigralo tender na zapusk sputnika dlya Egipta," ForUm, 11 April 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
4/10/2002: PIVDENNE DEVELOPING TSIKLON-4 BOOSTER
UNIAN reported on 10 April 2002 that at a press conference in honor of the 48th anniversary of the Pivdenne State Design Bureau, its General Director and General Designer Stanislav Konyukhov announced that the enterprise is working on a new booster rocket, the Tsiklon-4, as part of a space cooperation agreement signed by the Presidents of Brazil and Ukraine. Plans call for this new rocket to be used for joint Brazilian-Ukrainian commercial launches from the Alcantara Space Center in Brazil.[1] The Tsiklon-4 project, in which Pivdenmash and AO Khartron also are involved, will produce a three-stage rocket that primarily will be used to launch satellites into low-Earth and middle-Earth orbits.[2]
Sources:
[1] "Konstruktorskoye byuro 'Yuzhnoye' rabotayet nad sozdaniyem kosmicheskogo nositelya 'Tsiklon-4'," UNIAN, No. 15 (207), 10 April 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[2] "Dlya obyedineniya preimushchestv 'Tsiklona' i 'Alkantara," Elektronnyye vesti, 18 January 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com. {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
4/2/2002: RUSSIA LIKELY TO REPLACE UKRAINE IN VEGA PROJECT
According to a report in Vedomosti on 2 April 2002, it appears that Russia will become a partner in the Vega project developed by the European Space Agency to create a new booster rocket for use in commercial space launches.[1] It would take the place of Ukraine, whose Pivdenne State Design Bureau from Dnipropetrovsk bid for the contract to produce the engine for the fourth stage of the Vega.[1,2] In November 2001, FiatAvio, the main developer of the Vega, decided to discontinue its participation in the modernization of Tsiklon-4 booster rocket designed by Pivdenne for use in commercial launches from the Brazilian Alcantara Space Center. Shortly thereafter, it also chose not to cooperate with Pivdenne on the Vega project and, as a result, has turned to companies in Russia.[1]
Sources:
[1] Yuriy Granovskiy, Mikhail Kozyrev, "'Vega' vernetsya v Rossiyu. Iz Italii cherez Ukrainu," Vedomosti, 2 April 2002; in ForUm; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com
[2] "Ukraina mozhet poluchit zakaz ot evropeyskogo kosmicheskogo obshchestva na sozdaniye dvigatelya dlya rakety," UNIAN, No. 224 (1851), 20 June 2001; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com. {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
6/19/2001: PIVDENNE RECEIVES NEW ORDERS FOR ZENIT BOOSTER
UNIAN reported from Paris on 19 June 2001 that the Pivdenne State Design Bureau had received an order for the preparation of an additional three Zenit-3SL booster rockets in connection with commercial space launches planned under the Sea Launch program. UNIAN quoted the General Designer of Pivdenne, Stanislav Konyukhov, as stating that the Ukrainian rocket booster already successfully has launched into orbit several satellites under this program.
"Ukraina poluchila zakaz na izgotovleniye eshche trekh raketonositeley 'Zenit-3SL' dlya mezhdunarodnogo proyekta 'Si Lonch'," UNIAN, No. 25 (165), 18 June 2001; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
5/28/2001: PIVDENNE TO DESIGN NEW MAYAK BOOSTER
UNIAN reported on 28 May 2001 that the Pivdenne State Design Bureau intends to develop a new series of booster rockets based on the technology involved in the Zenit rocket. The new three-stage rocket, named the Mayak, will be designed to launch mid-size satellites and will occupy its own niche. It likely will incorporate in its first two stages the RD-120 engines developed by the Russian NPO Energomash corporation and the Pivdenne-designed RD-8 engine in its third stage. According to the press secretary of Pivdenne, Yuriy Alekseyenko, the design bureau plans to pursue foreign investment in order to bring the project to fruition by its target date of 2005-2006.
["Konstruktorskoye byuro 'Yuzhnoye' sozdayet novyy raketonositel 'Mayak'," UNIAN, No. 192 (1819), 28 May 2001; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
3/17/2000: ZENIT NOT AT FAULT IN FAILED SATELLITE LAUNCH
According to a report in Segodnya on 17 March 2000, an investigation has identified incorrect mathematical calculations during launch preparations as the cause of the crash of a Zenit-3SL booster rocket. The rocket, launched from the Odyssey floating platform in the Pacific Ocean with a US telecommunications satellite as cargo under the Sea Launch program, exploded shortly after liftoff. The investigation also absolved the Zenit-3SL and its developers at the Pivdenne State Design Bureau of any fault in the accident.
["'Zenit' v avarii ne vinovat," Segodnya, No. 550, 17 March 2000; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
11/10/1998: PIVDENNE INVOLVED IN SS-19 DESTRUCTION
On 10 November 1998, Segodnya reported the visit to Dnipropetrovsk of US Senator Richard Lugar and discussed implementation of Nunn-Lugar programs that foresee the destruction of 130 SS-19 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) for which Ukraine bears responsibility. According to the article, 90 missiles have been destroyed to date. The Pivdenne State Design Bureau is responsible for the final neutralization and destruction of the missiles. Pivdenne Ecological Security Department Head Anton Sheiko insisted that the transport and dismantling of the missiles do not present a threat to the environment or local population.
[Denis Semenov, "Poka ekologi ne 'poskandalyat,' budet 'pakhnut otravoy'," Segodnya, No. 218, 10 November 1998; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
4/17/1998: CONVERTED SS-18 LAUNCHED FROM BAYKONUR
Segodnya reported on 17 April 1998 that a Dnepr rocket, a civilian version of the Soviet R-36M [NATO designation SS-18 ‘Satan’] intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), was launched from the Baykonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The launch took place under the aegis of the joint Russian-Ukrainian consortium Kosmotras, which plans to modernize and convert decommissioned SS-18 ICBMS for commercial use. Specialists from the Pivdenne State Design Bureau are involved in implementation of the project.
["'Satanu' peredelali v 'Dnepr' i zapustili dlya proby,” Segodnya, No. 76, 17 April 1998; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.] {Entered 10/27/2003 EMC}
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Updated September 2005 |
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