Experts from the Voronezh National Technical University are working on the development of a tug that sends satellites into different orbits, using ultra-light missiles.
This ambitious project is revealed in the scholarly literature of the universe accessible to Sputnik.
According to the developers, the tug weighs 80 kg, carrying 16 kg of liquid fuel. The tugboat is designed to pull a number of satellites into different orbits.
This is seen as a competitive advantage over missiles without tugs.
Russia popularizes the use of accelerator bridges, in fact tugs place satellites in different orbits.
On March 22, the Fregat stage used in the Soyuz rocket carried 38 foreign satellites in different orbits.
At the end of 2020, Russian media reported that the Roskosmos State Space Group would spend 4.2 billion rubles on the development of nuclear space tugs for flights to other planets in the solar system. As a result, the state-owned company plans to develop a preliminary design for the creation of a space complex with an energy transport module based on a nuclear electric motor.
Expressing confidence in this program, Mr. Alexander Bloshenko – Director General “Roskosmos” said that the nuclear space tug will be launched on one of Jupiter’s satellites by 2030.
