1.10.1 Progress Specifications
- Launch weight .......................................... 7020-7240 kg
- Weight of cargo (Progress 1-24) ................. about 2300 kg
- Weight of cargo (Progress 25-42)................ about 2500 kg
- Length ..................................................... 7.94 m
- Diameter of cargo modules ........................ 2.2 m
- Maximum diameter ................................... 2.72 m
- Volume of cargo compartment ................... 6.6 m3
1.10.2 Progress Notable Features
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1.10.3 Progress Detailed DescriptionSpacecraft designer Konstantin Feoktistov published a brochure in 1980 in Moscow in which he described Progress in some detail.[1] A summary is given below. |
Feoktistov stated that Progress constituted an alternative to building reusable (“multiple use”) logistics vehicles. A reusable vehicle, he asserted, would be 1.5 to 2 times heavier empty than the equivalent expendable logistics craft. This would call for a booster nearly as large as the three-stage Proton rocket used to launch Salyut. “If we are talking about an economically effective earth-orbit-earth transport system,” Feoktistov continued, “then it appears expedient to build a fully multiple use complex, not only the spaceship, but also the booster rocket.” This would take too much time; therefore, “when designing the Progress spacecraft the decision was made to make it single-use and to |
- ↑ Feoktistov, pp. 37-40.