RUSSIA'S NEW ROCKET COULD TILT SPACE POWER BALANCE TO SOVIETS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000706130001-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: May 18, 1987
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STA_r Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706130001-7
ARTICLE;. ; ,RF0 WASHINGTON TIMES
ON PAGE V_fJ 18 May 1987
Russia's n
new rocket
could tilt
space power balance to Soviets
,' By Martin SMr. Oberg added: "It is impossible to in the new rocket, however, saying mili-
THE w~aartin Sieff
TIMES overestimate the importance of the So- tary experts had worked with personnel
viet achievement For the first t,m 25
e
The Soviet Union's new Energia
rocket, the world's most powerful
booster, could give it a commanding lead
in "star wars" space-based military sys-
tems and lead to a new series of Soviet
"space spectaculars," U.S. experts warn.
The 2,000-ton Energia booster blasted
off into space on Friday night from the
Tyaturam space complex in Kazakhstan
in Soviet Central Asia, fired by what So-
viet television described as the most
powerful engines in the world.
The eight liquid hydrogen-powered en-
gines are rated at 17S million horsepower,
compared with the 168 million of
America's Saturn V booster that put man
on the Moon. Previously, the most power-
ful Soviet booster, the Proton, had a 60
million horsepower rating.
The official Soviet news agency Thss
described Energia as a two-stage, multi-
purpose launch vehicle intended to put
both reusable craft and large space ves-
sels into orbit for use in science and the
economy.
A Soviet television commentator, in a
report from the Tyaturam complex, said
Energia one day would be capable of lift-
ing into orbit "the blocks from which
cities will be built."
Said one U.S. space expert: "They have
tripled their payload capacity." The Ener-
gia can carry a payload of up to 100 tons.
James Oberg, a leading U.S. expert on
the Soviet space program, said: "I have
some anxiety about the Soviet purpose in
building such a huge rocket. None of the
benign rationales appear to hold water."
"A few payloads like this would allow
the Soviets to set up an orbiting battle
stations system and to deny space to any
payloads that did not meet with their ap-
proval," he said.
Such battle stations, he said, could be
armed with lasers, small missiles, frag-
mentation bombs or satellite warheads.
"Only three or four Energia payloads
would be enough to set up an effective
anti-satellite network [in orbit]," Mr.
Oberg said.
Once such a system was in orbit, Mr.
Oberg said, "They can attack any satellite
within a few orbits and enforce their own
'export controls' on it.
"The Soviets have been talking about
pre-launch inspection of payloads
through the United Nations;" he said. But
given Soviet influence at the United Na-
tions, "It would be no more comfort to me
if those satellites were carrying the U.N.
flag" instead of the Soviet one, he said.
m from research, design, production and
years they have resumed the lead in assembly groups to create and test Ener-
rocket power with the obvious intention gia and its launch complex.
of using it:' The development of a giant liquid
In the 1957-62 period, the Soviet Union hydrogen-powered booster has been
launched the first orbiting satellite, Sput- hailed by Western experts as a major.
nik 1; the first live animal in orbit, a dog achievement. The Soviets previously
in Sputnik 2, and the first man in space used other liquid chemical fuels for their
and into orbit, Maj. Yuri Gagarin. They space program boosters and failed in
later launched the first three-man space previous efforts to produce a liquid hy-
mission and put the first woman into drogen booster.
space, Valentina Tereshkova. Mr. Ober tr called the Soviet
In the long run, Energia gives the So-
Union the booster capacity to estab- achievement "impressive and disturb-
viet lish a permanent or semi-permanent lu- engines s work, "Our [liquid s hydrogen] o on
2S
gar colony and' to send manned , but they are based 25
expeditions to Mars and sons moons. years of experience. [The Soviets] have
unmanned Soviet been able to skip all that. This is evidence
probe to Mars' tiny of either divine intervention, or their
moon Phobos is to be launched next year. ability to use western experience.
The Soviets have laid stress on keeping
their cosmonauts in space for long "There is no other space nation on
periods of time, recreating the condi- earth that can go from nothing to that
pons that would apply apply on missions to [the Energia], he said. "It is_ a. tribute tq
their rocket engineers and to the GRIT
Mars, that on would colonies.
Western experts say Moscow has been [Soviet military intellig nenT and the
KGB"
working for at least nine
ears to d
l
y
eve
op
a space shuttle and is expected to make
its first shuttle launch this year. The
Energia booster would provide a capac=
ity to launch a shuttle at least as large as
the U.S. design.
U.S. military experts have suggested
the Soviet shuttle could be used for mili-
tary purposes, although Moscow insists
its space efforts are peaceful.
Tass mentioned military involvement
Putting his personal stamp on the im-
portance of the launch, Kremlin leader
Mikhail Gorbachev paid a three-day visit
to the Tyaturam complex last week.
During his visit to Baikonur, Mr. Gor-
bachev underlined the significance of de-
fense work carried out at the center in a
speech described but not fully reported
by Thss.
He was accompanied to the space com-
plex by three of the highest-ranking So-
viet leaders with jobs related to military
affairs, in another sign that the rocket
launch and forthcoming shuttle venture
could have military applications.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/12/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000706130001-7