Globis

Although Energiya never came anywhere close to flying in the Buran-T configura­tion, there was no lack of ideas for payloads. As mentioned earlier, in September 1989

The Globis communications satellite (source: RKK Energiya).

NPO Energiya’s new chief Yuriy Semyonov canceled plans to launch two Proton payloads on the Energiya 2L vehicle and ordered the use of that rocket instead to orbit a heavy geostationary communications platform called Globis. The idea to build these heavy communications satellites had originated in 1988 as a result of efforts to find useful payloads for Energiya, the existence of which could no longer be justified on the basis of Buran alone. Studies showed that a small network of such platforms could vastly improve communication links over the vast territory of the Soviet Union and eliminate the need to regularly launch smaller communications satellites, thereby preventing overcrowding of the geostationary belt. It was estimated that three such satellites could replace 32 conventional communications satellites. The Globis satellites, sometimes referred to in the Soviet press as the “czar satellites”,
were to use a heavy bus called a Universal Space Platform (UKP) that could also be adapted for other missions.

Semyonov showed himself a staunch supporter of the idea even before being assigned to the top post at NPO Energiya, defending the need to build such satellites at the May 1989 meeting of the Defense Council and several days later at the Council of Ministers. This resulted in a decision to hold a competition on developing future communications satellite systems, which also involved NPO PM in Krasnoyarsk, which had had a monopoly in the field until then and naturally was vigorously opposed to the Globis concept, which it saw as a case of inventing a payload to fit a rocket.

The original plan was to launch a prototype satellite weighing 13-15 tons on the Energiya 2L rocket in late 1992-1993. It would be delivered to geostationary orbit by a duo of modified Blok-DM stages (10R and 20R) known together as 204GK. The first generation of operational satellites, weighing 16-18 tons, would be launched using the same 204GK upper-stage combination in 1994-1995 and the second gen­eration, weighing 21-23 tons, would be launched beginning in 1996 using a cryogenic upper stage. Several profiles were studied to place the satellites into geostationary orbit, including one using a circumnavigation of the Moon.

After much lobbying the project was sanctioned by a decree of Gorbachov signed on 5 February 1991. In May of that year Semyonov approved a new deployment plan, with the first-generation satellites (mainly serving the Soviet Union) to fly in 1996-1998 and the second generation (to be used for global communications) to follow in 1999-2000. The satellites would use at least some tried-and-tested technol­ogy, such as the retractable solar panels developed for Mir’s Kristall module.

After the failed August 1991 coup and the resulting collapse of the Soviet Union, work on the project slowed down as the money ran out. On 1 July 1992 the govern­ment of the Russian Federation approved a plan to continue work on Globis on a commercial basis, but the necessary financial support was not found and the project was closed down along with Energiya in mid-1993 [58].