Khrunichev, ILS Set Up Quality Initiative For Proton Rocket

[Satellite News – 5-20-08] Khrunichev Space Center and International Launch Services (ILS) have initiated a quality initiative for Khrunichev and its subcontractors, the two organizations announced April 24.
    Khrunichev manufactures Russia’s Proton rocket, and ILS market the vehicles for commercial use. Two ILS Proton missions have suffered failures since September, the latest in March, when an upper stage problem left SES Americom’s AMC-14 satellite short of its intended orbit. But the quality initiative is not directly related to the latest failure, officials from the two companies said.
    “We are putting in place a comprehensive program which is viewed as part of [Khrunichev’s] strategy going forward,” Vladimir Nesterov, Khrunichev general director, said in a e-mail interview with Satellite News. “We consider the quality initiative yet another step towards solidifying our role as a leading space company. Our quality initiative is not an ad-hoc measure. While we are taking these steps, the Khrunichev Center has always made it a priority to concentrate on processes to ensure quality and guaranteed performance of contractual obligations,” he said.
    The March failure was traced to the rupture of the gas duct between the gas generator and the propellant pump turbine in the Breeze M main engine. The findings by the Russian State Commission investigating the failure were that the most probable cause of the gas duct rupture was the combined effects of duct wall erosion, high temperatures and prolonged low frequency pressure fluctuation in the duct.
    “Both Khrunichev and ILS realized that steps needed to be taken,” Frank McKenna, president of ILS, said. “The Khrunichev quality initiative is intended to restore customer confidence that Proton is a reliable product for the long run. … There are interim and long-term steps to be taken, integrated with the corrective actions that are being taken as a result of the AMC-14 investigation.”
    Key elements of the initiative include appointing a deputy director general responsible for quality control and management, re-certifying the quality management system to the latest international standards using an independent auditor, implementing yearly audits and re-certifications, and re-evaluating all factors to improve the launch vehicle design quality.
    “The plan is to look at the total picture — the management, production and design systems and processes in all the suppliers,” McKenna said. “Then these systems and processes would be unified into a single set of standards.”
    The plan also calls for incorporating new subsidiaries into the unified Khrunichev quality management system. In February 2007, the restructuring of Russia’s space industry placed 65 percent of Proton’s manufacturing under Khrunichev control.
    “In the new corporate configuration of [Khrunichev], it is essential to ensure effective communications within the organization, above all, on such matters as readiness of the launch vehicle elements and components for tests, test results and their analyses, expanded supplier audits, new design and manufacturing process solutions and enhanced methods of their verification, increased motivation for quality, etc.,” Nesterov said. “The program is built with due regard for the input from the constituent branches. It envisages an upgrading of production and quality inspection processes, methods and means throughout the fabrication [and] testing cycle.”
    The plan also calls for the companies to improve how information is shared with customers and the insurance community. In a report released shortly following the March Proton failure, Aon Corp. said it expected space insurers to raise premiums up to 30 percent following failures in 2007. Claims for 2007 are estimated to reach $835 million, which includes the failure of the Sea Launch rocket carrying the NSS-8 satellite in January and the September Proton failure that destroyed JCSat-11. The data did not include the March Proton failure and the subsequent declaration that the AMC-14 satellite was total loss.
    Khrunichev will be responsible for implementing the manufacturing aspects of the new plan, while ILS will provide customers and insurers with more frequent and comprehensive quality reporting, McKenna said. “The process is well under way and we expect the interim measures to be implemented in June in conjunction with our return-to-flight activities,” he said.