| Министерство общего машиностроения | |
.svg) | |
_(cropped).JPEG) Buran at the 1989Paris Air Show | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed |
|
| Preceding agency | |
| Dissolved |
|
| Superseding agency | |
| Jurisdiction | Government of the Soviet Union |
| Employees | 1,000,000–1,500,000 |
| Minister responsible | |
| Parent agency | Military-Industrial Commission |
| Child agencies | |
TheMinistry of General Machine-Building (Russian:Министерство общего машиностроения;MOM), also known asMinobshchemash, was agovernment ministry of the Soviet Union from 1955 to 1957 and from 1965 to 1991. The ministry superviseddesign bureaus that managed the research, development, and production ofballistic missiles as well aslaunch vehicles andsatellites in theSoviet space program.
While Soviet rocketry organizations date back to 1921, the Ministry of General Machine-Building, upon being founded in 1955, became a dedicated department for aerospace technology. It was dissolved in 1957 but was reinstated in 1965. Various projects of the Soviet space program were developed at the ministry. It also began commercially providing launch services abroad through itsGlavkosmos agency during theperestroika reforms of the late 1980s. The ministry was permanently abolished in 1991 amid thedissolution of the Soviet Union. The Russian Space Agency, which would later becomeRoscosmos, was created in 1992 as its successor.
The first Soviet organization dedicated to rocket technology was theGas Dynamics Laboratory, founded in 1921 byNikolai Tikhomirov. The laboratory researched and developedsolid-propellant rockets, which became the prototypes of missiles in theKatyusha rocket launcher, as well asliquid-propellant rockets, which became the prototypes ofSoviet rockets and spacecraft.[1] An organization with a similar purpose, theGroup for the Study of Reactive Motion, was founded in 1931.[2] The two groups merged in 1933 to form theReactive Scientific Research Institute,[3] the responsibility of which was transferred to thePeople’s Commissariat of Aviation Industry in 1944.[2]
The first rendition of the Ministry of General Machine-Building was created by a decree of theSupreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on 2 April 1955[4][5] with the active participation of theAcademy of Sciences of the Soviet Union.[6][7] The ministry was formed to focus specifically on rocketry. Its intentionally vague name was chosen for purposes of secrecy.[8] Major General of the Engineering and Artillery ServicePyotr Nikolaevich Goremykin [ru], who had held the post of Minister of Agricultural Engineering from June 1946 to March 1951, was appointed as Minister of General Machine-Building.[9][10][11] The ministry was dissolved on 10 May 1957 and its functions were transferred.[12][13][14]
The Ministry of General Machine-Building was reestablished on 2 March 1965 as a successor to theState Committee on Defense Technology [ru].[15][16][17][3][18]Sergey Afanasyev became Minister[3] andLeonid Ivanovich Gusev [ru] became Deputy Minister[19][20] whileVladimir Chelomey was the general designer of rocket technology.[21] Transferred to the new ministry were factories from the defense, aviation, radio engineering, and shipbuilding industries, alongside leading design bureaus and research institutes such as theResearch Institute of Machine-Building Technology (known as NITI-40 until 1966).[22] Many of these were headed by academicians such asSergei Korolev,Kerim Kerimov,Mikhail Yangel,Valentin Glushko,Vladimir Chelomey,Viktor Makeyev,Mikhail Reshetnev [ru],Nikolay Pilyugin,Vladimir Barmin,Mikhail Ryazansky [ru],Viktor Makeev, andViktor Litvinov.[23][18] In 1977, the ministry received its own trade union.[24]
On 26 February 1985, the Ministry of General Machine-Building issued an order that formedGlavkosmos.[25][26] The subsidiary was originally envisioned as an executive agency to command all Soviet space activities, but in practice it functioned more as a marketing and coordinating body.[27] Glavkosmos became the prime authority for implementing cooperative agreements with foreign bodies, with activities including commercial utilization of Soviet systems and approving foreign cosmonauts to fly aboard Soviet spacecraft.[28]
Many subsidiaries of the Ministry of General Machine-Building served as primary organizations in the management of theSoviet space program; the ministry controlled roughly 1200 factories and employed between 1 million and 1.5 million people at its peak.[29][30] However, contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, theEuropean Space Agency in Western Europe, and theMinistry of Aerospace Industry in China), which had their programs run under single coordinating agencies, the executive architecture of the Soviet space program was multi-centered; several internally competing design bureaus, technical councils, ministry staffs, and expert commissions all held more influence over the program than political leadership. The creation of a central agency after thedissolution of the Soviet Union and establishment of theRussian Federation was therefore a new development. The Ministry of General Machine-Building was dissolved on 1 December 1991 on the basis of a 14 November resolution of theState Council of the Soviet Union.[31][32][33] The Russian Space Agency, which eventually would becomeRoscosmos, was formed as its successor[34][35][36] on 25 February 1992 by a decree of PresidentBoris Yeltsin.[37]Yuri Koptev, who previously had worked with designing Mars landers atNPO Lavochkin, became the first director of the agency.[38]
In 2013, when the Russian space sectorwas being reorganized,[39] one option considered was the creation of a ministry similar to the Ministry of General Machine-Building.[40]
The Ministry of General Machine-Building was in charge of space technology as well asintercontinental ballistic missiles, except for solid-fueled missiles; these instead were developed by theMoscow Institute of Thermal Technology, which from 1966 was under the jurisdiction of theMinistry of Defense Industry.[41]Design bureaus such asOKB-1 were subordinated to the ministry.[42] The ministry reported to theMilitary-Industrial Commission of the Soviet Union, which coordinated its activity with eight other military-industrial ministries.[2][8][43][32]
TheR-12 Dvina missile was produced simultaneously at four enterprises within the ministry.[44] In April 1970, Minister of General Machine-BuildingSergey Afanasyev sent a memo to the chairperson of the Military-Industrial Commission that recommended negotiations withNASA, the space agency of the United States. These negotiations were approved the next month and eventually led to the 1975Apollo–Soyuz mission.[45] Work on theGLONASS system forsatellite navigation began at the ministry in 1976.[46][47] The ministry contributed to the construction of theRT-2PM Topol missile system, which began deployment in 1985.[48][49] Thecombat railway missile complex [ru], a mobile missile system, began deployment in October 1987; its development had started in January 1969 with an order from Afanasyev.[50]
_-_edited.jpg)
During theperestroika reform movement of the late 1980s, theGlavkosmos agency of the ministry began offering commercial services for global customers, aiming primarily at competing with United States launchers. Its first commercial offering was presented at the Space Commerce '88 trade show inMontreux, Switzerland. Most notably, it featured the sales of the following launchers:Energia, with a payload of up to 100 tons toLow Earth orbit;Proton with a payload of up to 20 tons to Low Earth orbit or 2 tons togeostationary orbit for between US$25 million and US$30 million;Tsyklon-3 for payloads of up to 4 tons to Low Earth orbit; a family ofSoyuz rockets in configurations for Low Earth,geostationary transfer, andMolniya orbits; and theVostok launchers for between US$12 million and US$18 million. Glavkosmos also featuredKosmos rockets with the successfully completed launches of IndianAryabhata andBhaskara satellites. Other offerings included the sales of Okean-O1 satellites or the use of space on theFoton satellites andMir space station. During the conference several contracts were signed, includingdown payments for three satellite launches for undisclosed customers, anoption for a launch of theAussat-2 on Proton, a contract with Payload Systems Inc. for experiments inprotein crystallization on Mir, and a contract withKayser-Threde for microgravity experiments on the Foton satellites in 1989, 1990, and 1991.[51]
TheBuran program to develop reusable spacecraft was managed jointly by the Ministry of General Machine-Building andMinistry of Aviation Industry. Despite various disputes about the program between the two ministries,Buran, the first spacecraft to be produced as part of the program, successfully completed the sole flight of the program in November 1988.[52][53]
The final project of the ministry before its liquidation was a 1991 US$120 million agreement between Glavkosmos andISRO, the space agency of India, which included the transfer of twoKVD-1 engines for use as the third stage of theGeosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle as well as design details such that the KVD-1 could be built indigenously in India.[54][55] Russia backed out of the agreement in 1993 after the United States objected to the deal and imposed sanctions on the grounds that the deal was a violation of theMissile Technology Control Regime, forcing ISRO to sign a more limited agreement with Russia and to initiate a project to develop its own cryogenic engine.[56][57]
During its existence, the Ministry of General Machine-Building offered three awards. The "Excellence inSocialist Competition" award was approved on 1 September 1955 by order No. 134 and was awarded until 1957.[58] The "Best Innovator" award was given out in the 1970s,[59] and the "Best Inventor" award was offered until 1991.[60]
| Minister of General Machine-Building | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ministry of General Machine-Building | |
| Type | Government minister |
| Status | Head ofgovernment ministry of the Soviet Union |
| Formation |
|
| First holder | Pyotr Nikolaevich Goremykin [ru] |
| Final holder | Oleg Shushkin [ru] |
| Abolished |
|
| Superseded by | General Director of Roscosmos |
| Deputy | Deputy Minister of General Machine-Building |
The Ministry of General Machine-Building had five ministers during its existence, one having been from its first incarnation and the remaining four from its second incarnation:[3][11][61][62][63][64]
| No. | Portrait | Name (birth–death) | Term | Cabinet | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Duration | |||||||||
| 1 |
| ![Pyotr Nikolaevich Goremykin [ru]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aNo_image.png) | Pyotr Nikolaevich Goremykin [ru] (1902–1976) | 2 April 1955 | 10 May 1957 | 2 years, 38 days | Bulganin | ||||
| Position abolished (10 May 1957 – 2 March 1965) | |||||||||||
| 2 |  | | Sergey Afanasyev (1918–2001) | 2 March 1965 | 8 April 1983 | 18 years, 37 days | Kosygin I–II–III–IV–V Tikhonov I | ||||
| 3 |  | | Oleg Baklanov (1932–2021) | 8 April 1983 | 26 March 1988 | 4 years, 353 days | Tikhonov I–II Ryzhkov I | ||||
| 4 |
| | Vitaly Doguzhiyev (1935–2016) | 26 March 1988 | 17 July 1989 | 1 year, 113 days | Ryzhkov I | ||||
| 5 |  | | Oleg Shushkin [ru] (born 1934) | 17 July 1989 | 24 August 1991 | 2 years, 38 days | Ryzhkov II Pavlov | ||||
МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБЩЕГО МАШИНОСТРОЕНИЯ СССРПервое формирование. Образовано 2 апреля 1955 года. (ВВС СССР, 1955, No 6, Ст. 133). 10 мая 1957 года объединено с Министерством оборонной промышленности СССР и ликвидировано. (ВВС СССР, 1957, No 11, Ст. 275)Второе формирование. Образовано 2 марта 1965 года. (ВВС СССР, 1965, No 10, Ст. 115). Упразднено 14 ноября 1991 года. (ВВС СССР, 1991, No 50, Ст. 1421)
| Launch sites |  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch vehicles | |||||||||
| Human spaceflight programs |
| ||||||||
| Robotic programs |
| ||||||||
| Communications | |||||||||
| Concepts | |||||||||
| Images and artwork | |||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
| Africa |
| ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Americas |
| ||||||||||||
| Asia |
| ||||||||||||
| Europe |
| ||||||||||||
| Oceania | |||||||||||||
| World | |||||||||||||
| Former | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
