“Brazilian-Ukrainian joint venture Alcantara Cyclone Space (ACS) continues preparations for the 2015 debut of a new variant of the Cyclone rocket from a 30-year-old launch facility on Brazil's north-Atlantic coast. At 2.3 deg. N. Lat., Alcantara is even closer to the Equator than Europe's Guiana Space Center in Kourou, where commercial launch services consortium Arianespace manages missions of Europe's heavy-lift Ariane 5, Russia's medium-class Soyuz and Italy's Vega light launcher.

From Alcantara, ACS's three-stage Cyclone 4 rocket—equipped with a restart able upper stage engine and 4-m payload fairing—is designed to put 5,685 kg. (12,500 lb.) into a circular low Earth orbit at 200 km (124 mi.), and a 3,910-kg spacecraft to a 400-km sun-synchronous orbit. For geostationary missions, Cyclone 4 will initially deliver a 1,600 kg into geostationary transfer orbit. The goal, however, is to gradually boost performance to 2,200 kg with per-launch costs ranging from $50-$55 million.”

As revealed by historical Kherson Ukraine articles, Ukraine was involved heavily in the Former Soviet Union’s (FSU) missile and space programs, providing spacecraft and launch vehicle design and production. In 2015, Ukraine is among the countries in the world (China, North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, India, Japan,Russia, and the U.S. have this capability) that possesses a complete space rocket production complex. However, Ukraine does not have its own space launch facility, so all past launches using Ukrainian rockets took place from facilities in Kazakhstan, Russia, or the Sea Launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. The current Petroshenko government, based on industry analyst, has plans to develop a domestic space launch facility. Kiev has the potential to resume long range ballistic missile development (with financial support from the USA, EU, and the IMF) to deploy such weapons itself. Ukraine has always stated that it has a right to build and deploy short-range, nuclear-capable missiles, should its security be threatened by the “East.”

Historically, Five-year National Space Programs, implemented by the National Space Agency of Ukraine (NSAU), forms the basis of Ukraine’s space initiative. NSAU encompasses 30 enterprises, scientific research institutes, and design offices, Ukraine’s central executive authorities, and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (NASU). Manufactured in Ukraine by the Yuzhnoye State Design Office, Cyclone 4 will use first and second stages similar to the (FSU) Cyclone 2 and Cyclone 3 rockets. “On September 24, 2013, ACS Chief Commercial Officer Sergiy Guchenkov stated, originally, we were planning to focus on LEO only. But now, as we're witnessing the growth of electric propulsion satellites, we're working to increase payload capability. Guchenkov notes that the first and second stages of the Cyclone 2 and Cyclone 3 rockets have launched 228 times with just one failure, which he says was due to a first-stage propellant leak. Launch records show that an all-new third stage based on Ukrainian Zenit and Dnepr technology will carry up to 9 tons of propellant and allow Cyclone 4 to execute up to five burns.”

In May 2014, Guchenkov commented that the governments of Ukraine and Brazil jointly approved an increase in total ACS spending for the site, from around $487 million to $918 million. He says ACS was planning to complete construction of the launch pad at Alcantara by the end of 2014, with Cyclone 4 hardware delivery and testing at the site to begin in early 2015. He says the launch vehicle is 76% complete and has undergone 73% of its scheduled test regime, including completion of ground tests. Guchenkov says ACS expects to conduct a qualification mission of Cyclone 4 in late 2015, launching multiple small payloads to low Earth orbit, including a Japanese satellite.   (Story line by Amy Svitak-On Space with editing by GMCstream)