Statement by YABLOKO’s Bureau
July 10, 2013
On July 2 the Russian Proton-M rocket with the upper stage Block-DM3 (which contained 600 tons of highly-toxic heptyl) carrying three Glonass satellites crashed down seconds after its launch from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur space centre. A heptyl cloud formed above the space centre. Heptyl is dangerous even in microscopic amounts as it causes mutations, cancer diseases and saves toxicity for years and can store up in living organisms. This has been the third accident in the Russian space industry since the beginning of 2013.

It was the largest anthropogenic and ecological catastrophe in the global space industry for the past years. The accident proves the worst concerns expressed by the scientists and public that the scientific recourse and the industrial culture of the Russian space industry deteriorated. This became a result of the general intellectual deterioration and moral decay promoted by the Kremlin consumer ideology and going for the golden calf.

In connection with the deterioration and in the face of the catastrophe in Baikonur, YABLOKO wants to attract attention to the dangerous plans to use heptyl technology in construction of the Vostochny space centre in the Amur Region. What is more, YABLOKO considers these plans cynical and criminal as in the conditions of the present Russia’s policy the possible economic and social damage in the Amur Region will be less in comparison with Central Kazakhstan where Russia will have to pay damages for the pollution, harm to the people’s health and to the country’s economy.

Under these circumstances YABLOKO points the necessity of a deep overall reform of the Russian space industry and demands to prohibit the use of heptyl both in upper stages and carrier rockets at launches from intercontinental space centres in Russia. Implementation of such projects bears hazard to life and health of people in the absence of technology solutions on the missile launch and carrier rockets without highly-toxic heptyl (in highly developed countries such technologies exist) and at high accident rate of the Russian space industry.

Sergei Mitrokhin
Chairman