NPO Energomash has begun production of prototypes of liquid rocket engines RD-171MV, which the company calls "the most powerful in the world." The relevant information is available on the public procurement website.
The terms of reference published on the portal indicate that Energomash purchases long products of foundry steels and alloys “to complete the RD-171MV as part of the Phoenix development work. It is planned to spend about 19.5 million rubles on the purchase.
Phoenix is called development work, the purpose of which is to develop a new family of Russian medium-range launch vehicles to replace Zenit rockets.
“Breakthrough project”
The development of the RD-171MV began in 2017. The project provides for the creation of an engine for the first stage of the Soyuz-5 medium-class launch vehicle being designed by RSC Energia (also known as the Irtysh). In addition, it will be installed on the Yenisei superheavy rocket.
“RD-171MV is the most powerful of liquid engines. It is equipped with four combustion chambers and runs on an oxygen-kerosene pair, ”said Ivan Moiseev, scientific director of the Space Policy Institute in an interview with RT.
The Soviet RD-171M was taken as the basis for creating a new engine, which, in turn, was a modification of the RD-170 engine, recognized as the most powerful in history. Its capacity was 230 thousand horsepower.
“The fundamental difference between this model and the previous one is that it can bring a heavy load to rather high orbits with greater power. It is important to note that heavy-duty engines allow the launch of cargo weighing 20-30 tons into orbits, ”said military expert Mikhail Tymoshenko in an RT conversation.
As noted in the company "Energomash", the creation of the RD-171MV uses technological and structural solutions worked out during the operation of the RD-180 and RD-191 engines.
“We are introducing into the new development, first of all, a regulatory system that performed well on the RD-191 engine — completely Russian-made, manufactured by us — and we are taking additional measures to protect internal engine cavities from fire,” said the chief designer of the NGO Energomash »Peter Levochkin.
The mass of the RD-171MV is 10.3 tons, traction - more than 800 tons. The power of the device is estimated at 246 thousand horsepower, which is a world record and puts the engine in first place in the world for this indicator.
“The RD-171MV engine will indeed be the most powerful in the world,” said Igor Arbuzov, director general of NPO Energomash. “The creation of such structures is not only a locomotive of design thought, but also a technological locomotive.”
When the engine is running, the heat output from the combustion chamber is 27 million kilowatts, which can be compared with the capacity of a large hydroelectric power station. Another interesting comparison that designers told the public about: a turbocharged engine unit develops 180 thousand kilowatts of power - as much as three nuclear power plants of the largest icebreakers combined.
To implement the project to create the RD-171MV, Energomash modernized its production facilities. The management of the enterprise notes that the RD-171MV will be its first engine, during the creation of which 3D computer models are used as the originals of the design documentation, rather than the usual paper drawings. This allowed to reduce development time, optimize the manufacturing process and reduce costs.
“To accelerate new developments, we are introducing three-dimensional modeling. To reduce the cost and increase the competitiveness of our engines, we are introducing the most advanced technologies, composite materials, new equipment, and the enterprise is undergoing technical re-equipment, ”said Levochkin.
- Director General of NPO Energomash Igor Arbuzov and Chief Designer of NPO Energomash Pyotr Lyovochkin
- © Roscosmos
In February 2019, the head of Roskosmos Dmitry Rogozin announced the assembly of the first engine sample. Then he noted that this engine has no equal in power. For the second half of December 2019, fire tests of the RD-171MV are planned. It is assumed that the first unit will be delivered to the customer in 2021.
The first RD-171MV engine for the newest Soyuz-5 “Irtysh” middle-class missile was assembled at NPO Energomash near Moscow and is preparing for fire tests. By power it has no equal in the world pic.twitter.com/YN5KrBn0iy
- Dmitry Rogozin (@Rogozin) February 8, 2019Military historian Yuri Knutov noted that this type of engine is more environmentally friendly than previous models, because it runs on an oxygen-kerosene pair.
“It is important to note that these engines are more environmentally friendly, because hydrogen is used there as an oxidizer and the fuel is not as toxic as heptyl, which is used in old missiles. The transition to new technologies is a real breakthrough. In my opinion, it will positively affect the development of the entire cosmonautics, ”Knutov said in an interview with RT.
According to him, the creation of the RD-171MV can be called a breakthrough for the Russian space industry.
“This project can be called a breakthrough, because before that we had one superheavy rocket“ Energy ”, which was created by the entire Soviet Union. Part of its technology remained in the former Soviet republics, so many elements of the new superheavy rocket have to be re-created, ”the expert said.
Knutov also emphasized that the possession of such an engine will allow Russia to maintain a leading position in engine building.
“Today, only Russia makes the most complete engines, the USA comes in second place, and all other countries are far behind,” he said.
“No country has such developments”
According to the academician of the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics Alexander Zheleznyakov, the new engine, like its predecessor RD-171M, will successfully compete with foreign counterparts.
“He has been successfully competing for over 30 years and will continue to compete, because at the moment he continues to be the most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine in the world. In addition, no country has such developments, ”said the expert in an interview with RT.
According to him, the promotion of this engine in the international market is connected with issues of geopolitics.
“In addition to China, hardly anyone will be interested, because it depends on the geopolitical situation,” he explained.
A similar point of view was expressed by military expert Mikhail Tymoshenko.
“This engine will be able to compete with foreign developments. The United States is unlikely to be interested in buying it, because they have an engine for heavy missiles. But the EU and China may show interest if, of course, they want to put something heavy into orbit, ”he told RT.
- Soyuz-5 medium-class carrier rocket (Irtysh)
- © Roscosmos
In turn, Moiseev said that the engine is unlikely to be exported, since such devices are created for specific missiles. So far, there are no missiles compatible with the RD-171MV abroad.
“For his purchase, the prospective buyer must have the appropriate rocket. They will be interested in it when someone starts developing a rocket, which he will fit, but so far they are not developing such rockets and no one has plans, ”the expert said.
New "Union"
The active phase of the development of the Soyuz-5 middle-class missile began in 2016. It is planned that it will be used both for manned missions and for commercial launches. Starts will be carried out from the Baikonur and Vostochny cosmodromes.
For these purposes, work is underway at Baikonur to modernize the launch complex as part of the Baiterek Russian-Kazakh project.
Soyuz-5 is a middle-class rocket that was created to replace the Zenit launch vehicle. The production of Zenit was stopped due to the deterioration of Russian-Ukrainian relations, ”Moiseev explained.
At the second stage of Soyuz-5, two RD-0124MS engines will be used - modernized engines from the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b rocket.
In 2018, conceptual work was completed, after which Roscosmos signed a state contract with RSC Energia in the amount of 61.2 billion rubles for the creation and testing of the Soyuz-5 rocket.
As part of the flight tests planned for 2022-2025, four launches of Soyuz-5 will be carried out from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. According to plans, in 2023 launch will be carried out with the new Russian manned spacecraft Federation. The device will work in unmanned mode. A year later, a manned launch should be made.
Soyuz-5 will be produced at the Progress Rocket and Space Center.