The Russian methane engine, which is being created for the new Amur-LNG family of medium-class launch vehicles, can be used up to 50 times.

This is stated in the terms of reference for the creation of power units of the next generation of the state corporation "Roscosmos", posted on the government procurement website. 

“Possibility of at least 10 uses of a serial model of liquid-propellant rocket engine (liquid-propellant rocket engine -

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) as part of the first stage of LV (launch vehicle - 

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).

To consider measures to increase the possibility of using a serial model of liquid-propellant rocket engines as part of the first stage of the launch vehicle up to 25, 50 times, ”the document says. 

According to Roskosmos, the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in space rocketry is a worldwide trend.

The advantages of methane fuel include its low cost, availability and ease of storage.

It is planned to use oxygen as an oxidizer for rocket fuel. 

According to experts, Russia has a serious scientific and technological reserve in the field of methane engines. 


As the head of the Institute of Space Policy, Ivan Moiseev, noted in an interview with RT, the first projects in this segment appeared in the USSR back in the 1970s, but did not become widespread, unlike the United States.

“If we proceed from the assumption that reusable rockets are preferable, then the choice in favor of methane seems quite logical.

Compared to oxygen-kerosene engines, methane products have a slightly higher specific impulse and are easier to operate.

In such a matter as reusable launches, any, even small, improvements matter, ”Moiseev explained.

The founder of the Military Russia portal Dmitry Kornev, in turn, considers it extremely important that Roskosmos has decided to use LNG, a fuel whose production rates Russia is rapidly increasing.

“Methane is one of the main components of natural gas, of which there is a lot in the Russian Federation and which can be produced here literally in unlimited quantities and very inexpensively, thereby significantly reducing the cost of any launch.

The methane engine is distinguished by high efficiency and very modest cost, "Kornev said in a conversation with RT.

"Reliable, like a Kalashnikov assault rifle"

Amur-LNG is the first Russian rocket on liquefied natural gas based on methane.

The product is being created for the phased replacement of the now used Soyuz-2 (Rus) family of carriers, which fly on kerosene and liquid oxygen.

The materials of Roskosmos say that Amur-LNG "will receive a number of technical features that" most fully meet global trends and requirements of developers. "

"In particular, in the design of the rocket, the possibility of using advanced technical solutions and materials will be worked out: deep throttling of the second stage, an enlarged nose fairing, fuel tanks made of composite materials, the use of new alloys, etc.," the state corporation's website says.

  • Russian launch vehicle in the process of assembly

  • © State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos"

The contract for the development of Amur-LNG between Roscosmos and the Progress Rocket and Space Center (Moscow) was signed in October 2020.

The new rocket will have a reusable first stage and reusable liquid engines, which are being developed at the Chemical Automation Design Bureau (Voronezh).

The takeoff weight of Amur-LNG will be about 360 tons, height - 55 m, diameter - 4.1 m, engine thrust - 100-110 tons, payload in a single-use version - 12.5 tons, in a reusable version - 10.5 m. The first stage of the rocket will accommodate five RD-0169A engines, the second - four RD-0169V power units.

Amur-LNG will surpass Soyuz-2 in terms of carrying capacity and will be much easier to assemble - this product will have at least half the number of components.

According to industry institutes, the total number of parts in the new rocket is about 2 thousand units against 4.5 thousand in its predecessor.

"As a result, we significantly simplify the design and reduce the number of assembly units ... This is important from the point of view of reliability, and we would like our missile to be reliable, like a Kalashnikov assault rifle," the executive director said in an October 2020 interview with TASS "Roskosmos" on promising programs and science Alexander Bloshenko.

It is planned to ensure high reliability of Amur-LNG by integrating the so-called hot backup technology into the first stage.

The essence of the innovation lies in the fact that if one engine fails, the rest of the power plants begin to build up power automatically, ensuring the normal continuation of the flight.

The reliability of Amur-LNG due to a significant reduction in the number of components and the hot backup function should reach 0.99.

At the same time, today the reliability standard for most launch vehicles does not exceed 0.98.

As Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, wrote on his Facebook page in January, Amur-LNG will be launched from the launch pad, which will appear during the construction of the third stage of the Vostochny cosmodrome.

A new stage of work at the facility in the Amur Region is planned to begin in 2022.

“The task of the CENCs (centers for the operation of ground and space infrastructure. -

RT

) has been set to develop an extremely simple and cheap start-up for the Amur.

Of course, it will become an element of the third stage, ”Rogozin said.

  • Cosmodrome "Vostochny"

  • RIA News

  • © Sergey Mamontov

Fuel for filling the Amur-LNG family will be supplied by the gas processing complex of PJSC Gazprom, which is currently being built in the city of Svobodny, about 45 km from Vostochny.

As of the end of October, the plant was built at 67.1%.

Roscosmos experts expect that the first stage of Amur-LNG will return to the onshore landing sites, which will be installed after appropriate calculations.

In an October interview with TASS, Igor Pshenichnikov, the chief expert of the department of promising programs of Roskosmos, said that, most likely, some of the sites will be mounted in areas where steps from Soyuz-2 missiles are now falling.

“It is already clear that there will be several landing sites, including on the Vostochny one.

Several sites will be located on the territory of the Khabarovsk Territory, closer to the coast of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, ”added Pshenichnikov.

"At a given cost"

The Amur-LNG project was highly praised by Elon Musk, the founder of the American company SpaceX, which specializes in the manufacture of reusable rocket and space products.

In October, on his Twitter page, he called the contract for the creation of a new media "a step in the right direction."

It is assumed that the first start-up of Amur-LNG may take place in 2025-2026.

It is assumed that by this time KB Khimavtomatika will fulfill the contract for the creation of a methane engine.

The commercial cost of launching one launch vehicle, according to Alexander Bloshenko, will be $ 22 million. 

“For the first time we are designing a rocket for a given cost, the minimum price of a launch service will be $ 22 million. Moreover, since the goal of all this work is to create an effective commercial product, the project includes the development of a detailed business plan at the stage of preliminary design,” Bloshenko said.

Meanwhile, as a researcher at the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor Oleg Vaisberg, said in a commentary to RT, the successful implementation of the Amur-LNG project will quickly enough recoup the costs of manufacturing a launch vehicle and methane engines.

“The reusable principle with the landing of the first stage after the start, I suppose, will provide an opportunity to save about 10% of funds, based on the current volume of expenses.

That is, relatively speaking, for ten launches, the rocket will fully pay off.

This will be a very good result, "Weisberg emphasized.