/ world today news/ Two new launch vehicles are being created today in Russia to replace Soviet-era developments. What is unique about the Soyuz-5 and Amur-SAU rockets, what are the difficulties in implementing these projects, why are they extremely important for the future of Russian cosmonautics?
Today, the most interesting and promising developments in the field of Russian rocket science are “Soyuz-5” and “Amur-SAU”. The Soyuz-5 rocket is being created to replace the Zenit, unique for its time. And “Amur-SAU” is a project of a completely new rocket for Russia on a RD-0169 methane engine with a reversible first stage. The possibility of re-usability and the promising fuel pair using natural gas is a very serious bid for success. Mock-ups of these missiles could be seen at the pavilion of the Samara region within the framework of the Russian-African forum, which is being held in St. Petersburg.
The Way of the Zenith
The Zenit rocket can be called one of the main losses of Russian cosmonautics after the collapse of the USSR. This is a Soviet two-stage medium-range launch vehicle, surprisingly successful and promising for its time.
Among its advantages are modern architecture, a high thrust-to-weight ratio, the ability to launch fully automatically and a short time to prepare for launch. The first stage is based on a four-chamber oxygen-kerosene liquid rocket engine RD-171, developed and manufactured by NPO “Energomash”. This engine was originally developed for the super-heavy Energia rocket. “Zenith” has a modification for launches from a floating spaceport under the “Sea Launch” project. A few years ago, Elon Musk answered the question about his favorite rocket like this: “Zenith”, maybe the best after ours.
Alas, the design bureau “Yuzhnoe” “M. K. Yangel”, located in Dnipropetrovsk, is engaged in the creation of the rocket. After the collapse of the USSR, the Ukrainians still produced Zenit, but after 2014 the cooperation gradually disappeared. Russia needed its own “Zenith” and “Soyuz-5” was created in its place.
“Soyuz-5″ is currently undergoing ground tests”, commented Daniil Subotin, Deputy General Director for Development of RKS “Progress”, – respectively, its components pass all the tests stipulated by the current technical regulations for development. of this space technology. All in all, everything is going well. The launch vehicle itself is generally on schedule, the ground infrastructure as well and in the region of 2025 we expect the first launch of this machine.”
The ground infrastructure should be implemented under the Baiterek project together with Kazakhstan. However, due to the introduction of Western sanctions, the speed of the project has slowed down and it is still unclear when it will be completed. I would like to hope that this will also happen in 2025, when Soyuz-5 will be ready for flight design tests.
“Amur” for multiple use
Work on creating a reusable version of the Amur rocket began in 2020. “The launch vehicle is one of the most significant Russian programs in the field of rocket and space technology,” says Subotin. “The very fact that the technology for reuse of the first stage in Russia has not been developed so far shows that the Samara enterprise JSC “RKC Progress” was not chosen by chance. Based on the experience and competence in the development of other launch vehicles, we hope to become the first in Russia. We will have to walk the difficult path of pioneers in this direction”, he adds.
In addition, according to the developer, “the government client has set the task of realizing the multiple use of the first stage – we are currently talking about 100 repeated launches of the first stage.”
To provide for these relaunches, the stage must be returned from the landing area to prepare for subsequent use. Therefore, they will try to choose landing sites that are closer to the existing transport infrastructure. This is done to minimize investment in capital construction, and not to make additional roads that will be necessary for the evacuation of the first stage.
“Amur” is currently in the stage of technical design. Development of possible landing areas for the return first stage of the launch vehicle is now underway. A large and representative group of specialists is working on this. There is a lot of work ahead. “The first launch is expected in the region of 2028-2030. It will already be in the new period of the Federal Space Program,” says the expert.
In order for Amur to launch, many new technological solutions will have to be implemented. For example, it is necessary to create modern composite materials that will be used to create a rocket. A relaxation of the ground segment is also envisaged – to try (where possible and safe) to reduce the number of buried structures that are carried out in accordance with the current requirements. Thus, everything should be done to ensure the economic efficiency of the project not only at the stage of project implementation, but also during its creation. For the first time, Russia will have to create a reciprocating first degree. Naturally, there were many opportunities to perform.
“At the moment we have settled on the option of landing the stage with our own engines,” says Subotin. “The Samara enterprise will defend this decision, it is clear that during the design process, various scientific and technological institutes can argue with this. All points of view will be heard. But in our opinion, landing on our own engines is the most profitable, although it presents many technological difficulties and problems that need to be solved. These calculations were made taking into account the size of the stage, its design, the speed of return – other methods of reuse by taking off or landing “like an airplane” were rejected.
It is planned to return the missile from the landing site to the range and re-launch with the help of road transport. It is the most flexible and fast deployment option that can be scaled or moved to another location. Of course, rail transport is softer and “friendly” for the rocket, but taking into account all factors, including economic ones, road transport is considered by the developers to be the most acceptable and convenient.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel in Telegram:
Share on your profiles, with friends, in groups and on pages. In this way, we will overcome the limitations, and people will be able to reach the alternative point of view on the events!?
#Russia #replace #Sovietera #launch #vehicles
