Misplaced Pages

#667332

37-796: The launch vehicle had two functionally different operational variants: Energia-Polyus, the initial test configuration, in which the Polyus system was used as a final stage intended to put the payload into orbit, and Energia-Buran, in which the Buran orbiter was the payload and the source of the orbit insertion impulse. The launch vehicle had the capacity to place about 100 tonnes in Low Earth orbit , up to 20 tonnes to geostationary orbit and up to 32 tonnes by translunar trajectory into lunar orbit . The launch vehicle made just two flights before being discontinued. Since 2016, there have been attempts to revive

74-580: A ballistic trajectory . Liquid Rocket Booster A liquid rocket booster ( LRB ) uses liquid fuel and oxidizer to give a liquid-propellant or hybrid rocket an extra boost at take-off, and/or increase the total payload that can be carried. It is attached to the side of a rocket. Unlike solid rocket boosters , LRBs can be throttled down if the engines are designed to allow it, and can be shut down safely in an emergency for additional escape options in human spaceflight . By 1926, US scientist Robert Goddard had constructed and successfully tested

111-726: A 1993 competition to the Angara rocket . A non-functional prototype ("structural test vehicle") of the Energia M still exists in the Dynamic Test Stand facility at Baikonur Cosmodrome . Energia-2 was an evolution of the Energia studied in the 1980s. Unlike the Energia-Buran, which was planned to be semi-reusable (like the U.S. Space Shuttle ), the GK-175 concept was to have allowed the recovery and reuse of all elements of

148-468: A weapon in space and that such an attempt would contradict the country's previous statements on the USSR's peaceful intent. For technical reasons, the payload was launched upside down. It was designed to separate from the Energia, rotate 180 degrees in yaw, then 90 degrees in roll and then fire its engine to complete its boost to orbit. The Energia functioned perfectly, however, after separation from Energia,

185-453: The Energia , capable of launching about 95 tonnes into orbit, finally allowed the spacecraft to accommodate the massive laser. The massive exhaust of the carbon-dioxide laser precipitated the objective of making the laser "recoil-less". The zero-torque exhaust system (SBM) was developed to that end. Its testing in orbit meant the release of a large cloud of carbon dioxide, which would hint at

222-528: The ISS modules Zarya and Nauka . NPO Energia received orders from the Soviet government to begin research on space-based strike weapons in the mid-1970s. Even before, the USSR had been developing maneuverable satellites for the purpose of satellite interception. By the beginning of the 1980s, Energia had proposed two programs: laser-equipped Skif and guided missiles platform Kaskad (where Skif would cover

259-712: The Long March 7 and Long March 5 , its newest series of launch vehicles as of 2017 . The Delta IV Heavy consists of a central Common Booster Core (CBC), with two additional CBCs as LRBs instead of the GEM-60 solid rocket motors used by the Delta IV Medium+ versions. At lift off, all three cores operate at full thrust, and 44 seconds later the center core throttles down to 55% to conserve fuel until booster separation. The Angara A5V and Falcon Heavy are conceptually similar to Delta IV Heavy. The Falcon Heavy

296-573: The Space Shuttle program . Energia also replaced the "Vulkan" concept, which was a design based on the Proton and using the same hypergolic propellants , but much larger and more powerful. The "Vulkan" designation was later given to a variation of the Energia which has eight boosters and multiple stages. The Energia was designed to launch the Soviet " Buran " reusable shuttle, and for that reason

333-548: The Zenit launcher, with the first stage roughly the same as one of the Energia first-stage boosters. The Energia was first test-launched on 15 May 1987, with the Polyus spacecraft as the payload. An FGB ("functional cargo block") engine section originally built as a cancelled Mir module was incorporated into the upper stage used to insert the payload into orbit, similarly to Buran and the US Space Shuttle performing

370-541: The Polyus into orbit. The two stages of the Energia launcher functioned as designed, but due to a software error in its attitude control system, Polyus's orbital insertion motor failed to inject the payload into orbit. Instead, the Polyus reentered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The second flight, and the first one where payload successfully reached orbit, was launched on 15 November 1988. This mission launched

407-493: The Polyus spun a full 360 degrees instead of the planned 180 degrees. When the engine fired, it slowed the vehicle, which burned up over the south Pacific Ocean. This failure was attributed to a faulty inertial guidance system that had not been rigorously tested due to the rushed production schedule. Parts of the Polyus project's hardware were re-used in Kvant-2 , Kristall , Spektr and Priroda Mir modules, as well as in

SECTION 10

#1732772131668

444-743: The Space Shuttle retired, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Dynetics entered the "advanced booster competition" for NASA's next human rated vehicle, the Space Launch System (SLS), with a booster design known as " Pyrios ", which would use two more advanced F-1B booster engines derived from the Rocketdyne F-1 LOX/RP-1 engine that powered the first stage of the Saturn V vehicle in the Apollo program . In 2012, it

481-464: The almost-completed Skif spacecraft would be launched instead for a 30-day mission. The development of the real Skif was completed in just one year, from September 1985 to September 1986. Testing and tweaking the Energia launch vehicle, the launch pad and the Skif itself moved the launch to February, and later to May 1987. According to Boris Gubanov, the head designer of the Energia launch vehicle,

518-555: The basic Ariane 40 model without boosters could launch around 2,175 kilograms into Geostationary transfer orbit , while the 44L configuration could launch 4,790 kg to the same orbit with four liquid boosters added. Various LRBs were considered early in the Space Shuttle development program and after the Challenger accident , but the Shuttle continued flying its Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster until retirement. After

555-819: The engine, the two-chamber RD-180 , powers Lockheed Martin 's Atlas V rocket, while the single-chamber derivative, the RD-191 , has been used to launch the Korean Naro-1 (as a reduced-thrust variant named the RD-151 ) and the Russian Angara rocket. The RD-181, based on the RD-191, is used on the Antares rocket. In August 2016, Roscosmos announced conceptual plans to develop a super heavy-lift launch vehicle from existing Energia components instead of pushing

592-541: The experimental Polyus space battlestation in two separate launches. Two versions of the Japanese H-IIA space rocket would have used one or two LRBs to be able to carry extra cargo to higher geostationary orbits, but it was replaced by the H-IIB . The Ariane 4 space launch vehicle could use two or four LRBs, the 42L, 44L, and 44LP configurations. As an example of the payload increase that boosters provide,

629-424: The final orbital insertion, since the planned "Buran-T" upper stage had not yet progressed beyond the planning stage. The intended orbit had 280 km (170 mi) altitude and 64.6° inclination. The Soviets had originally announced that the launch was a successful sub-orbital test of the new Energia booster with a dummy payload, but some time later it was revealed that in fact the flight had been intended to bring

666-544: The final orbital insertion. The first launch of the Energia was in the configuration of a heavy launch vehicle, with the large Polyus military satellite as a payload, however Polyus failed to correctly perform the orbital insertion. Due to the termination of the Buran program the Energia program was concluded after only two launches. The legacy of Energia/Buran project manifests itself in the RD-170 family of rocket engines, and

703-572: The first flight of the Energia system, but failed to reach orbit. According to Yuri Kornilov, Chief Designer of the Salyut Design Bureau, shortly before Polyus' launch, Mikhail Gorbachev visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome and expressly forbade the in-orbit testing of its capabilities. Kornilov claims that Gorbachev was worried that it would be possible for Western governments to view this activity as an attempt to create

740-520: The first rocket using liquid fuel at Auburn, Massachusetts . For the Cold War era R-7 Semyorka missile, which later evolved into the Soyuz rocket , this concept was chosen because it allowed all of its many rocket engines to be ignited and checked for function while on the launch pad . The Soviet Energia rocket of the 1980s used four Zenit liquid fueled boosters to loft both the Buran and

777-567: The launch vehicle, reusing an updated version of its booster engine in the Soyuz-5 rocket. Work on the Energia/Buran system began in 1976 after the decision was made to cancel the unsuccessful N1 rocket . The facilities and infrastructure built for the N1 were reused for Energia (notably the huge horizontal assembly building), just as NASA reused infrastructure designed for the Saturn V in

SECTION 20

#1732772131668

814-509: The less-powerful Angara A5 V project. This would allow Russia to launch missions towards establishing a permanent Moon base with simpler logistics, launching just one or two 80–160-ton super-heavy rockets instead of four 40-ton Angara A5Vs implying quick-sequence launches and multiple in-orbit rendezvous. Tests of RD-171MV engine, an updated version of the engine used in Energia, were completed in September 2021 and may potentially be used in

851-581: The low-orbit targets, Kaskad engaged targets in high and geosynchronous orbits). Together with NPO Astrofizika and KB Salyut , they began developing their orbital weapons platform based on the Salyut DOS-17K frame. Later, when the objective of ICBM interception proved too difficult, the aims of the project were shifted towards anti-satellite weapons. The 1983 announcement by the US of their SDI program prompted further political and financial support for

888-533: The political realities, that is highly unlikely. While the Energia is no longer in production, the Zenit boosters were in use until 2017. The four strap-on liquid-fuel boosters , which burned kerosene and liquid oxygen, were the basis of the Zenit rocket which used the same engines. The engine is the four combustion chamber RD-170 . Its derivative, the RD-171 , was used on the Zenit rocket . A half-sized derivative of

925-507: The satellite interceptor program. In the nuclear exchange scenario, the interceptors would destroy the SDI satellites, followed by a so-called "pre-emptive retaliation" large-scale Soviet ICBM launch. The laser chosen for the Skif spacecraft was a 1-megawatt carbon dioxide laser , developed for the Beriev A-60 aircraft (an Il-76 flying laboratory with a combat laser). The introduction of

962-456: The satellite's purpose. Instead, the xenon-krypton mix would be used to simultaneously test the SBM and perform an innocent experiment on Earth's ionosphere . In 1985, the decision was made to test-launch the new Energia launch vehicle, which was still in the testbed phase. A 100-ton dummy payload was initially considered for the launch, but in a series of last-minute changes, it was decided that

999-474: The successor Soyuz-5 rocket. Three major design variants were conceptualized after the original configuration, each with vastly different payloads. The Energia-M was an early-1990s design configuration and the smallest of the three. The number of boosters was reduced from four to two, the core stage was shortened and fitted with just one RD-0120 engine. It was designed to replace the Proton rocket, but lost

1036-463: The timing control device gave the logical block a command to discard the side modules' covers and laser exhaust covers. Unknowingly, the same command was earlier used to open the solar panels and disengage the maneuvering thrusters. This was not discovered because of the logistics of the testing process and overall haste. Main thrusters engaged while the Skif kept turning, overshooting the intended 180-degree turn. The spacecraft lost speed and reverted to

1073-523: The uncrewed Soviet Shuttle vehicle Buran . At apogee, the Buran spacecraft made a 66.7 m/s burn to reach a final orbit of 251 km × 263 km. Production of Energia rockets ended with the end of the Buran shuttle project in the late 1980s, and more certainly, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since that time, there have been persistent rumors of the renewal of production, but given

1110-454: The vehicle, similarly to the original, fully reusable Orbiter/Booster concept of the U.S. Shuttle. The Energia-2 core as proposed would be capable of re-entering and gliding to a landing. The final never-built design concept was also the largest. With eight Zenit booster rockets and an Energia-M core as the upper stage, the Vulkan (which shared the name with another Soviet heavy lift rocket that

1147-399: The work schedule of the preceding years was exhausting, and at the point of Mikhail Gorbachev's visit on 11 May, he asked the Soviet premier to clear the launch now, because "there will be heart attacks". The catastrophic malfunction that led to Skif entering the atmosphere in the same area as Energia's second stage was successfully investigated. It was found that 568 seconds after launch,

Energia (rocket) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1184-408: Was a prototype Soviet orbital weapons platform designed to destroy Strategic Defense Initiative satellites with a megawatt carbon-dioxide laser . It had a Functional Cargo Block derived from a TKS spacecraft to control its orbit and it could launch test targets to demonstrate the fire control system. The Polyus spacecraft was launched 15 May 1987 from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 250 as part of

1221-540: Was cancelled years earlier) configuration was initially projected to launch up to 200 metric tonnes into 200 km orbit with inclination 50.7°. The development of the Vulkan and the refurbishment of Universal Test Stand and Launch Pad at site 250 for its launches was in progress between 1990–1993 and abandoned soon after due to a lack of funds and the collapse of the Soviet Union. Polyus (spacecraft) The Polyus spacecraft ( Russian : Полюс , pole ), also known as Polus , Skif-DM , GRAU index 17F19DM ,

1258-399: Was designed to carry its payload mounted on the side of the stack, rather than on the top, as is done with other launch vehicles. Design of the Energia-Buran system assumed that the booster could be used without the Buran orbiter, as a heavy-lift cargo launch vehicle; this configuration was originally given the name "Buran-T". This configuration required the addition of an upper stage to perform

1295-578: Was determined that if the dual-engined Pyrios booster was selected for the SLS Block 2, the payload could be 150 metric tons (t) to Low Earth Orbit, 20 t more than the congressional minimum requirement of 130 t to LEO for SLS Block 2. In 2013, it was reported that in comparison to the F-1 engine, the F-1B engine was to have improved efficiency, be more cost effective and have fewer engine parts. Each F-1B

1332-433: Was originally designed with a unique "propellant crossfeed" capability, whereby the center core engines would be supplied with fuel and oxidizer from the two side cores until their separation . Operating all engines at full thrust from launch, with fuel supplied mainly from the side boosters, would deplete the side boosters sooner, allowing their earlier separation to reduce the mass being accelerated. This would leave most of

1369-552: Was to produce 1,800,000 lbf (8.0 MN) of thrust at sea level, an increase over the 1,550,000 lbf (6.9 MN) of thrust of the initial F-1 engine. Many Chinese launch vehicles have been using liquid boosters. These include China's man-rated Long March 2F which uses four liquid rocket boosters each powered by a single YF-20B hypergolic rocket engine. The retired Long March 2E variant also used similar four liquid boosters. as did Long March 3B and Long March 3C variants. China developed semi-cryogenic boosters for

#667332