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26-642: Energomash is noted for its long history of large scale LOX/Kerosene engine development. Notable examples are the RD-107 / RD-108 engines used on the R-7 , Molniya and Soyuz rocket families, and the RD-170 , RD-171 and RD-180 engines used on the Energia , Zenit and Atlas V launch vehicles. As of July 2013, the company remained largely owned by the federal government of Russia , but RSC Energia owned approximately 14% of

52-533: A gas-generator cycle . As was typical by all the descendants of the V-2 rocket technology, the turbine is driven by steam generated by catalytic decomposition of H₂O₂ . The steam generator uses solid F-30-P-G catalyst. These are based on a variable sized pellet covered in an aqueous solution of potassium permanganate and sodium . Each engine uses four fixed main combustion chambers. The RD-107 has an additional two vernier combustion chambers that can thrust vector in

78-517: A presidential decree setting up the URSC corporation. The decree stipulated that the corporation will take over manufacturing facilities. The industry reorganization continued into 2014 with a Sberbank cooperation agreement. In 1954, the development and success of the LOX/Kerosene RD-107 and RD-108 engines allowed the company to expand its engine development work further. The RD-214 engine, using

104-459: A branch of OKB-456 in 1958, specifically for the manufacture of RD-107 and RD-108 engines. The branch was led by Y.D. Solovjev until 1960, then by R.I. Zelenev until 1975, then by A.F. Udalov until 1978, and is currently led by A.A. Ganin. Modifications to the RD-107 design have led to production of several distinct versions of the engine: Similar modifications have led to several distinct versions of

130-568: A single plane to supply attitude control. The RD-108 has four verniers to supply full vector control to the Blok-A stage. The single-axle turbopump unit includes the steam driven turbine, an oxidizer pump, a fuel pump, and a nitrogen gas generator for tank pressurization. The RD-107 engines are used in each of the boosters of the Soyuz-2 rocket, and a single RD-108 is used in the Blok-A stage (the central 1st stage). One important innovation of this engine

156-501: A software error resulted in the premature cutoff of the second stage, leaving the ICO F-1 satellite unable to reach orbit. On 29 June 2004, during the launch of Apstar 5 , the upper stage shut down 54 seconds early due to a wiring fault, leaving the satellite in a lower than planned orbit. The spacecraft raised itself to the correct orbit by means of its onboard manoeuvring engines, at the expense of fuel intended for stationkeeping once in

182-515: A storable mixture of Nitric Acid and Kerosene, was developed for ballistic missiles with a short readiness time requirement. The RD-214 was soon superseded by the RD-216 and later variants, which used a hypergolic combination of UDMH and Nitric Acid. This line of development later led to the highly successful UDMH / N 2 O 4 engines RD-253 and RD-275 used on the Proton launch vehicles – these were

208-559: A vacuum specific impulse of 337 sec — one of the most efficient and powerful LOX/Kerosene engines in the world. Variants of the RD-170 are still in use today on such vehicles as the Zenit 3SL used by Sea Launch . The modern Soyuz rocket uses updated versions of the RD-107 and RD-108 engines. The RD-180 engine, developed with Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne through the RD AMROSS partnership,

234-505: Is a direct descendant of the RD-170 line and is used as the propulsion system for the first stage of Atlas V . The most current engine listed on the NPO Energomash website is the single-chamber RD-191 , developed for the Angara and Baikal launch vehicles. NPO Energomash works with other Russian companies ( Keldysh Research Center and KBKhA ), and in cooperation with European companies on

260-582: The RD-108 , are a type of rocket engine used on the R-7 rocket family . RD-107 engines are used in each booster and the RD-108 is used in the central core. The engines have four main combustion chambers (each a with nozzle ) and either two (RD-107) or four (RD-108) vernier chambers. The engines were first developed in the mid-1950s to launch the R-7 Semyorka , the first intercontinental ballistic missile . The R-7

286-623: The equator in the Pacific Ocean , at a point with 154°W longitude , about 370 kilometres east of Kiritimati . The Zenit-3SL design began in the late 1980s as the Zenit-3, a proposed replacement for the Proton-K , which would have used a Zenit-2 rocket with a Block D upper stage. This proposal was shelved after the dissolution of the Soviet Union , as Russia inherited the space programme, however

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312-598: The RD-108: Work on the 14D21 and 14D22 engines started in 1986, with a preliminary design completed in 1993. These engines incorporate a new injector head design to increase specific impulse . The first launch of a Progress cargo spacecraft using a launch vehicle equipped with these engines took place in May 2001. The first human spaceflight launch utilizing these engines took place in October 2002. Zenit 3SL The Zenit-3SL

338-637: The Volga rocket engine project. The company continues to research and explore new engine concepts, such as the tripropellant , bi-modal engines of the RD-700 family ( RD-701 and RD-704 ). On 1 June 2016, the company successfully tested first-stage engine named RD-181, a modified version of the RD-191 for Antares . On 10 August 2016, the company successfully tested first-stage engine named PDU-99 "ПДУ-99" for RS-28 Sarmat . RD-107 The RD-107 and its sibling,

364-720: The Zenit was manufactured in Ukrainian SSR . Boeing became involved in the programme in 1994. The design was subsequently modified, with a modified version of the Block DM replacing the Block D. Sea Launch integrated the rockets in California , and transfers them to Odyssey via the Sea Launch Commander for transportation to the launch site. Once at the launch site, the rocket was erected on

390-470: The correct orbit . On 30 January 2007, a Zenit-3SL exploded on the launch pad after an engine failure caused by debris in the turbopump . The payload on that flight was the NSS-8 communications satellite for SES New Skies . This caused a considerable amount of downtime whilst damage to the launch platform was repaired. On 1 February 2013, during the launch of Intelsat-27, a Zenit-3SL launch vehicle suffered

416-485: The development of a turbopump which could deliver enough propellant to keep the engine running at a pressure high enough to maintain combustion stability. The resulting engine, developed in the early 1980s, was the RD-170 , which runs at a chamber pressure of 24.5 megapascals (3,550 pounds per square inch) and produces 7,550 kilonewtons (1,700,000 pounds-force) of thrust at a sea-level specific impulse of 309 sec, and 7,903 kilonewtons (1,777,000 pounds-force) of thrust at

442-567: The form of the RD-102 and RD-103. However, the development of high-pressure engine technology allowed propellants with a higher energy density to be used, and so LOX/Kerosene quickly replaced LOX/Ethanol as the propellant of choice. In 2013, the Russian government began a major effort to renationalize the Russian space sector, and created United Rocket and Space Corporation (URSC) to consolidate its space holdings. In December 2013 President Putin issued

468-400: The maiden flight. The only launch to be conducted to an orbit other than GTO was that of ICO F-1 , which was intended to be placed into medium Earth orbit , however the rocket failed to reach orbit. Of thirty-six rockets launched, three failed, with a fourth placing its payload into an incorrect, but recoverable orbit. The first failure occurred during the third flight, on 12 March 2000, when

494-603: The mass imbalance. The mixture ratio control system was developed to ensure the simultaneous consumption of propellant mass among the four R-7 boosters. The RD-107 and RD-108 engines are produced at the JSC Kuznetsov plant in Samara, Russia , under the supervision of the Privolzhskiy branch of NPO Energomash , also known as the Volga branch. The Privolzhsky branch was organized as

520-433: The most powerful hypergolic engine of its time, and remains in production to the current day. The RD-107 and RD-108 engines developed from 1954-1957 were extremely reliable and widely used. However, DB Energomash (renamed from the original OKB designation in 1967) saw great potential in the development of LOX/Kerosene engines with a higher chamber pressure. This presented many challenges to the engine designers, most notably

546-405: The platform, and a three-day countdown was initiated. The countdown was fully automated, and personnel were evacuated from the launch platform to Commander prior to launch. Zenit-3SL launches predominantly carried communications satellites into geosynchronous transfer orbits . As of 2009, the only payload to be launched by a Zenit-3SL that was not a communications satellite was a DemoSat , on

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572-525: The total shares. As of 2009, NPO Energomash employed approximately 5500 workers at its headquarters in Khimki , Moscow and its satellite facilities in Samara , Perm , and St. Petersburg . On 4 August 2016, the company announced that it would launch a new plant by December 2016. Valentin Petrovich Glushko was appointed chief designer of the newly founded OKB-456 design bureau on July 3, 1946. The company

598-605: Was an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch . First flown in 1999, it was launched 36 times, with three failures and one partial failure. It was a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau . RKK Energia produced the Block DM-SL upper stage , whilst the payload fairing was produced by Boeing . Launches were conducted from the Ocean Odyssey platform anchored on

624-616: Was later adapted into space launch vehicles and the engines have been improved over several generations. The most recent versions are the RD-107A and RD-108A engines are used to launch the Soyuz-2 , which is in active service as of 2024 . The RD-107 was designed under the direction of Valentin Glushko at the Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-456) between 1954 and 1957. It uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants operating in

650-529: Was quickly tasked with the production of a Russian copy of the German V2 rocket engine, under the supervision of Glushko and 234 German designers added to the company in October, 1946. At the end of that year, OKB-456 took up residence in an aviation factory near the city of Khimki , just outside Moscow. Here, the bureau constructed facilities to build and test fire its engines. The RD-100 performed admirably, and low-pressure LOX/Ethanol engine development continued, in

676-449: Was the capability to use variable mixture ratio between fuel and oxidizer. The natural variations in manufacturing between each engine meant that without an active propellant consumption control, each booster could deplete oxygen and fuel at a different rate. This might result in as much as tens of tonnes of unused propellant near the end of the burn. It would generate enormous stress on the structure and cause difficulties in steering due to

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