Energia(Russian:Энергия,romanized:Energiya,lit. 'Energy';GRAU11K25) was a 1980ssuper-heavy lift launch vehicle.It was designed byNPO Energiaof theSoviet Unionas part of theBuran programfor a variety of payloads including theBuran spacecraft.Control system main developer enterprise was theKhartronNPO "Electropribor".[4][5]The Energia used fourstrap-on boosterseach powered by a four-chamberRD-170engine burningkerosene/LOX,and a central core stage with four single-chamberRD-0120(11D122) engines fueled byliquid hydrogen/LOX.[6]
 Energia perspective free render with multiple angles and human (1.76 m) for scale. | |
| Function | Human-ratedmulti-purposesuper heavy-lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | NPO "Energia" |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union |
| Cost per launch | US$764million (1985)[1] |
| Size | |
| Height | 58.765 m (192.80 ft)[2] |
| Diameter | 17.65 m (57.9 ft)[2] |
| Mass | 2,400,000 kg (5,300,000 lb) |
| Stages | 2 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload toLEO | |
| Mass | 100,000 kg (220,000 lb)[3] |
| Payload toGSO | |
| Mass | 20,000 kg (44,000 lb)[3] |
| Payload toTLI | |
| Mass | 32,000 kg (71,000 lb)[3] |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | Baikonur |
| Total launches | 2 |
| Success(es) | 2 |
| Failure(s) | 0 |
| First flight | 15 May 1987 |
| Last flight | 15 November 1988 |
| Boosters –Zenit | |
| No. boosters | 4 |
| Height | 39.46 m (129.5 ft)[2] |
| Diameter | 3.92 m (12.9 ft)[2] |
| Powered by | 1RD-170 |
| Maximum thrust | 29,000 kN (6,500,000 lbf) sea level 32,000 kN (7,200,000 lbf) vacuum |
| Specific impulse | 309 s (3.03 km/s) at sea level 338 s (3.31 km/s) in vacuum |
| Burn time | 156 s |
| Propellant | RP-1/LOX |
| Core stage | |
| Height | 58.765 m (192.80 ft)[2] |
| Diameter | 7.75 m (25.4 ft)[2] |
| Powered by | 4RD-0120 |
| Maximum thrust | 5,800 kN (1,300,000 lbf) sea level 7,500 kN (1,700,000 lbf) vacuum |
| Specific impulse | 359 s (3.52 km/s) at sea level 454 s (4.45 km/s) in vacuum |
| Burn time | 480–500 s |
| Propellant | LH2/LOX |
The launch vehicle had two functionally different operational variants: Energia-Polyus, the initial test configuration, in which thePolyussystem was used as a final stage intended to put the payload into orbit, and Energia-Buran,[7]in which theBuranorbiterwas the payload and the source of the orbit insertion impulse.
The launch vehicle had the capacity to place about 100tonnesinLow Earth orbit,up to 20 tonnes togeostationary orbitand up to 32 tonnes by translunar trajectory intolunar orbit.[3]
The launch vehicle made just two flights before being discontinued.[8][7]Since 2016, there have been attempts to revive the launch vehicle, reusing anupdated version of its booster enginein theSoyuz-5rocket.
Development history
editWork on the Energia/Buran system began in 1976 after the decision was made to cancel the unsuccessfulN1 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 theSaturn Vin theSpace Shuttle program.Energia also replaced the "Vulkan" concept, which was a design based on theProtonand using the samehypergolic 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,[7]and for that reason 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".[8]This configuration required the addition of an upper stage to perform the final orbital insertion.[8]The first launch of the Energia was in the configuration of a heavy launch vehicle, with the largePolyusmilitary satellite as a payload, however Polyus failed to correctly perform the orbital insertion.
Due to the termination of theBuran programthe Energia program was concluded after only two launches. The legacy of Energia/Buran project manifests itself in theRD-170family of rocket engines, and theZenitlauncher, with the first stage roughly the same as one of the Energia first-stage boosters.
Launch history
editFirst launch (Energia–Polyus)
edit
The Energia was first test-launched on 15 May 1987, with thePolyus spacecraftas the payload. AnFGB( "functional cargo block" ) engine section originally built as a cancelledMirmodule was incorporated into the upper stage used to insert the payload into orbit, similarly to Buran and the US Space Shuttle performing the final orbital insertion, since the planned "Buran-T" upper stage had not yet progressed beyond the planning stage.[8]The intended orbit had 280 km (170 mi) altitude and 64.6° inclination.[9]
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 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.[10]
Second launch (Energia–Buran)
edit
The second flight, and the first one where payload successfully reached orbit, was launched on 15 November 1988. This mission launched the uncrewed Soviet Shuttle vehicleBuran.At apogee, the Buran spacecraft made a 66.7 m/s burn to reach a final orbit of 251 km × 263 km.[7][11]
| Flight number (COSPAR ID) |
Date (UTC) | Launch site | Serial no. | Payload | Orbit at payload separation | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 May 1987 17:30:00 |
Baikonur CosmodromeSite 250 | 6SL[12] | Polyus | −15 × 155 km × 64.61°[13] | Spacecraft software error led to orbit insertion burn performed in incorrect attitude and payload re-entered atmosphere without entering orbit.[14] |
| 2 (1988-100A) |
15 November 1988 03:00:01 |
Baikonur CosmodromeSite 110/37 | 1L[12] | Buran | −11.2 × 154.2 km × 51.64°[15] After burn: 251 x 263 km[11] |
First and only flight ofBuran.The spacecraft orbited Earth twice before de-orbiting and landed at Baikonur at 06:24 UTC. |
Discontinuation and potential revival
editProduction of Energia rockets ended with the end of the Buran shuttle project in the late 1980s, and more certainly, with thefall of the Soviet Unionin 1991. Since that time, there have been persistent[citation needed]rumors of the renewal of production, but given 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-onliquid-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 chamberRD-170.Its derivative, theRD-171,was used on theZenit rocket.A half-sized derivative of the engine, the two-chamberRD-180,powersLockheed Martin'sAtlas Vrocket, while the single-chamber derivative, theRD-191,has been used to launch the KoreanNaro-1(as a reduced-thrust variant named theRD-151) and the RussianAngararocket. The RD-181, based on the RD-191, is used on theAntaresrocket.[16]
In August 2016,Roscosmosannounced conceptual plans to develop asuper heavy-lift launch vehiclefrom existing Energia components[clarification needed]instead of pushing the less-powerfulAngara A5V project.[17]This would allow Russia to launch missions towards establishing apermanent Moon basewith 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.[18] Tests ofRD-171MVengine, an updated version of the engine used in Energia, were completed in September 2021 and may potentially be used in the successorSoyuz-5rocket.[19]
Proposed variants
editThree major design variants were conceptualized after the original configuration, each with vastly different payloads.
Energia-M
editThe Energia-M was an early-1990s design configuration and the smallest of the three. The number ofboosterswas reduced from four to two, the core stage was shortened and fitted with just oneRD-0120engine. It was designed to replace the Proton rocket, but lost a 1993 competition to theAngara rocket.[20][21]
A non-functional prototype ( "structural test vehicle" ) of the Energia M still exists in the Dynamic Test Stand facility atBaikonur Cosmodrome.[22]
Energia-2 (GK-175)
editEnergia-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 the vehicle, similarly to the original, fully reusable Orbiter/Booster concept of the U.S. Shuttle.[23][24]The Energia-2 core as proposed would be capable of re-entering and gliding to a landing.[23]
Vulkan
editThe 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 was cancelled years earlier) configuration was initially projected to launch up to 200 metric tonnes into 200 km orbit with inclination 50.7°.[25]
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.[26]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^Wade, Mark."Energia".Encyclopedia Astronautica.RetrievedJanuary 16,2025.
- ^abcdefEnergia Characteristics
- ^abcdLaunch vehicle "Energia" Official Site
- ^Krivonosov, Khartron: Computers for rocket guidance systems
- ^Control systems for intercontinental ballistic missiles and launch vehiclesArchived2010-02-05 at theWayback Machine
- ^Russian Space Web,Energiapage. Accessed 21 September 2010
- ^abcdBart Hendrickx; Bert Vis (2007).Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle.Springer Science & Business Media.ISBN978-0-387-73984-7.
- ^abcdB. Hendrickx, "The Origins and Evolution of the Energiya Rocket Family,"J. British Interplanetary Soc., Vol. 55,pp. 242-278 (2002).
- ^Vassili Petrovitch,Polyus(accessed 21 September 2010).
- ^"Polyus".Astronautix.Archived fromthe originalon August 20, 2016.RetrievedSeptember 25,2017.
- ^abMark Wade,Encyclopedia Astronautics,Buran.(accessed 21 September 2010).
- ^abLukashevich, Vadim."Manufacturing History of the Energia Launch Vehicle".buran.ru(in Russian).Retrieved25 January2018.
- ^Lukashevich, Vadim."The Polyus Spacecraft".buran.ru(in Russian).Retrieved25 January2018.
- ^Day, Dwayne A.; Kennedy, Robert G. III (January 2010)."Soviet Star Wars: The launch that saved the world from orbiting laser battle stations".Air & Space/Smithsonian.Retrieved25 January2018.
- ^Lukashevich, Vadim."Timeline of the flight of Buran on 15 November 1988".buran.ru(in Russian).Retrieved25 January2018.
- ^"First Angara rocket launched on suborbital test flight".Spaceflight Now.July 9, 2014.RetrievedJuly 9,2014.
- ^"Роскосмос" создаст новую сверхтяжелую ракету.Izvestia(in Russian). August 22, 2016.
- ^Zak, Anatoly (24 July 2018)."Russia's New Rocket Project Might Resurrect a Soviet-Era Colossus".Popular Mechanics.Hearst Digital Media.Retrieved24 October2019.
- ^Berger, Eric (9 October 2021)."Rocket Report: Next Falcon Heavy launch date set, Soyuz 5 engines clear tests".Ars Technica.
- ^"This Immense Russian Rocket Was Abandoned For Decades".Popular Mechanics.2015-07-06.Retrieved2017-05-28.
- ^"Origin of the Angara project".russianspaceweb.Retrieved2021-07-15.
- ^Wenz, John (2015-07-06)."This Immense Russian Rocket Was Abandoned For Decades".Popular Mechanics.Retrieved2021-03-24.
- ^ab"Б.И.Губанов. Триумф и трагедия «Энергии» глава 41".
- ^"The Space Shuttle – NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)"(PDF).nasa.gov.2011. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 5 April 2015.
- ^Gubanov, Boris (1998). "38. Перспективный ряд ракет-носителей" [38. Perspective launch vehicles].Триум и трагедия "Энергии"[Energia Triumph and Tragedy] (in Russian). Nizhny Novgorod: NIER.
- ^Godwin, Robert (2006).Russian Spacecraft.Space Pocket Reference Guides.Apogee Books.p. 59.ISBN1-894959-39-6.
External links
edit
- Encyclopedia Astronautica: Energia
- Detailed site about Energia
- Official energia.ru pageArchived2016-03-03 at theWayback Machine
- K26 Energia pageArchived2008-03-21 at theWayback Machine
- (in Russian)A page about Energia rocket on a site about Buran spacecraft–English translation
- Energia – last Moon project.(rus)English translation