Russia has buried the hope of catching up with the United States, but still dreams of a super-heavy rocket. Powerful launch vehicles from different countries Super heavy rockets

After Valentin Glushko took over as head of TsKBEM (former OKB-1), replacing the disgraced Vasily Mishin, he spent 20 months working on the creation of a lunar base based on a modification of the Proton rocket designed by Vladimir Chelomey, which used Glushko's self-igniting engines.

Academician Valentin Glushko

Curriculum vitae

Valentin Petrovich Glushko (Ukrainian Valentin Petrovich Glushko; August 20 (September 2), 1908, Odessa - January 10, 1989, Moscow) - Soviet engineer and scientist in the field of rocket and space technology. One of the pioneers of rocket and space technology, the founder of the Soviet liquid-propellant rocket engine. Chief designer of space systems (since 1974), general designer of the Energia-Buran reusable rocket and space complex, academician of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1958; corresponding member since 1953), laureate of the Lenin Prize, twice laureate of the State Prize of the USSR, twice Hero of Socialist Labor ( 1956, 1961). Member of the Central Committee of the CPSU (1976-1989).

By early 1976, however, the Soviet leadership decided to halt the lunar program and focus on the Soviet space shuttle, as the American shuttle was seen as military threat from the USA. Although in the end Buran will be very similar to a competitor, V. Glushko made one significant change that allowed him to maintain his lunar program.

Launch vehicle "Energy" and MTKK "Buran". Soviet shuttle

In the American Space Shuttle, two solid-propellant rocket boosters accelerated the ship to an altitude of 46 km for two minutes. After their separation, the ship used the engines located in its stern. In other words, the shuttle, at least in part, had its own rocket launcher, and the large external fuel tank to which it was attached was not a rocket. It was only intended to carry fuel for the main engines of the reusable spacecraft.

V. Glushko decided to build Buran without any engines at all. It was a glider designed to return to Earth, which was launched into orbit by engines that looked like the fuel tank of an American shuttle. In fact, it was the Energia launch vehicle. In other words, chief designer Soviet Union hid a Saturn V-class booster in a reusable spacecraft system that could potentially become the basis for his beloved lunar base.

"Buran" and "Shuttle": such different twins

third generation

What is the Energia launch vehicle? Its development began when Glushko became head of TsKBM (actually the name "Energy" was used in the name of the newly reorganized NPO department long before the rocket was created) and brought with him a new design of rocket-powered aircraft (RLA). In the early 1970s, the Soviet Union had at least three missiles - the N-1, R-7, Cyclone and Proton modifications. All of them were structurally different from each other, so the cost of their maintenance was relatively high. For the third generation of Soviet spacecraft, it was required to create light, medium, heavy and super-heavy launch vehicles, consisting of one common set of components, and V. Glushko's RLA was suitable for this role.

The RLA series was inferior to the Zeniths of the Yangel Design Bureau, but this bureau did not have heavy launch vehicles, which made it possible for Energia to advance. Glushko took his design of the RLA-135, which consisted of a large main booster module and detachable boosters, and proposed it again, along with a modular version of the Zenit as boosters, and the main new rocket developed in his bureau. The proposal was accepted - this is how the Energia launch vehicle was born.

The king was right

But V. Glushko had to take another blow to his pride. For many years, the Soviet space program was stalled because he did not agree with Sergei Korolev, who believed that liquid oxygen and hydrogen were essential for a large rocket. the best views fuel. Therefore, the N-1 had engines built by a much less experienced designer, Nikolai Kuznetsov, while Glushko focused on nitric acid and dimethylhydrazine.

Although this fuel had advantages such as density and storability, it was less energy intensive and more toxic, which represented big problem in case of an accident. In addition, the Soviet leadership was interested in catching up with the United States - the USSR did not have large liquid oxygen and hydrogen engines, while in the second and third stages of the Saturn V they were used, as in the main engine of the Space shuttle". Partly voluntarily, partly because of this political pressure, but Glushko had to give in to his dispute with Korolyov, who had been dead for eight years.

Heavy launch vehicles

10 years of development

Over the next ten years (a long time, but not too long: it took seven years to develop the Saturn V), NPO Energia developed a massive main stage. The side boosters were relatively lighter, smaller, and used liquid oxygen and kerosene engines, which the USSR had extensive experience in building, so the entire rocket was ready for first flight in October 1986.

Construction On June 15, 1988, the world's most powerful launch vehicle, Energia, successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It was developed in the Podlipka design bureau of the same name under the leadership of General Designer V. Glushko. The energy could launch into space a payload weighing 100 tons - 2 railway cars! And, although by decision of the Government of the USSR, it was intended to launch our reusable Buran spacecraft into orbit, this rocket was universal and could be used for flights to the Moon and other planets.

The rocket is made according to a two-stage package scheme based on the central block "C" of the second stage, in which 4 oxygen-hydrogen sustainer engines RD-0120 are installed. The first stage consists of four side blocks "A" with one oxygen-kerosene four-chamber engine RD-170 in each. Blocks "A" are unified with the first stage of the medium-class launch vehicle "Zenith". The engines of both stages have a closed cycle with afterburning of the exhaust turbine gas in the main combustion chamber. The payload of the launch vehicle (orbital ship or transport container) is mounted asymmetrically on the side surface of the central block C with the help of power communication nodes.

The assembly of the rocket at the cosmodrome, its transportation, installation on the launch pad and launch is carried out using the transitional launch-docking block "I", which is a power structure that provides mechanical, pneumohydraulic and electrical connections with the launcher. The use of block I made it possible to dock the rocket with the launch complex in adverse weather conditions under the influence of wind, rain, snow and dust. In the pre-launch position, the block is the bottom plate on which the rocket rests with the surfaces of blocks A of the 1st stage, it also protects the rocket from the impact of rocket engine flows during launch. Block I after the launch of the rocket remains at the launch complex and can be reused.

To realize the resource of the RD-170 engines, designed for 10 flights, a system was provided for the return and reuse of blocks A of the first stage. The system consisted of parachutes, soft-landing turbojet engines and shock-absorbing struts, which were placed in special containers on the surface of blocks A, however, during the design work, it turned out that the proposed scheme was overly complex, insufficiently reliable and associated with a number of unresolved problems. technical problems. By the beginning of the flight tests, the return system had not been implemented, although the flight copies of the rocket had containers for parachutes and landing racks in which the measuring equipment was located. The central block is equipped with 4 oxygen-hydrogen engines RD-0120 and is a supporting structure. Side fastening of cargo and accelerators is used.

The operation of the engines of the first stage began from the start and, in the case of two completed flights, was completed until the moment when the first space velocity was reached. In other words, in practice, Energia was not a two-stage, but a three-stage rocket, since the second stage at the time of completion of work gave the payload only suborbital speed (6 km / s), and additional acceleration was carried out either by an additional upper stage (in fact, the third rocket stage), or by its own payload engines - as in the case of the Buran: its combined propulsion system (ODU) helped it reach the first space velocity after separation from the carrier.

starting weight"Energy" - about 2400 tons. The rocket (in the variant with 4 side blocks) is capable of launching about 100 tons of payload into orbit - 5 times more than the operated Proton carrier. It is also possible, but not tested, layout options with two ("Energy-M"), six and eight ("Volcano") side blocks, the latter with a record load capacity of up to 200 tons.

Designed options

In addition to the basic version of the rocket, 3 main modifications were designed, designed to output a payload of various masses.

Energy-M

"Energy-M" (product 217GK "Neutron") was the smallest rocket in the family, with a payload reduced by about 3 times relative to the Energia launch vehicle, that is, with a payload of 30-35 tons in LEO.

The number of side blocks was reduced from 4 to 2; instead of 4 RD-0120 engines, only one was installed on the central block. In 1989-1991 passed complex tests, it was planned to launch in 1994. However, in 1993, Energia-M lost state competition(tender) for the creation of a new heavy launch vehicle; according to the results of the competition, preference was given to the Angara launch vehicle (the first launch took place on July 9, 2014). A full-sized model of the rocket, with all its constituent components, was stored at Baikonur.

Energy II (Hurricane)

"Energy II" (also called "Hurricane") was designed to be completely reusable. Unlike the basic Energia modification, which was partially reusable (like the American Space Shuttle), the Hurricane design made it possible to return all elements of the Energia - Buran system, similar to the Space Shuttle concept.

"Energy II" (also called "Hurricane")

The central unit of the Hurricane was supposed to enter the atmosphere, plan and land on a conventional airfield.

Vulcan (Hercules)

The heaviest modification: its launch weight was 4747 tons. Using 8 side blocks and the Energia-M central block as the last stage, the Vulkan rocket (by the way, this name coincided with the name of another Soviet heavy rocket, the development of which was canceled for a few years before) or "Hercules" (which coincides with the design name of the heavy launch vehicle RN H-1) was supposed to launch up to 175-200 tons into low Earth orbit.

Modification of the rocket "Energia" launch vehicle "Volcano" ("Hercules")

With the help of this colossal rocket, it was planned to carry out the most ambitious projects: the settlement of the moon, the construction of space cities, a manned flight to Mars, etc.

Project evaluation by Dmitry Ilyich Kozlov, Soviet and Russian designer rocket and space technology.

Dmitry Kozlov twice Hero of Socialist Labor, General Designer of the Central Specialized Design Bureau ("TsSKB-Progress"), Corresponding Member Russian Academy Sciences (1991; corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR since 1984)

Dmitry Kozlov

Dmitry Kozlov's words about the Energia-Buran project:

“A few months after V.P. Glushko was appointed to the position of chief designer, NPO Energia, headed by him, was entrusted with the design of a new powerful launch vehicle, and the ministry transferred the order for its manufacture to the Progress Kuibyshev plant. Soon after that, Glushko and I had a long and very difficult conversation about the ways for the further development of the Soviet rocket and space industry, about the prospects for the work of the Kuibyshev branch No. 3, and also about the Energia-Buran complex. I then offered him to continue work on the H1 rocket instead of this project. Glushko, on the other hand, insisted on creating a new powerful carrier, and N1 called yesterday astronautics, no longer needed by anyone. At that time, we did not come to a consensus. As a result, we decided that the enterprise I headed and NPO Energia were no longer on the road, since we disagreed in our views on the strategic line for the development of domestic cosmonautics. This decision of ours found understanding at the very top of the then government of the country, and soon Branch No. 3 was removed from the subordination of NPO Energia and transformed into an independent enterprise. Since July 30, 1974, it has been called the Central Specialized Design Bureau (TsSKB). As you know, the Energia-Buran project was nevertheless implemented in the 80s, and this again required large financial costs from the country. That is why the Ministry of General Mechanical Engineering of the USSR, whose structure included our enterprise, was forced to repeatedly withdraw from the budgets of the TsSKB-Progress plant and TsSKB a considerable part of the funds previously allocated to us. Therefore, a number of TsSKB projects were not implemented in full due to underfunding, and some of them were not implemented at all. The Energia rocket took off for the first time with a weight-and-weight model on board (Polus object), and the second time with the Buran reusable spacecraft. No more launches of Energia were made, and first of all for a rather prosaic reason: at present there are simply no objects in outer space that would require flights (by the way, very expensive) of this huge rocket with a carrying capacity of over 100 tons. »

Two black "checkers" on board the rocket are laser telemetry and correction points. The pre-launch preparation of the Energia launch vehicle with the Buran OK was stopped approximately 50 seconds before the launch, the AMS command (“launch abort”) passed due to an abnormal departure of the aiming board (under the black checkers). In the magazine "Technology - Youth", dedicated to the launch, on the cover was drawn "Energy" in flight with the aiming board not undocked.

Since the design of the rocket did not have sufficient strength to transport empty tanks in a horizontal position, in all cases of such transportation, including air, the tanks were under pressure. A pressurization system was also installed on the transporter aircraft.

At the same time, the strength characteristics of the rocket, its control system made it possible to launch the Buran OK in stormy conditions. At the time of launch, the surface wind speed was 20 m/s, and at a height of 20 km it was at least 50 m/s.

As of 2012, the Energia launch vehicle is the only Soviet and Russian rocket and space system that, in principle, could use liquid hydrogen as fuel at all stages of launching a payload into low Earth orbit.

P.S.: For attentive readers: Thank you. It seems that we managed to make ONLY two parts ... :-))

But, to be honest, the impression is that the creakles are overcoming and insanity on the resource, nevertheless, is getting stronger ...

NASA infographic

The heavy Space Launch System launch vehicle with the Orion spacecraft as part of the Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1) mission will not fly into space until June 2020. This was reported by NASA, writes The Verge.

According to the space agency, the choice of a new date is related to avoiding the risks that may arise during the production of the rocket. It is also planned to test the ship's emergency system, which should protect the crew if something happens to the rocket during launch. It's about about the so-called launch abort system, which consists of a small rocket capable of separating the Orion from the launch vehicle.

In the spring, NASA has already postponed the date of the first launch of the SLS to 2019. At the same time, it was decided to conduct an unmanned test flight aboard the Orion. The space agency intended to make the mission manned. In April, NASA had to admit that the launch, scheduled for November 2018, was simply not possible due to technical problems and a limited budget.

NASA also released an animation that shows a prototype SLS rocket that could take humans to Mars. According to the agency's website, the SLS EM-1 rocket will be "the most powerful rocket in the world and mark a new era" in the study of outer space around the Earth. It is assumed that the first researchers will be delivered to the Red Planet in 2030.

The Ukrainian edition of Dialog writes that the "American novelty" - the super-heavy rocket SLS - "will finally finish off Russia as a space power."

Scott Pace, executive secretary of the National Space Council under the President of the United States, spoke to Scientific American about the country's strategy to maintain leadership in space. According to him, the United States can become a world leader in space exploration through complex and realistic projects. They involve both international partnerships and the participation of the private sector. S. Pace noted that this strategy differs from the actions of the USA and the USSR in the 1960s, when the leader was a country that created what a competing state could not.

In the meantime, Russia has reported on the launch of 55 military spacecraft over the past five years, which made it possible to tighten control over the launch areas of American ballistic missiles. Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces, spoke about this at the last meeting of the Collegium of the Ministry of Defense, TASS reports. In particular, a new space missile system"Angara", which allows you to bring payloads to all types of near-Earth orbits from the territory of Russia. V. Gerasimov also said that Russia is developing a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. He noted that in five years, 12 Russian missile regiments were re-equipped with new-generation Yars complexes and the Strategic Missile Forces received over 80 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The Russian space industry operates launch vehicles of several classes and types. To solve some problems, astronautics needs super-heavy class rockets, but this moment there is no such technology in our country. However, a promising project is already being developed. Over the next few years, the industry will have to develop and bring to testing the promising Energia-5V rocket.

The existence of plans to create a super-heavy launch vehicle Energia-5V was announced last fall. In mid-November 2016, a conference was held in Moscow dedicated to the problems of the development of rocket and space technology. During this event, CEO Rocket and space corporation "Energia" them. S.P. Queen Vladimir Solntsev. According to the head of the largest organization, there are plans to create a promising super-heavy launch vehicle. At the same time, it is planned to use a very interesting approach to shaping the appearance of the rocket.

new rocket It was proposed to build on a modular basis. Key nodes should have been borrowed from existing or developing rocket technology projects. So, the first and second stages should be taken from the project of a promising Phoenix medium-class rocket. The upper stage with engines using hydrogen fuel was planned to be borrowed from the designed Angara-A5V heavy rocket. As V. Solntsev noted, the Energy-5V project proposes the creation of a kind of constructor from which it will be possible to assemble a carrier of the desired configuration with the required characteristics. The purpose of this approach is to reduce the completion time and cost of the project.

By the time the information about the promising Energia-5V project was announced, there was already some information about two other launch vehicles planned to be used as a source of components and assemblies. So, it is known that the Angara-A5V rocket is a variant of another project of its family, which is distinguished by the use of a third stage with hydrogen-oxygen fuel pair engines. Such a modernization of the existing project, according to calculations, can significantly increase the payload.

The second source of aggregates is the Phoenix medium-class launch vehicle. Such a rocket will be able to lift up to 17 tons of cargo into low earth orbit, including manned spacecraft. Also, the rocket will be able to launch 2.5 tons of cargo into geostationary orbit, for which it will need an upper stage. The development of Phoenix is ​​scheduled to begin in 2018 and be completed by 2025. As early as last year, it became known that in the future, the units of this rocket could be used to create a promising carrier of a heavy or super-heavy class.

Last year, only the most general plans were announced, which determine the course of further work in the field of promising launch vehicles. A few months later, some details of the future Energy-5V project became known. As it turned out, the rocket and space industry plans to offer two versions of the rocket at once with different characteristics and capabilities.

Information about new plans within the framework of a promising project was published at the end of January by the TASS news agency. The information was obtained from an unnamed source in the space industry. At the same time, it was noted that the press center of RSC Energia refused to comment on such. Nevertheless, in this case, the published information is of great interest.

A TASS agency source said that by that time the approximate appearance of two super-heavy launch vehicles had been determined at once. Two versions of the Energia-5V rocket received their own working names Energia-5V-PTK and Energia-5VR-PTK. It was planned to present preliminary studies on two projects to the management of Energia Corporation, as well as to leading organizations in the rocket and space industry.

According to the announced information, both types of missiles will be built according to a three-stage scheme and use liquid-propellant engines. It is proposed to equip the first and second stages of two missiles with RD-171MV engines. The first should receive four such products, the second - two. The third stage will have to be equipped with two RD-0150 engines using hydrogen fuel. The two versions of the rocket will be close in their characteristics, but it is supposed to provide for some difference in capabilities.

The Energia-5V-PTK launch vehicle, according to existing calculations, will have a launch mass of 2368 tons. It will be able to launch up to 100 tons of payload into low Earth orbit. It will be possible to send up to 20.5 tons to the lunar orbit. The Energia-5VR-PTK project proposes to equip the rocket with an upper stage with hydrogen-fueled engines. In this configuration, the launch vehicle will have a launch weight of 2346 tons. The use of an upper stage will provide appropriate advantages in solving certain problems.

When using Energia-5V rockets to deliver the Federation manned spacecraft or a promising take-off and landing module for a lunar expedition into orbit, it is possible to use the so-called. interorbital tug. This product can be developed and built on the basis of one of the existing upper stages of the DM family.

Within a few next months enterprises of the rocket and space industry continued to work within the framework of a promising project. Among other things, the approximate terms for the creation of new launch vehicles and launch complexes for their operation were determined. On June 8, the TASS agency published new data on plans for the Energia-5V rocket. As before, the information was obtained from an unnamed industry source. In addition, similar to previous reports, TASS officials were unable to get a comment from officials, this time from the state corporation Roscosmos.

According to an unnamed source, the launch complex for Energia-5V rockets will be built at the Vostochny cosmodrome. According to current plans, construction work will be completed in 2027. First start superheavy carrier from the newest launch pad will be completed in 2028. Some features of the future complex were also announced. As it turned out, the current plans of the rocket and space industry involve the creation of a universal launch pad.

A TASS source said that the launch pad for Energia-5V will be built according to the same principles as the universal start-stand complex 17P31 for the Energia carrier. This complex was built three decades ago at site No. 250 of the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was subsequently used for two launches of the Energia super-heavy rocket. What exactly are the principles of the launch pad for the old "Energy" should be transferred to new project- not specified.

It is alleged that the launch pad for the Energia-5V rocket will be universal and will allow launching equipment different types. With its help, it will be possible to send promising Soyuz-5 medium-class rockets into space, as well as other carriers made on their basis by connecting several blocks. Among other things, such a launch complex can be used together with promising super-heavy rockets of the Angara and Energia-5V families.

Also on June 8, it became known about plans to accelerate the development of a super-heavy rocket. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the industry leadership had decided to speed up work on the subject of a super-heavy launch vehicle. To solve such problems, research work has already begun on the new RD-0150 engine. In the near future, this project will move into the experimental design stage.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the promising engine will be used on the Angara-A5V rocket, and will make it possible to increase its carrying capacity to 37 tons. power plant it is planned to be used as part of the third stage of a super-heavy rocket, which is currently being created.

After the publication of news about the planned construction of the launch complex at the Vostochny cosmodrome, the acceleration of work in general and the start of the development of a new engine, new messages about the promising Energia-5V project did not appear. Thus, only the most general information about the project, as well as the expected characteristics of the finished equipment. It is quite clear that the previously announced calculated information about the data and parameters may change significantly in the future. In addition, the fundamental points of the project may be revised. Finally, for one reason or another, the development of superheavy carriers may be canceled altogether.

It should be noted that, despite the similarity of names and belonging to the same class, the promising Energia-5V rocket is not directly related to the carrier created three decades ago. As follows from previously published information, a new superheavy rocket project will be created on the basis of modern ideas, solutions, components and assemblies. So, in order to save time and money, the authors of the project are considering the possibility wide application large modules borrowed from existing samples of rocket technology.

It is known that the first and second stages of the Energia-5V-PTK and Energia-5VR-PTK missiles will be built on the basis of the corresponding units planned for development within the Phoenix project. The third stage, in turn, will be borrowed from the heavy Angara-A5V, which is also quite far from testing. The missile will be able to use existing and future upper stages. Such an approach will really speed up and reduce the cost of project development, although it will not make it possible to implement all plans in the near future. The fact is that the first flight of the Angara-A5V rocket is scheduled for 2023, and the Phoenix will take to the air in about two years. For the design and preparation for testing of Energia-5V, it will be necessary to wait for the completion of related projects used as a source of nodes.

The same is true with engines. According to reports at the beginning of the year, the first and second stages of the superheavy carrier will be equipped with RD-171MV engines. As far as is known, such a modification of the already existing RD-171 is not yet ready and will appear only in the foreseeable future. The RD-0150 engine also does not yet exist, and its development is at the most early stages. Thus, the lack of the necessary engines will also prevent the completion of the Energia-5V project in the near future.

The announced characteristics of a promising superheavy launch vehicle are of great interest. A few months ago, it became known that rockets would be able to send up to 100 tons of cargo to low Earth orbit, and a little more than 20 tons could be delivered to the Moon. With the help of upper stages of one model or another, it will be possible to obtain the appropriate results. At the moment, serial launch vehicles with similar characteristics are not in operation in the world. Several projects are being developed, but so far they have not been able to reach test launches.

The appearance of a super-heavy launch vehicle can have the most serious impact on the further development of domestic cosmonautics. In the past, attempts were made in our country to develop this direction, but, for one reason or another, they did not give real results. Thus, the first domestic superheavy rocket N-1, capable of launching 75 tons of cargo into low earth orbit, was tested four times, and all launches ended in an accident. In the mid-seventies, the program was closed in favor of a new project.

The next attempt to master the superheavy direction was the Energia project. The maximum payload of such a rocket was 100 tons. It could put into orbit both traditional spacecraft and the Buran reusable transport ship. In 1987-88, two test launches took place, after which work had to be stopped. The project proved too expensive to implement at the time. The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the closure of the project.

In the future, it was repeatedly proposed to create a new project for a super-heavy launch vehicle. For example, for some time the possibility of developing such a project within the framework of the Angara family was considered. However, for technical and economic reasons, it was decided to confine ourselves to heavy class equipment. The creation of a superheavy carrier was postponed indefinitely.

Another discussion of the possibility of creating such a rocket began several years ago. Last year, specific plans were announced, and at the beginning of 2017, it became known about the formation of the technical appearance of two missiles at once with similar characteristics and different capabilities. According to the latest data, these projects will be brought to the test only at the end of the next decade. In 2027, the necessary launch complex will be completed at the Vostochny cosmodrome, and the first launch will take place in 2028. At the same time, there is reason to believe that these deadlines may shift to the left, since the country's leadership has made a fundamental decision to speed up the work.

To date, the domestic rocket and space industry has managed to start developing a number of promising launch vehicles, which in the future will have to replace existing and operated models. The existing plans involve the creation of rockets of all classes, from light to super heavy. This will allow not only to modernize the fleet of carriers by replacing obsolete equipment, but also to expand the capabilities of the domestic cosmonautics, as well as increase its competitive potential. Nevertheless, it will take a lot of time to fulfill all plans and create all the desired missiles - the first results of current programs will appear no earlier than the end of this decade.

According to the websites:
http://tass.ru/
http://interfax.ru/
http://ria.ru/
https://lenta.ru/
https://news.sputnik.ru/

Image copyright Pushkarev/TASS Image caption In the USSR, one of the programs to create a super-heavy rocket ended with two successful launches

The Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, which was chosen as the lead developer of the super-heavy class space rocket, has published a roadmap for the project on its website.

Its first phase will run from 2018 to 2019. During this time, the corporation will develop a draft design, determine the appearance constituent parts missiles, as well as prepare feasibility studies.

Research and development work will continue for the next eight years, from 2020 to 2028. During the same time, the launch complex for the rocket at the Vostochny cosmodrome, as well as all the necessary infrastructure, should be built. Flight tests of the rocket are scheduled for 2028.

• Lunar rocket in the Olympics: how much could the superproject of Roscosmos cost?

The decree on the creation of a missile launch complex at the Vostochny was signed this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Almost nothing is known about the rocket itself. Energia reports that it will have to launch 90 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit, and 20 tons into circumlunar polar orbit.

In addition, during the creation of the rocket, blocks of the Soyuz-5 rocket, a new medium-class launch vehicle that is currently being developed to replace the Soyuz-2 rocket, will be used (obviously as first-stage boosters).

The lead developer of Soyuz-5 is also RSC Energia, and the first flight tests should begin in 2022 at Baikonur. In 2024, Roscosmos expects to launch a rocket with a manned spacecraft on board. In July, Interfax, citing an anonymous source, reported that "almost 30 billion rubles" would be spent on financing the program.

Such a scheme, when blocks of a medium-weight rocket are used as the first stage, has already been used on the Soviet super-heavy Energia rocket. Four accelerators were blocks of the Zenit rocket, created in the Ukrainian design bureau Yuzhnoye. Soyuz-2 also uses some of the developments of this project.

Roskosmos previously considered the possibility of building two sites on Vostochny for medium rockets in order to deliver a payload into orbit in several stages. In the event that it would be necessary to assemble a station or a ship for flights over long distances in orbit, then they could not be launched in large segments or as a whole, but assembled in orbit, delivering components by medium rockets.

How much does a super heavy rocket cost?

As for the financing of the new program for the creation of a superheavy rocket, then, as the head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, said on Thursday, since it was not included in the federal space program (FPC) of 2016-2025, now it will need to be changed, possibly by her separate subroutine.

Russia has been talking about plans to develop a superheavy launch vehicle for several years now. Back in 2016, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the defense industry and the aerospace industry, said that even then Putin instructed to start this project.

At the end of November of the same year, the first deputy head of Roscosmos, Alexander Ivanov, said that the development of a rocket and a launch complex for it. This is more than the amount of funding for the entire Federal Space Program for the period from 2016 to 2025. It was adopted at the end of 2015 and amounts to 1.4 trillion rubles.

These figures coincide with the assessment of Igor Komarov himself. Introducing the FKP project to journalists in the spring of 2016, he said that its development cost is commensurate with the total funding of the 10-year federal space program. He estimated the cost of one launch at a billion dollars.

Why does Russia need a superheavy carrier?

In 2016, Komarov saw no point in spending that kind of money on a super-heavy rocket. "This project has no commercial application. Within the framework of the existing agreements, which, I hope, will be maintained, on the use of space and the limitation of weapons, there will be no need for payloads, including for military purposes," he said at the time.

However, on February 1, 2018, at a briefing at the Vostochny cosmodrome, Komarov, talking about the presidential decree, said that there are tasks for a super-heavy rocket.

"The task has been set for her - the study of the solar system, the planets of the solar system, the moon and the near-lunar space, the task of launching manned spacecraft and automatic spacecraft into near-Earth orbit and solving other national economic problems," the head of the state corporation added.

As the head of the Space Policy Institute Ivan Moiseev told the BBC Russian Service, the supporters of this project are counting on the rocket to justify itself in the future.

"I was present at how this idea arose. It was on March 31 last year at the expert council in the military-industrial commission. The arguments there were as follows: now there are no payloads, because there is no rocket, the designers do not make them. But the rocket will appear ", then they will start making payloads for it. But this is not true, because a super-heavy rocket also needs super-expensive loads," he told the BBC.

“This is a political decision. There is no one who would say - give us a super-heavy launch vehicle, we have loads, but we cannot launch them. We fell for the terminology, they say, it will be super-heavy, ahead of the rest,” Moiseev believes.

However, according to another expert, Chief Editor magazine "Cosmonautics News" Igor Marinin - Russia can afford such a rocket.

“In 2016, there was the peak of the crisis, when we had no time for heavy rockets and space exploration. There was only talk that Russia needed a super project that would raise the space industry to new level, would restore interest in space [...] It has now been announced that Russia has come out of the peak, that it already has a small increase and that it will reduce defense and arms spending in the next five to ten years. Accordingly, enterprises need to be loaded," he said.

There have been two successful super-heavy rocket development programs in history. The American Saturn V, which put up to 140 tons into low orbit, made 13 launches, some of which were part of the lunar program. The Soviet Energia was capable of putting up to 100 tons into orbit and made two test launches. Another Soviet program - H1 - was curtailed after four emergency launches.

Currently, the US is developing the Space Launch System program, the carrier of which is expected to be able to launch up to 130 tons of payload into a low reference orbit. Earlier it was said that the first flight of the rocket will be able to make as early as 2018, but it is being postponed, and pessimistic forecasts say that it will fly no earlier than 2020.

The second possible competitor Russian missile- Elon Musk's SpaceX Falcon Heavy. It is already installed on the starting position and can be launched in the coming days. The official website of the project only says that the launch will take place in 2018, but Elon Musk himself has already set a date for February 6 on his Twitter. In the future, the rocket will be able to launch 63 tons of payload into low orbit.

On November 23, 1972, the last fourth launch of the N-1 super-heavy launch vehicle was made. All four launches were unsuccessful and after four years of work on the H-1 were curtailed. The launch weight of this rocket was 2,735 tons. We decided to talk about the five heaviest space rockets in the world.

The Soviet super-heavy launch vehicle H-1 has been developed since the mid-1960s at OKB-1 under the leadership of Sergei Korolev. The mass of the rocket was 2735 tons. Initially, it was intended to launch a heavy orbital station into near-Earth orbit with the prospect of assembling a heavy interplanetary spacecraft for flights to Venus and Mars. Since the USSR joined the "lunar race" with the United States, the H1 program was forced and reoriented for a flight to the moon.

However, all four test launches of the H-1 were unsuccessful at the stage of operation of the first stage. In 1974, the Soviet lunar landing manned lunar program was actually closed before reaching the target result, and in 1976, work on N-1 was also officially closed.

"Saturn-5"

The American Saturn-5 launch vehicle remains the most lifting, the most powerful, the heaviest (2965 tons) and the largest of the existing rockets that put a payload into orbit. It was created by the rocket designer Wernher von Braun. The rocket could launch 141 tons of payload into low Earth orbit and 47 tons of payload onto the trajectory to the Moon.

"Saturn-5" was used to implement the program of American lunar missions, including with its help the first landing of a man on the moon was carried out on July 20, 1969, as well as to launch the Skylab orbital station into low Earth orbit.

"Energy"

Energia is a Soviet super-heavy class launch vehicle (2400 tons) developed by NPO Energia. It was one of the most powerful missiles in the world.

It was created as a universal promising rocket to perform various tasks: a carrier for the Buran MTKK, a carrier for manned and automatic expeditions to the Moon and Mars, for launching new generation orbital stations, etc. The first rocket launch took place in 1987, the last - in 1988.

"Ariane 5"

Ariane 5 is a European launch vehicle of the Ariane family, designed to launch a payload into a low reference orbit (LEO) or a geotransfer orbit (GTO). The mass of the rocket compared to the Soviet and American is not so great - 777 tons. Produced by the European Space Agency. The Ariane 5 launch vehicle is ESA's main launch vehicle and will remain so until at least 2015. For the period 1995–2007 43 launches were made, of which 39 were successful.

"Proton"

"Proton" (UR-500, "Proton-K", "Proton-M") - a heavy-class launch vehicle (705 tons), designed to launch automatic spacecraft into Earth orbit and further into space. Developed in 1961-1967 in the OKB-23 subdivision (now the M.V. Khrunichev GKNPTs).

"Proton" was a means of launching all Soviet and Russian orbital stations "Salyut-DOS" and "Almaz", modules of stations "Mir" and the ISS, planned manned spaceships TKS and L-1 / "Zond" (Soviet lunar flyby program), as well as heavy satellites for various purposes and interplanetary stations.