| RD-170 | |
 RD-170 rocket engine model on exhibition in Saint Petersburg's Museum of Space and Missile Technology. |
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| Country of Origin | Soviet Union/Russian Federation |
| Manufacturer | NPO Energomash |
| Application | Main engine |
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| Propellant | LOX / RP-1 (Soviet/Russian equivalent) |
| Performance | |
|---|---|
| Thrust(Vac) | 1,773,000 lbf (7.887 MN) |
| Thrust-to-weight ratio | 82 |
| Isp(Vac) | 338 s (3,315 N·s/kg) |
| Isp(SL) | 309 s (3,030 N·s/kg) |
The RD-170 (РД-170, Ракетный Двигатель-170, Rocket Engine-170) is the world's most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine. This bipropellant engine burns the Russian equivalent of RP-1 fuel and LOX oxidizer in four combustion chambers supplied by a single turbo pump according to a staged combustion cycle. Designed and produced by NPO Energomash, it was originally used with the Energia launch vehicle.
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Several Soviet and Russian rocket engines use the approach of clustering small combustion chambers around a single turbine and pump. During the early 1950s, many Soviet engine designers, including Glushko, faced problems of combustion instability, while designing bigger thrust chambers. At that time they solved the problem by using a cluster of smaller thrust chambers.
Variants
The RD-170 is now out of production, but it forms the basis for a family of modern rocket engines.
RD-171
One RD-170 variant, the RD-171, is currently used in the Zenit rocket. While the RD-170 had nozzles which swiveled on only one axis, the RD-171 swivels on two axes. Models called the RD-172 and RD-173 were proposed upgrades providing additional thrust, but they were never built.
RD-180
Another variant, the RD-180 used on the Atlas V, replaced the three engines used on early Atlas rockets with a single engine and achieved significant payload and performance gains. This engine has also been chosen to be the main propulsion system for the first stage of the new Russian Rus-M rocket. [1]
RD-191
Yet another variant, the RD-191, will be used in the the Russian Angara rocket, which is currently under development.[2]
RD-151
The RD-151 is the RD-191 with thrust reduced to 170 tonnes. This engine was fire-tested on July 30, 2009. The first flight test of this engine was conducted on August 25, 2009 as part of the first launch of South Korean Naro-1 rocket. The first stage of the Naro-1 rocket is made of the universal rocket module (URM) from the Angara rocket.[3][4]
Specifications
- 4 combustion chambers, 4 nozzles
- 1 set of turbines and pumps - Turbine produces approximately 257,000 hp (192 MW); equivalent to the power output of 3 nuclear powered icebreakers
- Ignition: Hypergolic
- Vacuum thrust of 1,773,000 lbf (7,887 kN)
- Vacuum Isp of 338 s (3,315 N·s/kg)
- Sea Level Isp of 309 s (3,030 N·s/kg)
- Weight: 9,750 kg (21,500 lb)
- Thrust to weight ratio: 82
References
- ^ Coppinger, Rob (2009-08-11). "The Bear's stars shine brighter". Flight International. http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/08/11/330691/the-bears-stars-shine-brighter.html. Retrieved 2009-08-22.
- ^ "Successful Tests of Angara Stage 1 Engine". Khrunichev. 2007-12-12. http://www.khrunichev.ru/khrunichev_eng/live/full_news.asp?id=14884.
- ^ "First launch of KSLV-1 is conducted". 2009-08-25. http://www.npoenergomash.ru/eng/about/news/news_94.html.
- ^ "S. Korea to launch first space rocket on Aug. 19". 2009-08-25. http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/techscience/2009/08/11/6/0601000000AEN20090811006200320F.HTML.
External links
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