RD-253
Encyclopedia
RD-253 - liquid-fuel rocket engine
developed by Energomash
, Russia
. It is used on first stages of the Proton rocket. The RD-253 is the first non-cryogenic
engine in the world that uses staged combustion
afterburning of oxidizer-rich hot turbine
gas. This bipropellant engine is designed to use the toxic propellant combination of UDMH/N2O4
which causes ecological and financial problems during exploitation. But application of high-boiling
hypergolic propellant makes RD-253 more simple, safe and cheap, outweighing the negative aspects of its design.
and finished in 1963. The RD-253 uses a staged combustion
cycle for oxidizer-rich generator gas. It was used for the first time in July 1965 year when six engines powered the first stage of the rocket. Development and production of RD-253 was a qualitative leap forward for rocketry of that time by achieving high levels of thrust
, specific impulse
and pressure in the combustion chamber
. This engine is used to be one of the most reliable engines in the USSR and modern Russia
.
As every first stage of Proton rockets uses six RD-253 engines it was a pivotal part in every Russia
n space missions when this rocket was chosen as carrier, including the following programs: "Luna"
, "Venera
", "Mars probe"
, manned orbital stations "Salyut", "Mir
" and it supplied several principal modules for ISS
. It is used widely also for heavy satellites launches.
Since the original development of the engine, several modifications were designed that weren't used in rockets. One of them was the RD-256 engine for which development stopped on experimental models. It wasn't used in flights and was designed for a cancelled vehicle. The modification marked RD-254 was supplied with extended nozzle for work in vacuum.
which produces it in Perm
, Russia
.
The modification RD-275 (14D14) appeared as the result of development in 1987-1993 years with the purpose to achieve a more powerful version of the engine. Its 7.7% higher thrust was reached by raising pressure in combustion chamber
and enabled to raise payload mass to geostationary orbit (GEO)
up to more than 600 kg (1,322.8 lb). The successful maiden flight of a Proton rocket with the new engine was completed in 1995.
Energomash
started the development of next more powerful version of engine in 2001. It will have 5.2% higher thrust and has the designation 14D14M (RD-275M). It is designed to allow the rocket to deliver 150 kg (330.7 lb) more payload to GEO
.
In the period from 2002 to 2003 years some experimental work was completed with this version of the engine. It included four test firings of three experimental RD-275Ms with a total time of 735 s
. In the middle of 2005 this engine went into production by government commission.
As a final note, it is to be mentioned that the final version RD-275M is sometimes designated as RD-276 but to date 2009 the name RD-275M (14D14M) has been more common. Also some sources points out the cost of production per engine as much as 1.5 mil.USD and sometimes calls some lower figures around 1 mil.USD per unit.
Rocket engine
A rocket engine, or simply "rocket", is a jet engineRocket Propulsion Elements; 7th edition- chapter 1 that uses only propellant mass for forming its high speed propulsive jet. Rocket engines are reaction engines and obtain thrust in accordance with Newton's third law...
developed by Energomash
NPO Energomash
NPO Energomash “V. P. Glushko” is a Russian manufacturer originated from design bureau, which focuses primarily on the development and production of liquid propellant rocket engines. NPO Energomash is based in Moscow, with satellite facilities in Samara, Perm, and St. Petersburg, and employs close...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It is used on first stages of the Proton rocket. The RD-253 is the first non-cryogenic
Cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
engine in the world that uses staged combustion
Staged combustion cycle (rocket)
The staged combustion cycle, also called topping cycle or pre-burner cycle, is a thermodynamic cycle of bipropellant rocket engines. Some of the propellant is burned in a pre-burner and the resulting hot gas is used to power the engine's turbines and pumps...
afterburning of oxidizer-rich hot turbine
Turbine
A turbine is a rotary engine that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work.The simplest turbines have one moving part, a rotor assembly, which is a shaft or drum with blades attached. Moving fluid acts on the blades, or the blades react to the flow, so that they move and...
gas. This bipropellant engine is designed to use the toxic propellant combination of UDMH/N2O4
Dinitrogen tetroxide
Dinitrogen tetroxide is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium mixture with nitrogen dioxide; some call this mixture dinitrogen tetroxide, while some call it nitrogen dioxide.Dinitrogen tetroxide is a powerful oxidizer, making it highly...
which causes ecological and financial problems during exploitation. But application of high-boiling
Boiling point
The boiling point of an element or a substance is the temperature at which the vapor pressure of the liquid equals the environmental pressure surrounding the liquid....
hypergolic propellant makes RD-253 more simple, safe and cheap, outweighing the negative aspects of its design.
History
Development of RD-253 started in 1961. Preliminary investigations and development of the engine as well as its further production was performed under the guidance of Valentin GlushkoValentin Glushko
Valentin Petrovich Glushko or Valentyn Petrovych Hlushko was a Soviet engineer, and the principal Soviet designer of rocket engines during the Soviet/American Space Race.-Biography:...
and finished in 1963. The RD-253 uses a staged combustion
Staged combustion cycle (rocket)
The staged combustion cycle, also called topping cycle or pre-burner cycle, is a thermodynamic cycle of bipropellant rocket engines. Some of the propellant is burned in a pre-burner and the resulting hot gas is used to power the engine's turbines and pumps...
cycle for oxidizer-rich generator gas. It was used for the first time in July 1965 year when six engines powered the first stage of the rocket. Development and production of RD-253 was a qualitative leap forward for rocketry of that time by achieving high levels of thrust
Thrust
Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's second and third laws. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction on that system....
, specific impulse
Specific impulse
Specific impulse is a way to describe the efficiency of rocket and jet engines. It represents the derivative of the impulse with respect to amount of propellant used, i.e., the thrust divided by the amount of propellant used per unit time. If the "amount" of propellant is given in terms of mass ,...
and pressure in the combustion chamber
Combustion chamber
A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...
. This engine is used to be one of the most reliable engines in the USSR and modern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
As every first stage of Proton rockets uses six RD-253 engines it was a pivotal part in every Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n space missions when this rocket was chosen as carrier, including the following programs: "Luna"
Luna programme
The Luna programme , occasionally called Lunik or Lunnik, was a series of robotic spacecraft missions sent to the Moon by the Soviet Union between 1959 and 1976. Fifteen were successful, each designed as either an orbiter or lander, and accomplished many firsts in space exploration...
, "Venera
Venera
The Venera series probes were developed by the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1984 to gather data from Venus, Venera being the Russian name for Venus...
", "Mars probe"
Mars probe program
The Mars program was a series of unmanned spacecraft launched by the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1973. The spacecraft were intended to explore Mars, and included flyby probes, landers and orbiters....
, manned orbital stations "Salyut", "Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
" and it supplied several principal modules for ISS
ISS
The ISS is the International Space Station.ISS may also refer to:* I See Stars, an American electronic rock band* ISS A/S, a Danish service company* Idea Star Singer, a Malayalam music reality show by Asianet TV...
. It is used widely also for heavy satellites launches.
Since the original development of the engine, several modifications were designed that weren't used in rockets. One of them was the RD-256 engine for which development stopped on experimental models. It wasn't used in flights and was designed for a cancelled vehicle. The modification marked RD-254 was supplied with extended nozzle for work in vacuum.
Current state and development
All rights to sell and employ the RD-253 for Proton rocket are held by EnergomashNPO Energomash
NPO Energomash “V. P. Glushko” is a Russian manufacturer originated from design bureau, which focuses primarily on the development and production of liquid propellant rocket engines. NPO Energomash is based in Moscow, with satellite facilities in Samara, Perm, and St. Petersburg, and employs close...
which produces it in Perm
Perm
Perm is a city and the administrative center of Perm Krai, Russia, located on the banks of the Kama River, in the European part of Russia near the Ural Mountains. From 1940 to 1957 it was named Molotov ....
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
The modification RD-275 (14D14) appeared as the result of development in 1987-1993 years with the purpose to achieve a more powerful version of the engine. Its 7.7% higher thrust was reached by raising pressure in combustion chamber
Combustion chamber
A combustion chamber is the part of an engine in which fuel is burned.-Internal combustion engine:The hot gases produced by the combustion occupy a far greater volume than the original fuel, thus creating an increase in pressure within the limited volume of the chamber...
and enabled to raise payload mass to geostationary orbit (GEO)
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
up to more than 600 kg (1,322.8 lb). The successful maiden flight of a Proton rocket with the new engine was completed in 1995.
Energomash
NPO Energomash
NPO Energomash “V. P. Glushko” is a Russian manufacturer originated from design bureau, which focuses primarily on the development and production of liquid propellant rocket engines. NPO Energomash is based in Moscow, with satellite facilities in Samara, Perm, and St. Petersburg, and employs close...
started the development of next more powerful version of engine in 2001. It will have 5.2% higher thrust and has the designation 14D14M (RD-275M). It is designed to allow the rocket to deliver 150 kg (330.7 lb) more payload to GEO
Geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit is a geosynchronous orbit directly above the Earth's equator , with a period equal to the Earth's rotational period and an orbital eccentricity of approximately zero. An object in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, at a fixed position in the sky, to ground observers...
.
In the period from 2002 to 2003 years some experimental work was completed with this version of the engine. It included four test firings of three experimental RD-275Ms with a total time of 735 s
Second
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
. In the middle of 2005 this engine went into production by government commission.
As a final note, it is to be mentioned that the final version RD-275M is sometimes designated as RD-276 but to date 2009 the name RD-275M (14D14M) has been more common. Also some sources points out the cost of production per engine as much as 1.5 mil.USD and sometimes calls some lower figures around 1 mil.USD per unit.