NK-33

Last updated

NK-33
Aerojet AJ26 in the Stennis E-1 Test Stand - cropped.jpg
The Russian NK-33 was modified and renamed the AJ26-58 by Aerojet. This AJ26-58 is shown on the test stand at John C. Stennis Space Center.
Country of originSoviet Union
Date1970s
Designer Kuznetsov Design Bureau
Manufacturer JSC Kuznetsov (Mashinostroitel)
Application1st/2nd-stage engine
Associated LV
Predecessor NK-15, NK-15V
SuccessorAJ26-58, AJ26-59, AJ26-62
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant LOX / RP-1
Cycle Staged combustion
Pumps Turbopump
Performance
Thrust, vacuum1,680 kN (380,000 lbf)
Thrust, sea-level1,510 kN (340,000 lbf)
Throttle range50–105%
Thrust-to-weight ratio 137
Chamber pressure 14.83 MPa (2,151 psi)
Specific impulse, vacuum331 s (3.25 km/s)
Specific impulse, sea-level297 s (2.91 km/s)
Dimensions
Length3.7 m (12 ft)
Diameter2 m (6 ft 7 in)
Dry mass1,240 kg (2,730 lb)
References
References [1]

The NK-33 (GRAU index: 14D15) and its vacuum-optimized variant, the NK-43, are rocket engines developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau for the Soviet space program's ill-fated N1 Moon rocket. The NK-33 is among the most powerful LOX/RP-1 powered rocket engines ever built, noted for its high specific impulse and low structural mass.

Contents

The NK-33 was an improved version of the earlier NK-15 engine, which powered the original N1 launch vehicle. Key upgrades included simplified pneumatic and hydraulic systems, advanced controls, enhanced turbopumps, an improved combustion chamber, fewer interfaces employing pyrotechnic devices, and modified interfaces to facilitate replacement of parts during refurbishment.

Each N1F rocket would have utilized 30 NK-33 engines on its first stage and eight NK-43 engines on its second stage. Consequently, when the Soviet Union aborted its lunar landing effort in 1974, dozens already manufactured engines were left in storage. Decades later, they found new life powering the first stage of the American Antares 100 rocket and the Russian Soyuz-2.1v. Once the supply of NK-33 engines is exhausted, Russia plans to replace them with the newer RD-193 engine.

Design

Simplified diagram of the NK-33 engine Simplified diagram of NK33 rocket engine , Jan 2021 (English verson).png
Simplified diagram of the NK-33 engine

The NK-33 series engines are high-pressure, regeneratively cooled, oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle bipropellant rocket engines. Their turbopumps require subcooled liquid oxygen (LOX) to cool the bearings. [2] The NK-33's oxygen-rich closed-cycle design directs exhaust from the auxiliary engines into the main combustion chamber. In this configuration, fully heated liquid oxygen flows through the pre-burner before entering the main chamber. However, the extremely hot oxygen-rich mixture posed a significant engineering challenge. A key issue was the need for hot, high-pressure oxygen to flow throughout the engine, which would cause bare metal surfaces to oxidize rapidly. The Soviets overcame this by applying an inert enamel coating to all metal surfaces exposed to the hot oxygen. [3]

This technological complexity and the resources required to address it deterred American engineers from pursuing oxidizer-rich staged combustion until much later. [4] The United States did not explore oxygen-rich combustion technologies until the Integrated Powerhead Demonstrator project in the early 2000s. [5]

The NK-33 engine is renowned for its exceptional thrust-to-weight ratio, one of the highest among Earth-launchable rocket engines. It has been surpassed only in recent years by the RD-253 from NPO Energomash and the Merlin 1D and Raptor engines from SpaceX. The NK-43, a derivative optimized for upper-stage use, features a longer nozzle designed for operation in vacuum environments. This design increases its thrust and specific impulse but makes the engine longer and heavier, resulting in a thrust-to-weight ratio of approximately 120:1. [6] [7]

The NK-33 and NK-43 engines evolved from the earlier NK-15 and NK-15V engines, respectively, which powered the original N1 launch vehicle. Key upgrades included simplified pneumatic and hydraulic systems, advanced controls, enhanced turbopumps, an improved combustion chamber, fewer interfaces employing pyrotechnic devices, and modified interfaces to facilitate replacement of parts during refurbishment. [8]

The oxygen-rich combustion technology developed for the NK-15 and refined in the NK-33 laid the groundwork for many of the most successful rocket engines in Soviet and Russian history. These include the RD-170, RD-180 and RD-191. While these engines share the oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, they are not directly related to the NK-33.

History

N1

The N1 launcher originally utilized NK-15 engines for its first stage and a high-altitude variant, the NK-15V, for its second stage. The Soviets attempted to launch the N1 four times, but each attempt ended in failure, including one catastrophic explosion. By the time of the fourth failure, the Moon race was already lost. However, Soviet space program managers hoped a second-generation vehicle, dubbed the N1F, could support their ambitions to construct the proposed Zvezda Moon base. Kuznetsov refined his engine designs for the N1F, creating the improved NK-33 and NK-43 engines. [9]

Despite these advancements, other Soviet space leaders prioritized the Energia rocket as the nation's heavy launcher, and the N1 program was ultimately canceled before an N1F could reach the launch pad. [10] At the time of cancellation, two flight-ready N1Fs equipped with 30 NK-33 engines each in their Block A stages were complete. [11] [12]

When the N1 program was shut down, the Soviet government ordered all related materials and documentation to be destroyed to conceal the USSR's failed Moon program. Officially, the N1 project was dismissed as a mere "paper project" to mislead the United States into believing a Moon race was underway. This cover story persisted until the era of glasnost, when surviving hardware from the program was publicly displayed.

However, a bureaucratic decision spared the destruction of over 60 NK-33 engines, including those from the two completed Block A stages and additional spares. These engines were stored in a warehouse and largely forgotten until their existence became known to engineers in the United States nearly 30 years later. [10]

Sale of engines to Aerojet

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (left) and Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann view a test firing of the first Aerojet AJ26 engine. Test Firing the First Aerojet AJ26 Engine.jpg
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden (left) and Stennis Space Center Director Patrick Scheuermann view a test firing of the first Aerojet AJ26 engine.

About 60 engines survived in the "Forest of Engines", as described by engineers on a trip to the warehouse. In the mid-1990s, Russia sold 36 engines to Aerojet at a per engine cost of US$1,100,000(equivalent to $2,200,000 in 2023), shipping them to the company facility in Sacramento, California. [13] Aerojet conducted the first test fire of a NK-33 engine in nearly 30 years on a test stand in Sacramento, during the test, the engine hit its specifications. [10]

After the success of the test, Aerojet began updating and refurbishing the NK-33 engines they had purchased, and began marketing them to customers. They would rename their modified NK-33 engines the AJ26-58, AJ-26-59 and AJ26-62, and NK-43 engines the AJ26-60. [14] [15] [16] [17]

Kistler K-1

Rocketplane Kistler (RpK), designed their K-1 rocket around three NK-33s and a NK-43. On 18 August 2006, NASA announced that RpK had been chosen to develop Commercial Orbital Transportation Services for the International Space Station. The plan called for demonstration flights between 2008 and 2010. RpK would have received up to $207 million if they met all NASA milestones, [18] [19] [20] but on 7 September 2007, NASA issued a default letter, warning that it would terminate the COTS agreement with RpK because the company had not met several contract milestones. [21]

Antares

An Antares 100 rocket being rolled out for testing, showing the two NK-33 engines Antares rolls out - Oct 2012.jpg
An Antares 100 rocket being rolled out for testing, showing the two NK-33 engines

The initial version of the Orbital Sciences Antares light-to-medium-lift launcher had two modified NK-33 in the first stage, a solid Castor 30-based second stage and an optional solid or hypergolic third stage. [22] The NK-33s were imported from Russia to the United States, modified, and re-designated as Aerojet AJ26s. This involved removing some electrical harnessing, adding U.S. electronics, qualifying it for U.S. propellants, and modifying the steering system. [23]

In 2010 stockpiled NK-33 engines were successfully tested for use by the Orbital Sciences Antares light-to-medium-lift launcher. [23] The Antares rocket was successfully launched from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on 21 April 2013. This marked the first successful launch of the NK-33 heritage engines built in early 1970s. [24]

Aerojet agreed to recondition sufficient NK-33s to serve Orbital's 16-flight NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract. Beyond that, it had a stockpile of 23 1960s- and 1970s-era engines. Kuznetsov no longer manufactures the engines, so Orbital sought to buy RD-180 engines. Because NPO Energomash's contract with United Launch Alliance prevented this, Orbital sued ULA, alleging anti-trust violations. [25] Aerojet offered to work with Kuznetsov to restart production of new NK-33 engines, to assure Orbital of an ongoing supply. [26] However, manufacturing defects in the engine's liquid-oxygen turbopump and design flaws in the hydraulic balance assembly and thrust bearings were proposed as two possible causes of the 2014 Antares launch failure. [27] As announced on 5 November 2014, Orbital decided to drop the AJ-26 first stage from the Antares and source an alternative engine. On 17 December 2014, Orbital Sciences announced that it would use the NPO Energomash RD-181 on second-generation Antares launch vehicles and had contracted directly with NPO Energomash for up to 60 RD-181 engines. Two engines are used on the first stage of the Antares 100-series. [28]

Current uses

Soyuz-2.1v

A Soyuz-2.1v rocket being rolled out to the launch pad, showing its single NK-33 engine PlesetskRocketLaunch2019-02.jpg
A Soyuz-2.1v rocket being rolled out to the launch pad, showing its single NK-33 engine

In the early 2010s, the Soyuz launch vehicle family was retrofitted with the NK-33 engine. This upgrade leveraged the engine's lower weight and greater efficiency to enhance payload capacity, while its simpler design and the use of surplus hardware potentially reduced costs. [29] RKTs Progress integrated the NK-33 into the first stage of the small-lift Soyuz variant, the Soyuz-2.1v. [30] On the rocket, a single NK-33 engine replaced the Soyuz's central RD-108 engine, and the four boosters of the first stage were omitted.

The NK-33A, specifically modified for the Soyuz-2.1v, underwent a successful hot-fire test on 15 January 2013, [31] following a series of cold-fire and systems tests of the fully assembled rocket conducted in 2011 and 2012. The rocket completed its maiden flight on 28 December 2013.

Versions

During the years there have been many versions of this engine:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Energia (rocket)</span> Soviet launch vehicle

Energia was a 1980s super-heavy lift launch vehicle. It was designed by NPO Energia of the Soviet Union as part of the Buran program for a variety of payloads including the Buran spacecraft. Control system main developer enterprise was the Khartron NPO "Electropribor". The Energia used four strap-on boosters each powered by a four-chamber RD-170 engine burning kerosene/LOX, and a central core stage with four single-chamber RD-0120 (11D122) engines fueled by liquid hydrogen/LOX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz (rocket family)</span> Russian and Soviet rocket family

Soyuz is a family of Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicles initially developed by the OKB-1 design bureau and manufactured by the Progress Rocket Space Centre factory in Samara, Russia. It holds the record for the most launches in the history of spaceflight. Soyuz rockets are part of the R-7 rocket family, which evolved from the R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N1 (rocket)</span> Soviet super heavy-lift launch vehicle

The N1/L3 was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Moon and beyond, with studies beginning as early as 1959. Its first stage, Block A, was the most powerful rocket stage ever flown for over 50 years, with the record standing until Starship's first integrated flight test. However, each of the four attempts to launch an N1 failed in flight, with the second attempt resulting in the vehicle crashing back onto its launch pad shortly after liftoff. Adverse characteristics of the large cluster of thirty engines and its complex fuel and oxidizer feeder systems were not revealed earlier in development because static test firings had not been conducted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angara (rocket family)</span> Russian family of space launch vehicles

The Angara rocket family is a family of launch vehicles being developed by the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The launch vehicles are to put between 3,800 kg (8,400 lb) and 24,500 kg (54,000 lb) into low Earth orbit and are intended, along with Soyuz-2 variants, to replace several existing launch vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Staged combustion cycle</span> Rocket engine operation method

The staged combustion cycle is a power cycle of a bipropellant rocket engine. In the staged combustion cycle, propellant flows through multiple combustion chambers, and is thus combusted in stages. The main advantage relative to other rocket engine power cycles is high fuel efficiency, measured through specific impulse, while its main disadvantage is engineering complexity.

The Kuznetsov Design Bureau was a Russian design bureau for aircraft engines, administrated in Soviet times by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. It was also known as (G)NPO Trud and Kuybyshev Engine Design Bureau (KKBM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-180</span> Russian rocket engine

The RD-180 is a rocket engine that was designed and built in Russia. It features a dual combustion chamber, dual-nozzle design and is fueled by a RP-1/LOX mixture. The RD-180 is derived from the RD-170 line of rocket engines, which were used in the Soviet Energia launch vehicle. The engine was developed for use on the US Atlas III and Atlas V launch vehicles and first flew in 2000. It was never used on any other rocket. The engine has flown successfully on all six Atlas III flights and on 99 Atlas V flights, with just a single non-critical failure in March 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-170</span> Soviet (now Russian) rocket engine, the most powerful in the world

The RD-170 is the world's most powerful and heaviest liquid-fuel rocket engine. It was designed and produced in the Soviet Union by NPO Energomash for use with the Energia launch vehicle. The engine burns kerosene fuel and LOX oxidizer in four combustion chambers, all supplied by one single-shaft, single-turbine turbopump rated at 170 MW (230,000 hp) in a staged combustion cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-107</span> Russian rocket engine

The RD-107 and its sibling, 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 and either two (RD-107) or four (RD-108) vernier chambers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antares (rocket)</span> Medium-lift expendable rocket by Northrop Grumman

Antares, known during early development as Taurus II, is an American expendable medium-lift launch vehicle developed and built by Orbital Sciences Corporation with financial support from NASA under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program awarded in February 2008, alongside the company's automated cargo spacecraft, Cygnus. Like other launch vehicles developed by Orbital, Antares leveraged lower-cost, off-the-shelf parts and designs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JSC Kuznetsov</span> Subsidiary of United Engine Corporation

JSC Kuznetsov is one of the leading Russian producers of aircraft engines, liquid-propellant rocket engines as well as aeroderivative gas turbines and modular stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-191</span> Russian rocket engine

The RD-191 is a high-performance single-combustion chamber rocket engine, developed in Russia and sold by Roscosmos. It is derived from the RD-180 dual-combustion chamber engine, which itself was derived in turn from the four-chamber RD-170 originally used in the Energia launcher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-0124</span> Russian rocket engine

The RD-0124 is a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene in an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, developed by the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau in Voronezh. RD-0124 engines are used on the Block I stage used on Soyuz 2.1b and Soyuz 2.1v. A variant of the engine, the RD-0124A, is used on the Angara rocket family's URM-2 upper stage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz 2.1v</span> Russian expendable carrier rocket

The Soyuz‑2.1v known early in development as the Soyuz‑1, is a expendable Russian small-lift launch vehicle. It is derivative of the Soyuz‑2 but utilizing a single core stage built around the powerful NK-33 engine, 50-year-old refurbished remnants from the Soviet N1 moon rocket. It is a member of the R-7 family of rockets built by RKTs Progress in Samara. Launches have been conducted from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest Russia, and are expected to be conducted in the future from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia, and the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-253</span> Soviet engine design used on the first stage of Proton rockets

The RD-253 (Russian: Ракетный Двигатель-253 (РД-253), romanized: Raketnyy Dvigatel-253, lit. 'Rocket Engine-253') and its later variants, the RD-275 and RD-275M, are liquid-propellant rocket engines developed in the Soviet Union by Energomash. The engines are used on the first stage of the Proton launch vehicle and use an oxidizer-rich staged combustion cycle to power the turbopumps. The engine burns UDMH/N2O4, which are highly toxic but hypergolic and storable at room temperature, simplifying the engine's design.

The RD-120 is a liquid upper stage rocket engine burning RG-1 and LOX in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle with an O/F ratio of 2.6. It is used in the second stage of the Zenit family of launch vehicles. It has a single, fixed combustion chamber and thus on the Zenit it is paired with the RD-8 vernier engine. The engine was developed from 1976 to 1985 by NPO Energomash with V.P. Radovsky leading the development. It is manufactured by, among others, Yuzhmash in Ukraine.

The NK-15 was a rocket engine designed and built in the late 1960s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. The NK designation was derived from the initials of chief designer Nikolay Kuznetsov. The NK-15 was among the most powerful LOX/kerosene rocket engines when it was built, with a high specific impulse and low structural mass. It was intended for the ill-fated Soviet N-1 Moon rocket.

The RD-193 is a high performance single-combustion chamber rocket engine, developed in Russia from 2011 to 2013. It is derived from the RD-170 originally used in the Energia launcher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cygnus Orb-3</span> Failed late 2014 cargo mission to the ISS

Orbital-3, also known as Orb-3, was an attempted flight of Cygnus, an automated cargo spacecraft developed by United States–based company Orbital Sciences, on 28 October 2014. The mission was intended to launch at 22:22:38 UTC that evening. This flight, which would have been its fourth to the International Space Station and the fifth of an Antares launch vehicle, resulted in the Antares rocket exploding seconds after liftoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-0110R</span>

The RD-0110R is a rocket engine burning kerosene in liquid oxygen in a gas generator combustion cycle. It has four nozzles that can gimbal up to 45 degrees in a single axis and is used as the vernier thruster on the Soyuz-2-1v first stage. It also has heat exchangers that heat oxygen and helium to pressurize the LOX and RG-1 tanks of the Soyuz-2.1v first stage, respectively. The oxygen is supplied from the same LOX tank in liquid form, while the helium is supplied from separate high pressure bottles.

References

  1. ↑ "LRE NC-33 (11D111) and NC-43 (11D112)" (in Russian). Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  2. ↑ "Orbital ATK ready for Antares' second life". NASASpaceflight. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Reusable Booster System: Review and Assessment. National Academic Press. January 2013. p. 29. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  4. ↑ Cosmodrome History Channel, interviews with Aerojet and Kuznetsov engineers about the history of staged combustion
  5. ↑ U.S. Air Force-NASA Technology Demonstrator Engine for Future Launch Vehicles Successfully Fired During Initial Full Duration Test.
  6. ↑ Astronautix NK-43 entry Archived 28 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "NK-33 and NK-43 Rocket Engines". 20 July 2016.
  8. ↑ Zak, Anatoly. "NK-33 (14D15) rocket engine". RussianSpaceWeb.com. Retrieved 7 December 2024.
  9. ↑ Lindroos, Marcus. The Soviet Manned Lunar Program Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Accessed: 4 October 2011.
  10. 1 2 3 Clifton, Dan (1 March 2001). "The Engines That Came in from the Cold". Channel 4. London. Ideal World Productions. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  11. ↑ Wade, Mark. "N1 (rocket)". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 7 February 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  12. ↑ Avilla, Aeryn (21 February 2020). "N1: The Rise and Fall of the USSR's Moon Rocket". Spaceflight Histories. Archived from the original on 23 February 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  13. ↑ "Space Propulsion | Development of U.S. Closed-loop Kerolox Engine Stuck in 2nd Gear – SpaceNews.com". 12 July 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Space Lift Propulsion". Aerojet. April 2011. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011.
  15. ↑ Clark, Stephen (19 December 2010). "Taurus 2 main engine passes gimbal steering test". Spaceflight Now. Tonbridge, Kent, UK. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  16. ↑ "NK-33". Mark Wade (Encyclopedia Astronautica). Archived from the original on 25 June 2002. Retrieved 25 March 2006.
  17. ↑ "MODIFICATION AND VERIFICATION TESTING OF A RUSSIAN NK-33 ROCKET ENGINE FOR REUSABLE AND RESTARTABLE APPLICATIONS" (PDF). Aerojet and N.D. Kuznetsov SSTC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 March 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  18. ↑ "NASA selects crew, cargo launch partners". Spaceflight Now. 18 August 2006.
  19. ↑ "NASA Selects Crew and Cargo Transportation to Orbit Partners". SpaceRef. 18 August 2006. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012.
  20. ↑ Alan Boyle (18 August 2006). "SpaceX, Rocketplane win spaceship contest". NBC News. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013.
  21. ↑ "RpK's COTS Contract Terminated" (Press release). Aviation Week. 10 September 2007. Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  22. ↑ "Antares" (PDF). Orbital.
  23. 1 2 Clark, Stephen (15 March 2010). "Aerojet confirms Russian engine is ready for duty". Spaceflight Now. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  24. ↑ Bill Chappell (21 April 2013). "Antares Rocket Launch Is A Success, In Test Of Orbital Supply Vehicle". NPR.
  25. ↑ Dan Leone (24 June 2013). "Orbital Sues ULA, Seeks RD-180 Engines, $515 Million in Damages". Space News. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013.
  26. ↑ Amy Butler (24 June 2013). "Orbital Frustrated By Lack Of Antares Engine Options". Aviation Week and Space Technology. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  27. ↑ Clark, Stephen (1 November 2015). "Two Antares failure probes produce different results". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  28. ↑ Morring, Frank Jr. (16 December 2014). "Antares Upgrade Will Use RD-181s In Direct Buy From Energomash". Aviation Week. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  29. ↑ "The Soyuz 1 (Soyuz 2-1v) Rocket". Russian Space Web. November 2010.
  30. ↑ Zak, Anatoly. "The Soyuz-1 rocket". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  31. ↑ "NK-33 Engine Test Successful" (in Russian). Samara Today. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.