Proton-K

Last updated

Due to its rushed development, the Proton K launch vehicle had a low success rate initially. However, the issues were rectified and it went on to become one of the most widely used heavy launch vehicle.

Launch failures

Proton Zvezda crop.jpg
Launch of a Proton-K carrying the Zvezda module of the International Space Station
Function Heavy-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer Khrunichev
Country of originUSSR
Russia
Size
Height50 metres (160 ft)
Diameter7.4 metres (24 ft)
Stages3 or 4
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass19,760 kg (43,560 lb)
Record: 22,776 kg (50,212 lb) with Zvezda [1]
Associated rockets
Family Universal Rocket
Derivative work Proton-M
Launch history
StatusRetired
Launch sites Baikonur Sites 81 & 200
Total launches310
Success(es)275 (89%)
Failure(s)24
Partial failure(s)11
First flight10 March 1967 [2]
Last flight30 March 2012
First stage
Height21.2 metres (70 ft)
Diameter7.4 metres (24 ft)
Empty mass31,100 kilograms (68,600 lb)
Gross mass450,510 kilograms (993,200 lb)
Powered by6 RD-253-14D48
Maximum thrust10,470 kilonewtons (2,350,000 lbf)
Specific impulse 316 sec
Burn time124 seconds
Propellant N2O4/UDMH
Source [4]
Flight numberDate (UMC)Vehicle modelPayloadPayload mass, kgOrbit (intended)Orbit (actual)Notes
7September 27, 1967Proton K/DZond5375Moon?One first-stage engine did not start at liftoff due to a rubber plug accidentally left inside during assembly, causing control to gradually fail during ascent. The cutoff command was issued at T+97 seconds and the booster crashed downrange, but the Launch Escape System (LES) pulled the Zond descent module to safety.
8November 22, 1967Proton K/DZond5375MoonnoOne second-stage engine failed to ignite at staging. The remaining three engines were shut down automatically and the booster crashed downrange. Once again, the LES pulled the capsule away to safety. Cause was determined to be premature release of fuel into the second stage, resulting in overheating and engine failure.
10April 22, 1968Proton K/DZond5375Moon?A malfunction in the LES accidentally shut down the second stage at T+260 seconds and triggered an abort. The capsule was successfully recovered.
14January 20, 1969Proton K/DZond5375MoonnoSecond stage turbopump failure at T+313 seconds. The LES once again lifted the Zond capsule to safety.
15February 19, 1969Proton K/DLuna probe2718MoonnoPayload fairing collapsed at T+51 seconds. Flying debris ruptured the first stage and caused leaking propellant to ignite on contact with the engine exhaust, resulting in the explosion of the launch vehicle.
16March 27, 1969Proton K/DMars probe4650 Heliocentric ?Third stage turbopump failure at T+438 seconds. The upper stages and payload crashed in the Altai mountains.
17April 2, 1969Proton K/DMars probe4650 Heliocentric ?A fire in one of the first stage engines caused an almost immediate control loss at liftoff. The booster reached an altitude of 300m and began flying horizontally before the cutoff command was issued, causing it to plunge nose-first into the ground. Launch complex personnel were unable to leave the Baikonour Cosmodrome due to one exit being blocked by the still-intact second stage and the other by a large puddle of nitrogen tetroxide. They had no choice but to remain there until a rain came and washed the spilled fuel away.
18June 14, 1969Proton K/DLuna probe2718Moon?Blok D stage failed to ignite and the probe reentered the atmosphere
18September 23, 1969Proton K/DLuna probe ?Moon?Blok D LOX valve failure. The probe remained in LEO until reentering.
18October 22, 1969Proton K/DLuna probe ?Moon?Blok D control malfunction. Probe failed to leave LEO.
23November 28, 1969Proton K/DSoyuz ? ??Pressure sensor malfunction caused first stage cutoff at T+128 seconds
24February 6, 1970Proton K/DLuna5600MoonnoAt T+128.3 s, flight safety system automatically shut off first-stage engine because of false alarm from pressure gauge.
30May 10, 1971Proton K/D Kosmos 419 4650 Heliocentric LEO Block D flight sequencer programmed incorrectly, resulting in failure to perform second burn or payload separation. Reportedly the coast time between burns was set to 1.5 years instead of 1.5 hours.
36July 29, 1972Proton K DOS-2 18000 LEO noAt T+181.9 d second-stage stabilization system failed because of short circuit in pitch and yaw channels of the automated stabilization system.
53October 16, 1975Proton K/DLuna ?Moon LEO Failure of fourth-stage oxidizer booster pump.
62August 4, 1977Proton KAlmaz ? LEO noAt T+41.1 s, a first-stage engine steering unit failed, causing loss of stability and automatic thrust termination at T+53.7 s.
66May 27, 1978Proton K/DMEkran1970 GEO noVehicle stability loss at T+87 s because of an error in first-stage No. 2 engine steering unit. Fault attributed to fuel leak in second-stage engine compartment, which caused control cables to overheat.
68August 17, 1978Proton K/DMEkran1970 GEO noLoss of stability at T+259.1 s caused flight termination. Hot gas leak from second-stage engine because of faulty seal on pressure gauge led to failure of electrical unit for automatic stabilization.
71October 17, 1978Proton K/DMEkran1970 GEO noAt T+235.62 s, second-stage engine shut off with resultant loss of stability caused by a turbine part igniting in turbopump gas tract followed by gas inlet destruction and hot air ejection into second rear section.
72December 19, 1978Proton K/DMGorizont 11970 GEO GEO, inclination 11.0Block DM was misaligned for GEO injection burn, resulting in non-circular orbit with 11 deg. inclination
95July 22, 1982Proton K/DMEkran1970 GEO noFirst-stage engine No. 5 suffered failure of hydraulic gimbal actuator because of dynamic excitation at T+45 seconds. Automatic flight shutdown commanded. This would be the last first-stage malfunction of a Proton until 2013.
100December 24, 1982Proton K/DMRaduga1965 GEO noSecond-stage failure T+230 seconds due to high-frequency vibration.
144November 29, 1986Proton KRaduga1965noSecond stage control failure due to an electrical relay becoming separated from vibration
145January 30, 1987Proton K/DM-2 Kosmos-1817 1965incorrect LEO Fourth stage failed to start because of control system component failure.
148April 24, 1987Proton K/DM-2Kosmos 1838-1840 (Glonass)3x1260 MEO LEO Fourth stage shut down early and failed to restart. Failure occurred in control system because of manufacturing defect in instrument.
158January 18, 1988Proton K/DM-2Gorizont2500 GEO noThird-stage engine failure caused by destruction of fuel line leading to mixer.
159February 17, 1988Proton K/DM-2Kosmos 1917-1919 (Glonass)3x1260 MEO, inclination 64.8noFourth-stage engine failure because of high combustion chamber temperatures caused by foreign particles from propellant tank.
187August 9, 1990Proton K/DM-2Ekran M ? GEO noSecond-stage engine shutoff because of termination of oxidizer supply due to fuel line being clogged by a wiping rag.
212May 27, 1993Proton K/DM-2Gorizont2500 GEO noSecond- and third-stage engines suffered multiple burn-throughs of combustion chambers because of propellant contamination.
237February 19, 1996Proton K/DM-2Raduga 331965 GTO noBlock DM-2 stage failed at ignition for second burn. Suspected causes were failure of a tube joint, which could cause a propellant leak, or possible contamination of hypergolic start system.
243November 16, 1996Proton K/D-2 Mars 96 6825 Heliocentric too low LEO Block D-2 fourth-stage engine failed to reignite to boost spacecraft into desired transfer orbit; injection burn did not propel spacecraft out of Earth orbit. Spacecraft and upper stage reentered after a few hours. Root cause could not be determined because of lack of telemetry coverage, but suspected cause was failure of Mars 96 spacecraft, which was controlling Block D stage, or poor integration between spacecraft and stage.
252December 24, 1997Proton K/DM3 PAS-22 3410 GTO inclined GTO Block DM shut down early because of improperly coated turbopump seal, leaving spacecraft in high-inclination geosynchronous transfer orbit. Customer declared spacecraft a total loss and collected insurance payment. However, Hughes salvaged the spacecraft using spacecraft thrusters to raise orbit apogee to perform two lunar swingbys, which lowered inclination and raised perigee. Apogee was then lowered to achieve a geosynchronous orbit inclined 8 deg. Spacecraft has become available for limited use.
265July 5, 1999Proton K/Briz-MRaduga 1-51965 GTO noMaiden flight of Briz-M upper stage. Contaminants from welding defect in the turbopump caused the second-stage engine No. 3 to catch fire, destroying the rear section of the stage.
268October 27, 1999Proton K/DM-2Ekspress 1A2600 GEO noParticulate contamination caused the turbine exhaust duct of second stage engine No. 1 to catch fire at T+223 s, resulting in rapid shutdown of the stage. This and the previous failure in July were attributed to poor workmanship at the Voronezh engine plant. Both engines were part of the same batch built in 1993, during a period when production decreased significantly.
295November 26, 2002Proton K/DM3Astra 1K2250 GTO noA failed valve caused excess fuel to collect in the Block DM main engine during the parking orbit coast phase after the first burn. The engine was destroyed.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton (rocket family)</span> Soviet designed rocket family

Proton is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use as of 2023, making it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight. The components of all Protons are manufactured in the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center factory in Moscow and Chemical Automatics Design Bureau in Voronezh, then transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, where they are assembled at Site 91 to form the launch vehicle. Following payload integration, the rocket is then brought to the launch pad horizontally by rail, and raised into vertical position for launch.

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

Soyuz is a family of expendable Russian and Soviet carrier rockets developed by OKB-1 and manufactured by Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. The Soyuz is the rocket with the most launches in the history of spaceflight.

Zond was the name given to two distinct series of Soviet robotic spacecraft launched between 1964 and 1970. The first series, based on the 3MV planetary probe, was intended to gather information about nearby planets.

<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.

The Soviet crewed lunar programs were a series of programs pursued by the Soviet Union to land humans on the Moon, in competition with the United States Apollo program. The Soviet government publicly denied participating in such a competition, but secretly pursued two programs in the 1960s: crewed lunar flyby missions using Soyuz 7K-L1 (Zond) spacecraft launched with the Proton-K rocket, and a crewed lunar landing using Soyuz 7K-LOK and LK spacecraft launched with the N1 rocket. Following the dual American successes of the first crewed lunar orbit on 24–25 December 1968 and the first Moon landing on July 20, 1969, and a series of catastrophic N1 failures, both Soviet programs were eventually brought to an end. The Proton-based Zond program was canceled in 1970, and the N1-L3 program was de facto terminated in 1974 and officially canceled in 1976. Details of both Soviet programs were kept secret until 1990 when the government allowed them to be published under the policy of glasnost.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blok D</span> Rocket stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems

Blok D is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems, including the N1, Proton-K and Zenit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center</span> Russian aerospace manufacturer

The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is a Moscow-based manufacturer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets, and the Russian modules of Mir and the International Space Station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briz (rocket stage)</span> Russian rocket upper stages family

The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used on the Proton-M and Angara A5. The upper stages were also used on Rokot, one of Russia's smaller launchers, before its retirement in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz 7K-L1</span>

Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" spacecraft was designed to launch cosmonauts from the Earth to circle the Moon without going into lunar orbit in the context of the Soviet crewed Moon-flyby program in the Moon race. It was based on the Soyuz 7K-OK. Several modifications reduced vehicle mass and increased circumlunar capability. The most notable modifications were the replacement of the orbital module with a support cone and a high-gain parabolic antenna, the removal of a reserve parachute, and the addition of the gyro platform and star navigation sensors for the far space navigation. The spacecraft was capable of carrying two cosmonauts. At the start of flight testing, there were serious reliability problems with the new Proton rocket, the 7K-L1, and the Soyuz 7K-OK that the L1 was based on.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz 7K-L1 No.5L</span> Failed 1967 Soviet test spaceflight

Soyuz 7K-L1 No.5L, sometimes identified by NASA as Zond 1967B, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched in 1967 as part of the Zond programme. It was a 5,390-kilogram (11,880 lb) Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft, the second of nine to be launched. It was intended to perform a circumlunar flyby of the Moon before returning to the Earth for landing, but failed to achieve Earth orbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz 7K-L1 No.4L</span> Failed 1967 Soviet test spaceflight

Soyuz 7K-L1 No.4L, sometimes identified by NASA as Zond 1967A, was a Soviet spacecraft which was launched in 1967 as part of the Zond programme. It was a 5,390-kilogram (11,880 lb) Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft, the first of nine to be launched. Although it was intended to perform a circumlunar flyby of the Moon before returning to the Earth for landing, it failed to achieve Earth orbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proton-M</span> Russian heavy lift launcher which uses hypergolic fuel

The Proton-M, (Протон-М) GRAU index 8K82M or 8K82KM, is an expendable Russian heavy-lift launch vehicle derived from the Soviet-developed Proton. It is built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Commercial launches are marketed by International Launch Services (ILS), and generally use Site 200/39. The first Proton-M launch occurred on 7 April 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical Automatics Design Bureau</span> Russian rocket engine manufacturer

Chemical Automatics Design Bureau (CADB), also KB Khimavtomatika, is a Russian design bureau founded by the NKAP in 1941 and led by Semyon Kosberg until his death in 1965. Its origin dates back to a 1940 Moscow carburetor factory, evacuated to Berdsk in 1941, and then relocated to Voronezh city in 1945, where it now operates. Originally designated OKB-296 and tasked to develop fuel equipment for aviation engines, it was redesignated OKB-154 in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space industry of Russia</span> Overview of the space industry of Russia

Russia's space industry comprises more than 100 companies and employs 250,000 people. Most of the companies are descendants of Soviet design bureaux and state production companies. The industry entered a deep crisis following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, with its fullest effect occurring in the last years of the 1990s. Funding of the space program declined by 80% and the industry lost a large part of its work force before recovery began in the early 2000s. Many companies survived by creating joint-ventures with foreign firms and marketing their products abroad.

The Blok DM-03, GRAU index 11S861-03, is a Russian upper stage used as an optional fourth stage on the Proton-M and Angara A5 heavy-lift rockets. Three have been launched, the first in December 2010; the first two launches failed before fourth stage ignition, the first as a result of a problem with the Blok DM's fuel load. Some versions are also known as Orion.

The RD-0214 (GRAU Index: 8D811) is a rocket vernier engine burning N2O4 and UDMH in a gas generator cycle. It has four nozzles that can each gimbal 45 in plane to provide TVC to the RD-0212 propulsion module of Proton third stage. It is a revised version of the RD-0207.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RD-0210</span>

The RD-0210 (GRAU Index: 8D411K) is also known as the RD-465. It and its twin, the RD-0211, are rocket engines burning N2O4 and UDMH in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle. They have single nozzle, possess TVC and are the latest evolution in the RD-0203/4 lineage. They are the engines used on the Proton second stage. The RD-0213 is a fixed nozzle variation that is used on the RD-0212 module of the Proton third stage.

Zond program was a Soviet robotic spacecraft program launched between 1964 and 1970, using two spacecraft series, one for interplanetary exploration, and the other for lunar exploration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soyuz 7K-L1E</span>

Soyuz 7K-L1E was a Soviet uncrewed modified Soyuz 7K-L1 spacecraft. Also called a dummy Soyuz 7K-LOK. Two were built, one Soyuz 7K-L1E was successfully launched into Low Earth Orbit on Proton rocket and is known as Kosmos 382. The other Soyuz 7K-L1E was placed on a N1 rocket, which failed at launch. The Soyuz spacecraft was first used in 1967 as the main crewed spacecraft and is still in use. Many Soyuz variations have been built and the Soyuz 7K-L1E was an uncrewed variation.

References

  1. "Zvezda Service Module". Khrunichev . Retrieved June 11, 2017.
  2. McDowell, Jonathan. "Proton". Orbital and Suborbital Launch Database. Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 2004-09-05. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
  3. Krebs, Gunter. "Proton". Gunter's Space Page.
  4. International reference guide to space launch systems, Fourth Edition, pp. 308-314, ISBN   1-56347-591-X