TsAGI carried out a systematic analysis of various versions of the reusable rocket and space system (MRKS-1) commissioned by Roskosmos and FSUE TsNIIMash. MRKS-1 is a partially reusable vertical launch launch vehicle based on a reusable cruise first stage, made according to an airplane scheme and returned to the launch area for horizontal landing at a 1st class airfield, as well as disposable second stages and booster blocks. the first stage is equipped with reusable cruise liquid propellant rocket engines.
According to the press service of the institute, TsAGI specialists assessed the rational multiplicity of using the first stage of the MRKS-1, the options for demonstrators of recoverable missile units and the need for their implementation. The recoverable first stage of the MRKS-1 provides a high level of reliability and safety and makes it possible to abandon the allocation of areas where detachable parts fall, which will increase the efficiency of the implementation of promising commercial programs.
These advantages are extremely important for Russia - the only country in the world with a continental location of the existing and promising cosmodrome.
TsAGI believes that the developed projects of the MRKS-1 are a qualitatively new step in the field of creating promising reusable vehicles for launching into orbit. Such systems meet the level of development of rocket and space technology in the 21st century and have significantly higher economic efficiency.
The paper demonstrates an integrated approach to solving the problems of launching into orbit and returning the winged first stage to the launch point. The most rational option is recognized as the State Research and Production Space Center named after V. I. Khrunichev, which includes a family of reusable space rockets based on a modular principle and providing a wide range of payloads in low-earth orbit.
