In Russia, work is underway to develop new methane engines, which are intended for super-heavy launch vehicles. Oleg Ostapenko, who holds the post of head of Roscosmos, told reporters about this. He made this statement, speaking at the Tavricheskiy National University. Vernadsky. At the same time, he noted that US sanctions will not affect the implementation of Russian space projects and programs. Noting that Roskosmos is ready to cope with these problems, and the country has a very large potential for space exploration without foreign partners. According to the plans of Roscosmos, the new super-heavy rocket, which is to be created in our country, will have to launch up to 190 tons of payload into space.
Oleg Ostapenko recalled that work is already underway in Russia to develop new heavy and super-heavy missiles. According to him, at the first stage of the implementation of this program, Roskosmos hopes to get a rocket that will be able to launch 80 to 85 tons of payload into space. According to Ostapenko, at the first stage, the task is not set to create a launch vehicle with a carrying capacity of 120 tons, since there are simply no targets for such missiles yet. At the same time, a rocket with a carrying capacity of 85 tons is still quite enough for the Russian lunar program.
At the same time, the head of Roscosmos noted that in the future the super-heavy rocket will be continuously modernized "by replacing control systems, engines, etc." According to him, at the first stage, the engines of the launch vehicle will operate on kerosene, oxygen and hydrogen, but in the future it is planned to switch to methane engines, which have yet to be developed. The use of such engines should allow launching up to 190 tons of payload into orbit. At the same time, Oleg Ostapenko informed the journalists that a launch complex for launching new Russian missiles would have to appear at the Vostochny cosmodrome, which is currently under construction.
According to the official site of the cosmodrome and stories on Russian television, the construction of the cosmodrome in the Far East is proceeding at a record pace. This means that the future main Russian cosmodrome, which is being built in the Amur Region near the village of Uglegorsk, will be ready in 2015. The total area of the reserved territory of "Vostochny" is 1035 sq. kilometers. At the same time, the first launch of the launch vehicle from the new cosmodrome should take place at the end of 2015, and the first launch into space of a manned spacecraft in 2018.
Earlier, Oleg Ostapenko, as part of a press conference held at ITAR-TASS, said that the project for creating a new Russian super-heavy launch vehicle was included in the federal space program for 2015-2025, while the program itself is still not approved. Speaking about what kind of domestic enterprise will be engaged in the development of a new rocket, Ostapenko noted that a balanced decision would be made. Currently, there is an excellent proposal for the Center. Khrunichev, for TsSKB Progress and RSC Energia. The official did not rule out that this project will be complex, and not a project of just one enterprise. At the same time, according to the head of Roscosmos, no separate site will be developed to create a new rocket, existing ones will be used. As an example, Ostapenko cited the production facilities of TsSKB Progress (Samara).
Information that TsSKB "Progress" presented a model of its own rocket of the future appeared at the end of May 2014. The rocket is a super-heavy carrier, which is designed to implement the ambitious Russian program for the colonization of the moon. Samara designers proposed a rather original idea - to design a "methane rocket", the engines of which would run on liquefied gas, which would supplement liquid oxygen. This fuel is currently characterized as quite promising, it is already being mastered in other industries. This fuel is distinguished from more traditional kerosene by its rich raw material base and low cost. Taking development time, rocket life, and future kerosene problems into account, all of this is of great importance.
TsSKB Progress is well aware of all the disadvantages of kerosene. Today, the Soyuz launch vehicles produced by the Samara people run on artificial fuel, but initially they flew just on kerosene, which is produced from certain types of oil. At the same time, oil deposits of this type are gradually depleted, for this reason, the deficit of kerosene will only be felt more and more over time.
According to Alexander Kirilin, head of TsSKB Progress, when using liquefied gas instead of kerosene, 6-7% less fuel is required to launch the same payload into orbit. The plans of the enterprise today include the creation of a new two-stage launch vehicle, which so far bears the name "Soyuz-5". An enterprise from Samara is currently engaged in the development of its draft design on its own initiative. At the same time, it is reported that this rocket will have to operate on a new completely environmentally friendly type of fuel - liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquid oxygen.
However, kerosene and oxygen, on which Russian "Soyuz" fly into space today, cannot be classified as an environmentally friendly fuel. But liquefied gas is even cleaner and more efficient. According to experts, the content of toxic substances in the products of LNG combustion is about 3 times less than when using kerosene, which itself is considered a fairly environmentally friendly type of fuel. If we talk about efficiency, then, as already mentioned above, the use of LNG in rocket engines is capable of saving 6-7% of fuel when the same cargo is put into orbit, than in the case of using traditional kerosene.
At the same time, the development of engines that would run on liquefied natural gas is currently being carried out abroad. For example, by order of NASA, work was carried out to develop a low-thrust liquid-propellant rocket engine (LPRE), as well as with a thrust of 340 kgf. In addition, Space-X, with the support of NASA, is working to create a liquid-propellant rocket engine operating on LNG with a thrust of about 300 tons, these engines are planned to be used in programs for the exploration of Mars and the Moon. In addition, by order of the Italian Space Agency, AVIO, together with KBKhA, is working on a methane liquid-propellant engine for the Vega launch vehicle.
Currently, leading Western developers most often use hydrocarbon fuel (kerosene) for medium-class launch vehicles, liquid hydrogen (most often) for heavy launch vehicles, as well as solid-fuel boosters that are installed at the first stage of missiles. Along with this, in modern cosmonautics, the cost of a space launch is beginning to come to the fore more and more clearly. It is for this reason that many competitors are beginning to rely on cheap rocket engines, preparation technologies, and fuel components. According to Progress experts, the creation of super-heavy launch vehicles based on methane engines is one of the possible development paths. Such missiles will not be inferior in their efficiency to a hydrogen carrier, but at the same time they will be much cheaper to manufacture and operate, which is especially important today.
