Reusable rocket and space system at the launch site. High Temperature Research Institute Graphics
The basis of modern Russian cosmonautics is the Soyuz and Proton rockets, which were created in the middle of the last century. Almost everything that launches into space from Russian cosmodromes is put into orbit by these reliable, but fairly outdated machines. In order to renew the rocket fleet and ensure Russia's unconditional access to all segments of space activity, the newest Angara rocket complex is entering the stage of flight tests. This is perhaps the only space rocket complex in the world that has a wide range of capabilities for delivering spacecraft weighing from 4 to 26 tons into space.
Super heavy principles
The needs for space vehicles in the near future will be met by the Soyuz and Angara rockets, but their carrying capacity is insufficient to solve the problems of exploring the Moon, Mars and other planets of the solar system. In addition, they complicate the ecological situation in the Amur Region because their spent stages will fall either into the Amur taiga or into the water area of the Sea of Okhotsk. It is clear that this situation is forced, it is a payment for ensuring the space sovereignty of Russia. What will this payment be if a decision is made to create super-heavy rockets for manned flights to the moon?
There have already been such missiles in our history: Energia and N-1. The basic principles of a super-heavy rocket were laid down and implemented more than 50 years ago, so only money is needed to create it. And if a super-heavy rocket is created for the third time, then an additional 320 tons of waste metal with fuel residues will be accumulated annually in the Amur Region.
The desire to make rockets environmentally friendly and cost-effective has led to the idea of returning the first stages of rockets to the launch site and reusing them. After completing the allotted time, the steps should descend in the atmosphere and as the plane returns to the launch site. According to this principle, the reusable rocket and space system (MRKS) will be operated.
MRKS as it is
The reusable rocket and space system was presented to specialists and the public at the Moscow Aerospace Show in 2011. The system consists of four reusable launch vehicles (MRN) with reusable missile assemblies (VRB). The entire range of MRNs with a carrying capacity of 25 to 70 tons can be completed by various combinations of two main modules: the first module is a reusable rocket unit (first stage), the second module is a second disposable rocket stage.
In a configuration with a carrying capacity of up to 25 tons (one VRB and one module of the 2nd stage), the reusable rocket can launch all modern and promising manned and unmanned spacecraft. In the dimension of 35 tons (two VRB and one module of the 2nd stage), the MRN allows launching into orbit two telecommunication satellites per launch, delivering modules of promising orbital stations into space and launching heavy automatic stations, which will be used at the first stage of lunar exploration and exploring Mars.
An important advantage of the MRN is the ability to perform paired launches. In order to launch two modern telecommunication satellites using the Angara rocket, it is necessary to purchase ten rocket engines worth 240 million rubles each. each. When launching two of the same satellites using the MRN, only one engine will be consumed, the cost of which is estimated at 400 million rubles. Cost savings for engines alone is 600%!
The first studies of the returnable rocket unit were carried out at the beginning of the century and presented at the aerospace show in Le Bourget in the form of a mock-up of the Baikal reentry stage.
Later, at the preliminary design stage, work was performed on the selection of fuel components, solving the problems of thermal heating, automatic landing and many other problems. Dozens of VRB variants have been analyzed in detail, a thorough technical and economic analysis has been carried out, taking into account various scenarios for the development of domestic cosmonautics. As a result, a variant of the MRKS was determined, which most fully satisfies the entire set of modern and promising tasks.
Landing of a reusable launch vehicle with reusable rocket units. High Temperature Research Institute Graphics
On blue gas
It was proposed to solve the problem of a reusable engine by using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as fuel. Natural gas is a cheap, environmentally friendly fuel that is most suitable for use in reusable engines. This was confirmed by the Khimmash Design Bureau named after A. M. Isaev in September 2011, when the world's first liquid-propellant natural gas rocket engine was tested. The engine has run for more than 3000 seconds, which corresponds to 20 starts. After disassembling it and examining the condition of the units, all new technical ideas were confirmed.
It was proposed to solve the problem of heating the structure by choosing the optimal trajectories in which heat flows exclude intense heating of the structure. This eliminates the need for expensive thermal protection.
It was proposed to solve the problem of automatically landing two VRBs and integrating them into Russian airspace by including the GLONASS navigation system and an automatic dependent surveillance system, which was not used in rocketry, in the control loop.
Taking into account the technical complexity and novelty of the equipment being created, relying on domestic and foreign experience, the necessity of creating a flight demonstrator, which is a reduced copy of the VRB, is substantiated. The demonstrator can be manufactured and equipped with all standard on-board systems without any special preparation for production. Such an aircraft will make it possible to test in real flight conditions all the key technical solutions incorporated in a full-size product, reducing technical and financial risks when creating a standard product.
The cost of the demonstrator can be justified due to its unique ability to launch objects weighing more than 10 tons to an altitude of 80 km along a ballistic trajectory, accelerating them to a speed exceeding the speed of sound by 7 times, and returning to the airfield for a second launch. A reusable product created on its basis may be of great importance not only for the developers of hypersonic aircraft.
The philosophy of flexibility
The first stage is the largest and most expensive part of the rocket. By reducing the production of these stages due to their repeated use, it is possible to significantly reduce the costs of federal agencies for spacecraft launches. Preliminary estimates show that for the successful implementation of all existing and promising space programs, including the delivery of unmanned stations to the Moon and Mars, it is sufficient to have a fleet of only 7–9 returned rocket blocks.
The MRCS has a philosophy of flexibility in relation to the conjuncture of the space program. Having created an MRN with a carrying capacity of 25 to 35 tons, Roskosmos will receive a system that will effectively solve the problems of today and the near future. If there is a need to deploy heavier vehicles for flights to the Moon or Mars, the customer will have an MRN with a carrying capacity of up to 70 tons, the creation of which does not require significant costs.
The only program for which the MRKS is not suitable is the program of manned flights to Mars. But these flights are not technically feasible in the foreseeable future.
Today there is a fundamentally important question about the prospects for the development of launch vehicles. What to create: a disposable super-heavy rocket, which will be used only in the Lunar and Martian programs and, if they are terminated, the costs will be written off again; or to create an MRCS, which will not only allow the implementation of the current launch programs at a price one and a half times less than today, but can also be used with minimal modifications in the Lunar program and the Mars exploration program?
