DocM Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 http://www.interfax.com/newsinf.asp?pg=3&id=355341 Super-heavy carrier rocket could be created jointly with Ukraine, KazakhstanMOSCOW. Aug 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The space rocket corporation Energia, based in Korolyov near Moscow, has proposed a plan to create a super-heavy carrier rocket, Commonwealth, for long-distance space missions, jointly with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, Energia President and General Designer Vitaly Lopota told reporters on Monday. "Energia is proposing that a carrier rocket, Commonwealth, be created in cooperation with Ukraine and Kazakhstan, with the use of the Energia-Buran know-how," he said. "The Energia-Buran project includes the launch system, which is still viable. At least it can be brought back to life. It also includes the "A" rocket units, used in the Zenit carrier rocket, and also engines made today. We proposed using oxygen-kerosene engines instead of the hydrogen central part, and make the first and second stages of five units," he said. "Concerning the carrying capacity, it's difficult to speculate, but it could be up to 70 tonnes, which is sufficient to circle the Moon," Lopota said. "If ambitions and political will are there, this project could be accomplished in a few years without falling behind our American colleagues," Lopota added. The Energia rocket is a Soviet-era carrier of super-heavy class, developed by Energia Corporation in the 1980s. Two Energia launches were carried out: on May 15 1987 with a mass-volume mockup model, and on November 15 1988 with the Buran reusable shuttle. The Energia-Buran project was suspended in the 1990s, when five rocket frames at various degrees of readiness were available at the Baikonur cosmodrome and at the Energia corporation assembly premises. They were destroyed. The RD-170 rocket engine, developed for the Energia project, has been upgraded and is used in Zenit Russian-Ukrainian carrier rockets as RD-171, and in American Atlas 5 launch systems as RD-180. The Energia carrier rocket is 59 meters long and is 16 meters in diameter. Its launch weight is 2,400 tonnes. The payload weighs 105 tonnes. Zenit carrier rockets are serially produced at the Yuzhmash company in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. They are powered with RD-171 engines, developed by NPO Energomash, based in Khimki near Moscow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 20, 2012 Share Posted August 20, 2012 Wasn't the original energia the most powerful rocket made, and still is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 20, 2012 Author Share Posted August 20, 2012 The largest payload ever launched was by a Saturn V at 141,148 kg. There were only 2 Energia launches, and that configuration could loft 100,000 kg to low Earth orbit. There were future roadmap plans for an Energia Vulcan version capable of 200,000 kg but it never flew.Development ended in 1976. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 thanks for the post Doc, sounds sexy and promising, if they can make it happen, i love the name Energia by the way. They should try to bring back the N1, wasn't that supposed to be a kickass rocket? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeta_immersion Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 imagine this ... Russian crazy engineering for the gargantuan with the US funding overlooked by Europeans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HawkMan Posted August 23, 2012 Share Posted August 23, 2012 What US funding, cut the space budget any more and NASA will have to pay money to the government. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocM Posted August 25, 2012 Author Share Posted August 25, 2012 What US funding. The US govt indirectly funds the Russian Space Agency via a long term contract for the NPO Energomash RD-180 engines used on the Atlas V rocket and partial subsidization of their ISS operations, including paying ~$65 million for each NASA, Canadian and Japanese astronaut riding on Soyuz, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neoadorable Posted August 29, 2012 Share Posted August 29, 2012 Hawk was being cynical but he's right. NASA budget keeps going down while spending on nonsense and wall street goes up. when i ask family and friends how much they think NASA gets a year i will hear replies in the hundreds of billions. one of my best friends said 400-500 billion recently. these are all people i love, but they live in America and they still don't know the truth. this is the perception of space exploration. they don't realize that if NASA had hundreds of billions a year we'd be colonizing Alpha Centaury A by now. a paltry $17 billion...US gov spends more on pens and stationery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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