Russia’s Proton rocket successfully lifts off from Baikonur

[Cebu_4_2]

Proton rocket?

Russia’s Proton rocket successfully lifts off from Baikonur

Published time: September 29, 2013 22:06
Get short URL (http://rt.com/news/proton-baikonur-launch-russia-516/)

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Proton M.(RIA Novosti / Oleg Urusov)

Russia’s Proton-M rocket, carrying the European Astra 2E communication satellite, successfully blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 21:38 GMT.

"The liftoff took place successfully, according to estimated time, at 01:38 Moscow time (21:38 GMT),” a Roskosmos representative told Ria Novosti.

The booster is carrying a 6-ton Astra 2E satellite manufactured by French EADS Astrium for the satellite operator SES Astra. The satellite is designed for the retransmission of radio and television programs in both analog and digital formats, as well as providing service to mobile and Internet connection subscribers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It was the first launch of a Proton rocket since July, when a booster, hauling three GLONASS navigation satellites, came crashing down into the cosmodrome moments after liftoff.

An investigation into the failure discovered that the rocket had stabilization problems, prompting fail-safe mechanisms to kick in. The rocket turned upside down, burst in flames and broke into pieces, which came crashing down with an explosion. No one was injured, and there was no damage reported to the launch site. The loss of the booster and three satellites, however, was estimated at about $137 million.

The Proton-M boosters are made by Russia’s Khrunichev space center. Out of some 389 Proton rocket booster launches since 1965, only 23 were unsuccessful. This year's accident was the second such error with the booster itself since August 2007, when the first and the second stages of a rocket failed to undock.

[Ponce]

The flames from the back looks very clean and without a waste of energy, I like it.

V

[Cebu_4_2]

http://www.russianspaceweb.com/images/rockets/engines/rd253/demo_1.jpg

A full-scale demo version of the RD-253 engine.

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RD-253/RD-275 engines -- heart of the Proton rocket

The original first stage of the Proton rocket (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/proton.html) was propelled by six RD-253 engines developed at OKB-456 design bureau (now NPO Energomash) in Moscow and led by Valentin Glushko. Each engine had a thrust on the ground of 150 tons. Like engines on two upper stages of the Proton rocket, RD-253 burned highly toxic unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine as a fuel mixed with nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidizer.

On the first stage of the Proton rocket, RD-253 was installed in a movable suspension system that allowed to swivel each individual engine around a single axis. Combined movement of all six engines enabled the flight control system of the rocket to steer the vehicle along its prescribed trajectory.

In 1986, specifically for the launch of core module (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_core.html) of the Mir space station (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir.html), the thrust of RD-253 engine was increased by seven percent. it was achived thanks to a minor modification to the propellant flow control valves. Since then, engines incorporating this change have undergone extensive additional qualification firings, in order to approve them for use in standard production vehicles.

From 1987 to 1993, NPO Energomash developed a more powerful version of the engine, designated RD-275, which has been used on the first stage of the Proton rocket ever since.

Next chapter: Proton rocket missions in 2013 (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/proton_2013.html)

APPENDIX



Specifications of RD-253 engine:


-

RD-253


RD-275



Thrust at sea level

150 tons


162 tons



Thrust in vacuum

166 tons


178 tons



Specific impulse on the ground

285 seconds


287 seconds



Specific impulse in vacuum

316 seconds


316 seconds



Dry mass of the engine

1,080 kilograms


1,080 kilograms



Fueled mass of the engine

1,260 kilograms


1,070 kilograms



Length of the engine

3,000 millimeters


3,050 millimeters



Diameter of the engine

1,500 millimeters


1,500 millimeters

[Horn]

Significant upgrades were temporarily put on hold following announcement of the new Angara (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angara_rocket) launch vehicle. The single largest upgrade was the KVRB stage. This cryogenic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryogenic_fuel) stage would have greatly increased capacity. The engine was developed successfully, and the stage as a whole had progressed to hardware. However, as KVRB is noticeably larger than Blok D, the vehicle's aerodynamics, flight control, software, and possibly electronics would have to be reevaluated. In addition, the launch pad can supply existing Protons with common hypergolic fuels from single sources. The upper stages, in particular, are fed by common loading pipes running along the rocket. Switching to a stage with different fuels requires the addition of extra support articles; switching to cryogens requires that such support articles top off the stage periodically.


Heavy variants of Angara will be simpler and cheaper than Proton (and like the Atlas V (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_V) rocket, will not use hypergolic fuels; instead, it will use the same RP-1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RP-1) fuel as that used on the Soyuz rocket (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_%28rocket_family%29)). They will also be designed from the start to accept a KVRB stage, and will already have a LOX supply at the pad; only a hydrogen supply will be called upon. However, delays in Angara development mean that Protons will continue to fly for some time.