Soyuz 11A511 Stage 2 engine displayed at Tsiolkovskiy Museum in Kaluga.
Credit: © Mark Wade
Credit: © Mark Wade
Kosberg Lox/Kerosene rocket engine. 297.9 kN. Soyuz 11A511, Molniya-M 8K78M. Precursor RD-0107 used in 11A57 Voskhod stage 2. Modified to increase reliability. Isp=326s. First flight 1964.
Application: Soyuz 11A511, Molniya-M 8K78M.
Chambers: 4. Engine: 408 kg (899 lb). Chamber Pressure: 68.20 bar. Area Ratio: 82.2. Propellant Formulation: Lox/RG-1. Thrust to Weight Ratio: 74.46. Oxidizer to Fuel Ratio: 2.2.
AKA: RD-461; RD-0110; 11D55.
More... - Chronology...
Unfuelled mass: 408 kg (899 lb).
Height: 1.58 m (5.18 ft).
Diameter: 2.24 m (7.34 ft).
Thrust: 297.90 kN (66,971 lbf).
Specific impulse: 326 s.
Burn time: 250 s.
First Launch: 1964-69.
Number: 1136 .
Associated Launch Vehicles
Molniya 8K78M Russian orbital launch vehicle. Improved Molniya, in variants with Blocks ML, 2BL, or SO-L third stages according to payload. More...
Soyuz 11A511 Russian orbital launch vehicle. Standardized launch vehicle designed to replace a proliferation of earlier models (8K72, 8A91, 8K74, 8K78, 11A57). Designed initially to support launch of the Soyuz complex (7K manned, 9K rocket stage, and 11k tanker) and Zenit-4 reconnaisance satellite. Later 'U' model extended to cover a range of follow-on satellites. Compared to 11A57, the telemetry system was reduced in mass to no more than 150 kg, and engines were cherry-picked for the vehicle core to ensure that specific impulse was no less than 252 seconds at sea level, 315 in vacuum. More...
Soyuz 11A511U Russian standardised man-rated orbital launch vehicle derived from the original R-7 ICBM of 1957. It has been launched in greater numbers than any orbital launch vehicle in history. Not coincidentally, it has been the most reliable as well. After over 40 years service in Russia, ESA built a new launch pad at Kourou which will keep it in service from three launch sites in three countries well into the mid-21st Century. More...
Soyuz 11A511U2 Russian orbital launch vehicle. Soyuz 11A511U2 used synthetic kerosene ('Sintin') in first stage for launch of premium reconnaisance satellite and manned payloads requiring just a bit more payload than the standard 11A511 could offer. Further use of the 11A511U2 abandoned in 1996 due to Sintin production stoppage. Later Soyuz spacecraft launched on standard Soyuz, with reduced payload and rendezvous with Mir in lower orbit accepted. More...
Soyuz M Rus project was to result in first major propulsion upgrade to R-7 family in forty years, using first stage engines derived from those developed for Zenit second stage to boost performance. It would have permitted launches from Plesetsk with same or greater payload than launch of standard Soyuz-U from Baikonur, permitting move of more launch operations back onto Russian territory. Instead the more modest Soyuz ST / Soyuz FG upgrades were made. More...
Associated Manufacturers and Agencies
Kosberg Russian manufacturer of rocket engines. Kosberg Design Bureau, Russia. More...
Lox/Kerosene Liquid oxygen was the earliest, cheapest, safest, and eventually the preferred oxidiser for large space launchers. Its main drawback is that it is moderately cryogenic, and therefore not suitable for military uses where storage of the fuelled missile and quick launch are required. In January 1953 Rocketdyne commenced the REAP program to develop a number of improvements to the engines being developed for the Navaho and Atlas missiles. Among these was development of a special grade of kerosene suitable for rocket engines. Prior to that any number of rocket propellants derived from petroleum had been used. Goddard had begun with gasoline, and there were experimental engines powered by kerosene, diesel oil, paint thinner, or jet fuel kerosene JP-4 or JP-5. The wide variance in physical properties among fuels of the same class led to the identification of narrow-range petroleum fractions, embodied in 1954 in the standard US kerosene rocket fuel RP-1, covered by Military Specification MIL-R-25576. In Russia, similar specifications were developed for kerosene under the specifications T-1 and RG-1. The Russians also developed a compound of unknown formulation in the 1980's known as 'Sintin', or synthetic kerosene. More...
Burya article, Lavochkin web site.
Varfolomyev, Timothy, "Soviet Rocketry that Conquered Space - 8K71 launches", Spaceflight, 1996, Volume 38, page 31.
Kudryavtseva, V M, ed., Zhidkostnikh Raketnikh Dvigatley, Visshaya Shkola, Moscow, 1993.
"Podprobnosti o RN 'Rus'", Novosti Kosmonavtiki, 1996, Issue 6, page 20.
Haeseler, Dietrich, Visit to the museum of Chemical Automatics Design Bureau, Voronezh 1992 via Dietrich Haeseler.
Glushko, V P, Albom Konstruktsiy ZhRD, Vol. 1 1968, Vol. 3 & 4 1969 via Dietrich Haeseler.
Novosti kosmonavtiki, Issue 3, 1999.
Molniya 8K78M-2 Lox/Kerosene propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 24,800/1,976 kg. Thrust 298.10 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 330 seconds. More...
Soyuz 11A511-2 Lox/Kerosene propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 25,400/2,700 kg. Thrust 294.00 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 330 seconds. More...
Soyuz 11A511U-2 Lox/Kerosene propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 25,200/2,355 kg. Thrust 298.10 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 330 seconds. More...
Soyuz 11A511U2-2 Lox/Kerosene propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 25,400/2,400 kg. Thrust 298.10 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 330 seconds. More...
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