0 👁 1 297
State Rocket Center named after Academician V.P. Makeev at an exhibition in Chelyabinsk presented his project - a reusable "Crown".
The exhibition dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Makeev City Center JSC opened today in historical museum Southern Urals.
Vladimir Osipov, chief engineer of the SRC, noted that the history of the enterprise is presented here. Over the 70 years of the existence of the missile center, about 7 thousand missiles have been launched, with only a few unsuccessful launches.
“SKB-385 70 years ago is a few people at the plant number 66 in Zlatoust. A full-fledged design bureau has grown out of this, a whole holding structure that ensures a peaceful sky above us. Today, the state missile center and the holding structure have a package of orders for the long term. We have much to be proud of. Here is a mock-up of the Korona rocket. This is a fully reusable carrier of all stages,” he said.
The reusable single-stage launch vehicle "Korona" is called the unique development of the rocket center. But at the moment it's just a project.
As Osipov notes, the rocket will be able to land at the launch point after the payload is launched on. “Reusability is a huge achievement. It has a minimum of replaceable elements, due to this we reduce the cost,” he stressed.
Leading specialist of the enterprise Valery Gorbunov said that the rocket was designed and manufactured in such a way that it makes it possible to launch a certain payload into space, and then land the rocket. For this, she has supports so that, approaching, she does not sway or fall.
"Korona" has a launch weight of 270-290 tons and is designed to launch payloads weighing up to 7 tons in traditional use or up to 12 tons with a special launch scheme into low Earth orbits. It can deliver goods to near-Earth in a cargo container and return them, launch into orbit and remove technological modules for various purposes from it.
The “Crown” is able to withdraw the payload, and then return it and again prepare for launch, which can be carried out in a day.
A reusable rocket can reduce launch costs by 5-10 times compared to disposable rockets.
Simplified launch facilities are used for launching and landing. The preparation time for the next launch is about a day. According to the developers, the launch vehicle can be used in the interests of manned astronautics during the construction of modular orbital stations, for delivering cargo to or to them.
When developing the main units of the Korona launch vehicle, a modular principle is used. The main structural material is carbon fiber. The effectiveness of its application is confirmed by such developments of the domestic aviation industry as the Ka-52 helicopter, MS-21 aircraft. The possibility of using carbon fiber for single-stage launch vehicles has been confirmed by a number of design and development works.
In terms of the "Crown" class, it is close to the launch vehicle or, and in terms of economic efficiency can surpass the American competitor due to the adopted design and layout solutions, the use of non-traditional structural materials and a modular main engine of external expansion. An engine with a central body, unlike traditional ones, is effective over the entire range of altitudes, which makes it optimal for use on single-stage launch vehicles.
It is worth noting that the development of the "Crown" has been carried out since 1992, but after 20 years it was suspended due to lack of funding.
In general, the exhibition presents information about three generations of submarine-launched ballistic missiles created by the enterprise team. These are eight basic missiles and 16 of their modifications.
A fragment of the body of the second stage of the R-29R rocket is also presented in the exposition. “You can see the waffle design here. Previously, rockets were made from a sheet of stainless steel, and the entire power set was welded by electric welding. Here the technology is different, which allowed the case to be made lighter. And since the hull is lighter, you can achieve a greater range with the same amount of fuel, ”says Valery Gorbunov.
Employees of the rocket center call mock-ups of rockets the iconic exhibits of the exhibition, because these are the “destinies of the developers”. Each complex took several years of operation of the enterprise.
At present, the company is mass production of those missiles that are still entering service, and maintains the combat readiness of the complexes that are in service in the Navy.
| Launch vehicle "CROWN" - general view |
|
| General information | |
| Country | Russia Russia |
| Purpose | booster |
| Developer | JSC GRC Makeeva |
| Manufacturer | - |
| Main characteristics | |
| Number of steps | 1 |
| Length (with MS) | ≈30 (?) |
| Diameter | ≈10 m (?) |
| starting weight | ≈300 |
| Payload weight | |
| to LEO | ≈7 tons (reference orbit - altitude 200 km, inclination 0°). |
| Launch history | |
| State | development suspended |
| First stage | |
| sustainer engine | external expansion liquid-propellant engine with a central body |
| thrust | 400-450 t (near the ground) (?) |
| Fuel | hydrogen |
| Oxidizer | liquid oxygen |
| Crown at Wikimedia Commons | |
Basic information
Development
The development was carried out by OAO GRC Makeeva from 1992 to 2012. The level of work carried out corresponds to the pre-sketch. Design studies were carried out, a concept for the development of the launch vehicle was created, and key technical and technological solutions were identified. As of 2013, work has been curtailed due to lack of funding sources.
Technical details
It is intended for launching spacecraft (SC) and SC from upper stages (US) to low-Earth circular orbits with a height of 200-500 km. The launch weight is about 300 tons. The payload mass (PN) is up to 7 tons, depending on the launch latitude, inclination and height of the formed reference orbit (some sources mention a “special launch scheme” in which the launch vehicle can launch up to 11-12 tons, details unknown). Fuel oxygen/hydrogen. External expansion main engine with a central body (modular combustion chamber) - similar in design to the J-2T series engines (see article J-2) Rocketdyne, the designer of the rocket engine is unknown. A feature of the layout is the cone-shaped body of the launch vehicle and the location of the PN compartment in the central part of the launch vehicle. When returning to Earth, the launch vehicle, controlled by low-thrust jet engines, performs active maneuvering with the help of the lifting force of the hull in the upper layers of the atmosphere to enter the spaceport area. Takeoff and landing is carried out using simplified launch facilities with a runway. Start and landing with the use of takeoff and landing shock absorbers located in the stern. A launch vehicle of this type can be used for launches from offshore platforms, since it does not need a runway for landing and can use the same site for takeoff and landing.
|
|
| Launch vehicle KORONA on the runway of the cosmodrome (illustration) | CROWN in orbital flight with a closed payload compartment (illustration) |
Development cost
According to various sources, the cost of developing a launch vehicle is estimated at 2.1 to 3.0 billion dollars in 2012 prices. If this information is correct, the launch vehicle could seriously compete with modern disposable launch vehicles. [
It is much easier to assemble SSTO in Kerbal Space Program than on our real Terra...
The news feed of both patriotic and liberal discourse is replete with reports of a reusable single-stage launch vehicle "Korona" with vertical take-off and landing, the development of which was decided to return to in the Miass GRC im. Makeev.
At the same time, a short informational message has already acquired a mass of speculation and assumptions, within which, in general, the everyday news that the Crown project has once again left the pre-draft state is presented either as an epoch-making victory Russian science, or as a thoughtless cut of the money of the frail Russian budget.
In reality, we are talking about the fact that the SRC them. Makeev now, against the backdrop of good budgetary funding for the new Sarmat ICBM, can afford to think about something “for the soul” and in the longer term, which resulted in the resuscitation of a fairly ancient, but still relevant project for a single-stage output of cargo to Earth orbit (in English sources this concept is called SSTO, single stage to orbit ).
I have already described in some detail the complexity of the SSTO task. The fundamental physical and technical limitations that are imposed on such a system by the gravitational field of the Earth and our own capabilities in chemical fuels and in the design of rocket systems are quite rigid and complex. Relatively speaking, if we lived on some Ganymede or Titan, then the process of creating our systems for a single-stage launch of cargoes into near-Earth orbit would be much simpler than in the case of our familiar Mother Earth. In order not to repeat a lot of what has already been said, I refer my readers to past articles on this topic, where all aspects of creating SSTO are considered in sufficient detail (once, and), so here I will rather focus on what I want to do in the future of my project GRC them. Makeev - and how realistic it is to build with the current level of technology and technology.
The main source of inspiration for me will be the information that was published by the Makeevites themselves in fragmentary messages on this topic. However, one should not expect anything else: the Korona development program is still in the pre-draft stage today, rather representing a “sum of wishes” than a complete set of design documentation.
Stages of preliminary designs of the launch vehicle "Korona", by years (clickable).
The creation of SSTO, as you understand, after reading the text on the links, requires remarkable efforts from designers and designers. The task of gaining a characteristic velocity of at least 8.5 km/s (the first space velocity + all gravitational, aerodynamic and other interference) is by no means as simple as it seems in science fiction films. According to the Tsiolkovsky formula, which still sets the mechanics of launching any rocket into orbit, it turns out that for the most advanced oxygen-hydrogen rocket engines, for which the exhaust velocity of combustion products is about 4500 m / s, the perfection of the rocket design is required at least 0.15. This means that a rocket with a launch weight of about 300 tons (as stated in the latest reports of the "Makeevites") should weigh no more than 45 tons together with a payload (which is declared as 7.5 tons in LEO) and with a reserve of fuel for braking from a stable orbit and to ensure a soft landing (since the reports refer to a reusable SSTO). In addition, it is already clear that the Korona abandoned the aerodynamic configuration with wings, which was used for controlled descent in the atmosphere by the Soviet Buran and the American Space Shuttle, due to which the new SSTO will have to slow down in the atmosphere at Falkonovsky", however, to do this not from a value of 1.7 km / s, as happens with the first stage of the SpaceX launch vehicle, but from the "honest" first space velocity of 7.9 km / s, which immediately raises the question of a very powerful thermal shield to ensure braking in the Earth's atmosphere.
To understand the complexity of returning the apparatus to Earth from near-Earth orbit, I refer you to visual video(English, turn on subtitles) about the US Space Shuttle braking and landing technique, which honestly says that even the Space Shuttle with its rudimentary but aerodynamic wings is a "flying brick", and the Shuttle pilot should immediately do a titanium transplant alloy on the outer layer of her shrinking testicles.
All this greatly limits the possibilities of a promising SSTO. I will say, as an example, that the weight of the Space Shuttle thermal protection was 7.2 tons with a shuttle weight of 84 tons, and the Buran thermal protection weighed 9 tons with a shuttle landing weight of 82 tons.
Even if you simply recalculate the mass of thermal protection for the 35 tons already “dry” mass of the returned “Crown” in proportion to its own weight, then it will come out with almost 3-3.8 tons of additional thermal protection cargo, which again must be hidden within all the same restrictions of 15 % for the weight of the SSTO structure and payload, which for a 300-ton fueled rocket, I remind you, is only 45 tons for the case of a single-stage output.
In addition, the mention of some "special schemes for launching into low Earth orbits" is also of interest, which supposedly will allow raising the Korona payload to 12 tons (increasing it by another 60%). In general, only three basic principles come to mind as “special schemes”: either somehow raise and accelerate the launch site for such a rocket, or provide a “free” oxidizer and reactive mass for the rocket at the initial, atmospheric launch site , or, as a third alternative, use some alternative oxygen-hydrogen engines in the terminal sections of the withdrawal trajectory, already outside the dense earth's atmosphere.
The first option, with the overclocking of the "starting table", I have already somehow sorted out in my articles (for example,) and such an option, in general, is possible. An increase in the initial speed of only 270 m / s, which even subsonic platform aircraft can provide, gives an increase in the mass of the rocket payload by 80%, so it is possible that under " special schemes” output and some surrogates of air launch are implied. The question here, rather, is that so far the most lifting aircraft in the world, the Antonov Mriya, has a maximum carrying capacity of 250 tons, which is still lower than the starting weight of 295 tons declared for the Crown, and the construction of more lifting aircraft in the world has not yet been planned.
Of course, no one promises that such aircraft will be built in the near future. Ultimately, the use of the same "sticks and shit" carbon fiber and composites announced for the "Korona" for the construction of super-aircraft instead of aluminum-magnesium alloys can still slightly increase their carrying capacity from the record "Mriya" to the required 300 tons. It is possible that someone will invest in a crazy hyper-maglev rocket flyover or build a huge balloon - but so far, in each of the directions, there is some kind of weak movement and the practice of small projects, rather than some kind of global work that can lead to a technological breakthrough . Although such options are less likely.
The balloon of the Elena program so far helps to launch suborbital rockets weighing 1 ton. Agree, far from the 295 tons declared for the "Crown"!
I also somehow sorted out the issue of using a VRD, SPVRD or scramjet for rocket acceleration in my blog (and). In short and summarizing: yes, VRD and scramjet engines can provide quite serious mass savings for SSTO due to the fact that their specific impulse is much higher than that of LRE and SRM. Any jet engine overtakes rocket engine according to this parameter, due to its two design qualities: firstly, it does not “pull” the oxidizer supply on itself, actually using a free oxidizer from the surrounding air and, secondly, it uses the same air as a free jet mass - a large part of the combustion products of a WFD or scramjet, again, is taken due to the acceleration of the intake air, and the fuel, which is actually taken into account in the Tsiolkovsky formula and affects the mass of the rocket, is only a small part of the mass of the jet stream.
However, those who could read my articles on hypersonics, I think, are well aware of all the difficulties that developers of hypersonic engines have already encountered. Therefore, I am quite skeptical about the idea that the SRC them. Makeeva will be able to squeeze something out of this idea. Although it's probably worth a try. In addition, I found that, within the framework of this concept, they had already calculated preliminary design"Crowns" in 1995. Then they wanted to put ten AL-31-F jet engines on the first stage of the Korona, which would provide a vertical take-off of a rocket weighing 100 tons and, in fact, provide the same air launch pad for SSTO:
AL-31F in afterburner mode produces 12.5 tons of thrust. Dozens of such engines are enough to tear off a rocket with a total mass of 100 tons from the Earth and accelerate it to supersonic speeds. It is used on the Su-27 fighter.
Will the GRC them. Makeev to such exotic schemes for launching cargo into near-Earth orbit is still an open question. However, it can be said that, as in the case of the first and second alternatives, there are no physical restrictions to this, but rather a question of designing and constructing such systems. In addition, today the hypersonic scramjet engine is practically “on the way out” both in the USA and in Russia, and such an engine will radically change the possibility of flying at high speeds in the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere.
And finally, the third alternative. Global improvement of the oxygen-hydrogen rocket engine. Here we rest on the fact that the exhaust velocity of the combustion products of alternative engines (and, as a result, their specific impulse) can exceed the exhaust velocity from the LRE by several times and even an order of magnitude, only their own thrust turns out to be simply meager. This immediately raises the question of the ratio of the jet thrust of the engines (T) to the mass of the entire rocket (W), which is very critical in the case of suborbital flight: we need the rocket to be accelerated by the engines faster than it falls to the Earth's surface and slows down on the atmosphere.
Laboratory "Yantar-1", which was launched in the USSR in 1970 with an experimental EJE. Max Speed jet flow was 140 km / s, engine thrust was 5 grams. The mass of the entire orbital part of Yantar-1 was 500 kilograms.
For example, in the last stages of launching a payload into near-Earth orbit, in principle, it is possible to use high-pulse electric propulsion engines (for the time being, I’m scheduling the round-trip flight option under the “techno-madness” column), but their effectiveness (the speed of the jet outflow of 40-140 km / c versus the miserable 4.5 km / s for oxygen-hydrogen rocket engines) will be significant only at the final stages of launching the payload into low Earth orbit (from an altitude of about 100 kilometers and from a rocket speed of 90-95% of the first space one), where the influence of the earth atmosphere in short term can be neglected, and the curvature of the Earth itself and the accumulated characteristic velocity help to fight the fall to the surface of the planet. Therefore, the use of any high-pulse alternatives to chemical rocket engines so far can only help in the final stages of launching a payload into low Earth orbit: the achieved thrust of these “little ones” is too low.
Therefore, in general, my attitude to the project "Crown" is as far as possible from both extreme points, characteristic of jingoistic patriots and sentry liberals: this is a necessary and important matter; if the SRC them. Makeeva continues to look at the stars, riveting the missile shield of the Motherland - honor and praise to them; Well, it’s not worth waiting for instant results, and even with the numbers stated in the PR presentation. Since the task of creating SSTO has been considered “promising” and “necessary” for more than a dozen years, but things are still there - there are too many physical and technical limitations is on the way to this cherished goal. But the possible side branches of this kind of R&D are interesting in and of themselves - for example, high-pulse EREs can be used to maintain the orbit of artificial Earth satellites, which EREs will do much more efficiently than modern LREs on aerosol or UDMH.
However, there is no evil without good. As they say, if we don’t catch up, then at least we’ll get warm!
In Russia, the process of developing a single-stage reusable launch vehicle KORONA has been resumed. More like spaceship the development of the Russian military will be able to independently take off from the Earth and return to the planet, landing vertically.
Used rocket
The year 2017 for astronautics passed under the sign of returning steps. SpaceX alone has landed the first 14 stages of Falcon 9 launch vehicles. From a miracle and an incredible event, this is becoming a routine. And although economists have not yet said their last word - how much this will affect the cost of launches - it is becoming clear that returning the first stages with expensive engines is a strategy for the future.
But what about Russia? We have already written about how Roskosmos is trying to jump into the last car of reusable cosmonautics, and RSC Energia, at its own expense, is calculating the possibility of making promising Soyuz launch vehicles reusable. But has it really been that no one in Russia has thought about reusability so far?
This is not true. Russian, Soviet, and then again Russian scientists have been considering the possibility of creating reusable launch vehicles for many years. And in Russia there is a rocket center, which has been dealing with reusable launch vehicles for many years in a row.
This is the State Rocket Center named after academician V.P. Makeev, a Russian developer of ballistic missiles for submarines, one of the largest research and design centers in Russia for the development of rocket and space technology. The Makeevka Center was originally a military center, so not much is known to the general public about developments from Miass.
The move of the "Russians"
Among the works of the Makeevites there are many light and conversion launch vehicles developed on the basis of already existing military intercontinental ballistic missiles. These are "Swell", "Wave" and "Calm", developed in the nineties of the last century. In addition, the rocket center participated in the large development of the Rus-M launch vehicle.
In theory, "Rus-M" was supposed to become a universal missile system, which included carriers of three classes - from medium to heavy. The first stage of the Rus-M launch vehicle is an inseparable "bundle" of three autonomous blocks, which are maximally unified with each other, in flight. Such unification has long been used by designers to reduce costs - this is how the American Delta Heavy works, which is now preparing to launch Falcon Heavy and even a promising Russian heavy carrier based on Soyuz-5.
Rus-M did not go, it was decided to stop at a bunch of Soyuz, Proton and Angara. More than 1.63 billion rubles went nowhere.
And what did the Makeevites offer even before reusability became "fashionable"? Their main development is "Rossiyanka", shown in 2011, just after the inglorious completion of the Rus-M project. The main feature of the two-stage "Rossiyanka" was the returnable first stage, which can be used up to 25 times.
The return of the stage was supposed to be carried out along a ballistic trajectory by restarting the standard engines. That is, just like Elon Musk. However, all this was back in 2011, four years before the first successful landing of the Falcon 9 stage.
Alas, the project was not given the green light by the Makeevites. Instead, it was supposed to implement reusability through the Baikal-Angara project (reusable booster module), which also turned out to be a bit stillborn. The chance was missed.
Crown of Creation
Shuttle "it does not need a giant tank and huge solid-fuel boosters to go into space. It is assumed that the CORONA will be able to put about seven tons of payloads into a low reference orbit, and then return to Earth and land vertically using its engines. Most of all, this rocket is similar on the Delta Clipper from Madonell-Douglas, the American development, alas, is now also in a frozen state.
In 2013, the project was frozen and was carried out only at the own expense of the rocket center. And at the beginning of 2018, information appeared that the funding for the project had been resumed, and it is quite possible that soon we will hear the news about the creation of the first trial version of KORON. If so, then the dream of real spaceships taking off from Earth and then landing back down may soon be a step closer to reality.