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In 1992, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian government called for the creation of the new generation of space boosters, which would be built and launched within Russian Federation, ending the country's dependency on the hardware and launch sites in the newly independent republics of the former Soviet Union. Within this program, Moscow-based Khrunichev enterprise and RKK Energia in Korolev competed for the government subsidies to develop the alternative versions of the rocket, named Angara after a great Siberian river. Khrunichev,
proposed a vehicle equipped with multiple external tanks -- the reminiscent
of the venerable Proton rocket. For its first
stage, Khrunichev’s Angara would employ one of Russia’s most
advanced engines burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. Known as RD-170,
the engine was already in use on the first stage of the latest Soviet
rocket – the Zenit. The Angara's second
stage would be equipped with a hydrogen-oxygen engine, borrowed from the
Energia heavy-lift rocket. The alternative RKK Energia's configuration, known as Angara-2 featured so-called modular architecture, where a series of launchers with a wide range of payload capabilities could be built by “packaging” together a different number of the identical rocket boosters. Each booster would be equipped with the modified RD-170 engine. In September 1994, Ministry of Defense and Russian Space Agency declared Khrunichev a prime developer of the Angara rocket. The official reason for the decision was based on the fact that Khrunichev’s design used already available engine from the Zenit rocket, while RKK Energia’s proposal would require to “split” the same engine in half, leaving two combustion chambers instead of the original four. Initially, RKK Energia was awarded the development of the second stage of the Angara rocket. However, during consequent redesign of the Angara, Khrunichev became a sole developer of the vehicle. Ironically, the new configuration of the vehicle adopted by Khrunichev turned out to be much more similar to what RKK Energia had originally proposed – the modular configuration. The new version of the rocket also required a "split" of the Zenit's engine, but not into the two-chamber unit, but in a one-chamber configuration. In the meantime, long before Angara started flying, Moscow-based NPO Energomash, the engine developer, built a two-chamber version of the Zenit engine for the US Atlas rocket. If RKK Energia had its way with the Angara configuration, the rocket would now had the engine, whose development was paid under the contract with the US! In the final design of the Angara pursued by Khrunichev, the rocket’s payload could vary from 2,000 kilograms all the way to 23,000 kilograms, depending on the number of booster "modules" attached to the identical core stage. The "heaviest" Angara, capable of delivering 23,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit, would replace the Proton rocket. As of 2006, Roskosmos claimed that the heaviest version of the Angara rocket would be capable of delivering 26 tons into the low-Earth orbit from Plesetsk. As much as 28.5 tons could be delivered from Baikonur. Hydrogen-fueled upper stages Although first stage boosters of the Angara rocket would be fueled by a traditional combination of liquid oxygen and kerosene, Khrunichev enterprise promised to equip upper stages of the rocket with engines burning two cryogenically cooled components -- liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. Baikal booster stage In cooperation with KB Salyut, the developer of the Buran orbiter, Khrunichev conceived a reusable flyback booster rocket, which would serve as an alternative first stage in the Angara family. Designated Baikal, after a Siberian lake, the reusable booster was developed in parallel with the work on more traditional "booster modules." Launch sites The Angara was expected to use the launch complex in Plesetsk, which was originally intended for the Zenit rocket. However, its construction stalled during the first half of the 1990s, and then the project was abandoned altogether due to Russia's financial foes and complex relationship with Ukraine, where the Zenit is built. A brand-new launch complex for the Angara was also considered in Svobodny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East, however, the current level of funding of the Russian space program left these left these plans on paper. Some schemes of building commercially operated Angara launch sites in the equatorial areas of the world were also discussed over the years, again without any real progress "in the field." Since 1992, Moscow-based KBTM development center, specialized in launch equipment, has developed a proposal and preliminary design of the launch facilities for the Angara program. The project envisioned maximum use of existing infrastructure in Plesetsk. A dual-pad Versatile Launch Complex, UNK, could be used for all versions of the Angara rocket. Specifically, for the heavyweight Angara-2T launcher, KBTM developed a process of vertical assembly, not typical for the Russian rocket technology. The work in Plesetsk remained stalled during the 1990s, but started picking up in the decade of 2000. In June 2005, Khrunichev's representative said that the launch complex for the Angara was 80 percent ready, the state provided funds and the construction was going on at full steam. According Lt. General Anatoly Bashlakov, the head of Plesetsk Cosmodrome, at the end of July 2006, a giant launch platform 14 meters wide and more than five meters high was delivered to Plesetsk. The structure was made out of 16 segments, each weighing from 20 to 50 tons. At the beginning of 2008, military and the industry publicly clashed on the pre-launch processing of the Angara rocket. Official Russian press quoted the Commander of the Russian space forces, Colonel-General Vladimir Popovkin, insisting that the on-pad time for the Angara rocket was cut from seven to four days. Speaking at the press-conference on January 31, Popovkin said that such operations as the fueling of the upper stage and a number of tests should've been moved from the launch pad to the processing building. Baiterek During 2004, Russian and Kazakh officials discussed the possibility of building a launch complex for the heavy version of the Angara rocket in Baikonur. A formal agreement between two governments on the construction of the complex dubbed Baiterek was reached on December 22, 2004. According to one proposal, the complex would use the former launch pad for the Proton rocket at Site 200, however an alternative plan called for deploying the complex at Site 250. In June 2005, the representative of the Khrunichev enterprise said that Kazakh funding for the construction of the launch complex for the Angara rocket had already started. At the time, the construction of the complex was expected to take from five to six years. The system would eventually replace Proton, which was expected to fly until 2010-2015. Production Khrunichev enterprise delegated a serial production of Angara's first stage, URM-1, to the PO Polyot in the city of Omsk. Khrunichev formally absorbed PO Polyot during 2007. Khrunichev officials promised major upgrade of manufacturing facilities in Omsk during 2008 in preparation for production. The first test flight In June 2005, at Le Bourget Air & Space Show, a representative of the Khrunichev enterprise promised the first launch of the light version of the Angara rocket in December 2006. However in August 2006, a Russian press quoted the head of Cosmodrome Plesetsk, Lt. General Anatoly Bashlakov as saying that flight tests of the light version of the Angara booster would start in 2010-2011. It became an official line for Roskosmos during 2007. On December 13, the commander of the Russian space forces, Vladimir Popovkin told the Russian press that all development work during 2007 was completed successfully and the rocket remains on schedule for the first test launch at the end of 2010. According to Popovkin, the launch complex for the Angara rocket was 60 percent completed after spending 900 million rubles. Launch hardware started arriving to the pad and its installation was initiated. Angara development milestones 1994 September: Russian Ministry of Defense and Russian Space Agency declare Khrunichev a prime developer of the Angara rocket. 1995: Khrunichev enterprise displays a full-scale mockup of the Angara-1 rocket at the 43rd Paris Air and Space Show in Le Bourget, France. 1995 Aug. 26: Russian government sings a decree "On measures for providing the development of the Angara rocket space complex." 2001 July 31: NPO Energomash conducted a test-firing of the RD-191 engine for the 1st stage of the Angara rocket. 2004 Dec. 22: Russian and Kazakh governments signed and agreement on the development of the launch complex for the Angara rocket in Baikonur. 2006 July: A launch platform for the Angara rocket is delivered to Plesetsk for the installation on the launch pad. 2006 August: Roskosmos promises to conduct the first test launch of the Angara rocket in 2010-2011. 2006 Aug. 25: Khrunichev enterprise and PO Polyot in Omsk signed an agreement to produce booster stages of the Angara rocket in Omsk. PO Polyot would merge with Khrunichev under the agreement. 2007 Aug. 31: The meeting of the interagency coordinating group of the Angara project within Military Industrial Commission considered the development issues within the project. 2007 Oct. 12: The military-industrial commission led by vice prime minister Sergei Ivanov discussed the implementation of the Angara project at the prime-contractor site. 2007 Dec. 6: NPO Energomash conducted testing of the RD-191 engine for the first stage of the Angara rocket, along with the operational hydraulic system and the gimbal mechanism of the engine. 2007 Dec. 27: The KBKhA design bureau conducted test firing of the RD-0124A for the Angara rocket with an electrically driven gimbal system developed by Khrunichev enterprise. According to KBKhA press-release, engine worked nominally. 2007 Dec. 29: PO Polyot of Omsk completed its merger with Khrunichev enterprise. APPENDIX Technical specifications of the RD-191 engine:
Technical specifications of the RD-0124A engine:
This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak. All rights reserved. Last update: April 30, 2008 |
PICTURE GALLERY
Scale models of Angara launchers displayed at MAKS 2001 air show in August 2001. Left to right: Angara 1.1, Angara-1.2, Angara-3 and Angara-5. Even bigger -- Angara 5-UKVM -- was under consideration. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
The Angara-A3M shown in comparison to the Angara-100 rocket proposed in 2005. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
These scale models represent a family of rocket engines developed by Moscow-based NPO Energomash. A four-chamber RD-170 engine powering the first stage of the Zenit rocket is on the right. This powerplant was "split in half" to create a two-chamber RD-180 engine (center) for the latest version of the US Atlas rocket. The "half" of the latter engine became RD-190/191 -- a one-chamber powerplant developed for the modular stages of the Angara family, including the Baikal stage. Click to enlarge: 400 x 247 pixels, 40K Copyright © 2001 Claude Mourier
Scale model of the RD-191 engine for the first stage of the Angara launcher. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
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