NK-33 engine is being prepared for mass production.

37
NK-33 engine is being prepared for mass production.

Russian and American designers are making ambitious plans to use the Soviet NK-33 engine on modern rockets. At the plant "Kuznetsov" think about the restoration of its mass production, according to the publication of "Nezavisimaya Gazeta".

45 has turned years since the first launch of the famous Soviet H-1 rocket. Her own fate was sad. But her engines continue to live. Moreover, step by step, they reinforce the success of the national cosmonautics both in the domestic and foreign markets.

In 2013, the NK-33 engines were used three times when launching new missiles - the Russian Soyuz-2-1в and the American Antares. Thanks to these successful starts, the NK-33 engines have the prospect of recovery in mass production. But 40 years ago they almost got destroyed - because of the closure of the lunar program in the USSR.

In 60 – 70 of the last century, Sergei Korolev and his team had the idea to build a rocket for a flight to Mars. Then the goals were revised, and the configuration of the rocket was changed to the tasks of the "lunar" project.

“For a flight into space, we needed engines with a high degree of efficiency and reliability, with a high efficiency of every kilogram of fuel used in thrust,” said Valery Danilchenko, chief designer of OJSC Kuznetsov rocket engines. “Korolev believed that this required the implementation of a closed engine circuit so that all the fuel components flow through the combustion chamber and create an increased specific impulse.”

Sergey Pavlovich began to look for a designer who could start such a development. He also talked to aircraft designer Andrei Tupolev. But in the end, the designer was asked to work on the project. aviation engines - to Nikolay Kuznetsov.


“A special feature of Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov was that, in addition to his design talent, he also remained a great organizer - he created a unique team that worked on the task with full dedication,” recalls Alexander Ivanov, head of the experimental design bureau of Kuznetsov. “The engine nodes were created by a team of specialists who had previously worked on aviation gas turbine technology, this is what determined its special properties.”

In the design office at the enterprise called “276 Mailbox”, which specialized in the development of aircraft engines, engines were being built, which were then mass-produced at plant No. 24 named after M.V. Frunze. The design of the NK-33 is simple, but provides high reliability. The minimum cost of pre-production and manufacturing with high reliability and simplicity of design is still one of the main secrets of the demand for NK-33.

In 1974, the "moon program" was closed. It almost led to the tragedy - the created party NK-33 was ordered to be destroyed. Kuznetsov barely managed to save them.

What happened after 40 years is symbolic, because in fact the deferred triumph of the unique engine took place. In 90-ies NK-33 was presented at one of the exhibitions in Moscow, where it aroused the enormous interest of domestic and foreign partners. And the engine began a new life.

In 1992, Russian specialists together with Aerojet Rocketdyne, an American engine-building company, signed a protocol on the use of NK-33 on US launch vehicles. Moreover, Kuznetsov himself signed the agreement.

It took 15 years before, and domestic customers turned to the development. The American and Russian projects reached the starting line almost simultaneously.


2013 became the most important from the point of view of the implementation of the work on NK-33. In April last year, two upgraded NK-33 engines in the USA ensured the first successful launch of the Antares rocket. Its second launch took place on September 18 - cargo for the station crew was delivered to the ISS. And on December 28 2013, the NK-33 engines ensured the launch of the newest Russian Soyuz-2-1в light-duty rocket.

Americans drew attention to the NK-33 for several reasons.

Firstly, it was preserved in the material reserve, as a result of which it did not require a long period of reproduction. It would take a lot of time to work out such a project from scratch. And the Antares rocket, in fact, was created in five years - a fantastically short term. “Work on the American carrier rocket began in the 2008 year, and in 2013 we started the launches,” said Nikolai Yakushin, executive director of Kuznetsov. “NK-33 waited for its space flight.”

Secondly, the engine NK-33 has extremely high reliability - 999,4. “Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov at one time decided to prove it,” says Alexander Ivanov. - Were conducted long-term tests to failure. NK-33 worked without removal from the stand 16 starts, 15 has accumulated thousands of seconds. "

Third, the design features. The pressure in the combustion chamber of the NK-33 engine (150 atmospheres), which is moderate compared with the analogs, allows it to be used in a manned space program with a high degree of safety.


Photo of Vitaly V Kuzmin


The developers of NK-33 have high hopes for the project of its revival. “It’s extremely important for our team that NK-33 be in demand in Russia as well,” says Alexander Ivanov. - I often tell our youth: when we leave, you will be working with this product for a long time - this is the source for many technical solutions. Existing rocket engines have reached the limit of their energy characteristics. NK-33 has a great future, and work on its modernization and restoration in mass production is of great importance. ”

The factory workers' dream is to achieve the launch of NK-33 in the series. “We kept the engine in the drawings and the inventory,” says the designer Danilchenko. - And today our goal is to restore its mass production. This work has already begun. It is implemented by the hands of young specialists on modern equipment. ”

Since there is a demand for rocket engines, OAO Kuznetsov has already established a schedule for the restoration of their production. “At the moment, the issue of engine reproduction, we decide together with the United Engine Corporation, which includes the company. We are talking about the beginning of deliveries of new engines from 2017 – 2018 of the year, - notes Yakushin. “Given the forecast demand for products, by 2020, we must reach the level of production of 15 – 20 engines per year.”

There is another promising project at the plant - NK-39, another “lunar” engine. The object of close attention from European customers. But about it the question ahead.

OJSC Kuznetsov - one of the largest enterprises of aviation and space engine building. It is part of the United Engine Corporation.

"UNIFIED MOTOR-BUILDING CORPORATION" - an integrated structure producing engines for military and civil aviation, space programs, installations of various capacities for the production of electrical and thermal energy, gas pumping and ship gas turbine units. Combines more than 85% of the leading companies in the industry.
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37 comments
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  1. Vlad Gore
    +18
    24 February 2014 11: 17
    Great engine. Thank you for this to the design team led by Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov.
    1. +16
      24 February 2014 12: 12
      no need to show them to the Americans ... let them go to hell ...
      1. +6
        24 February 2014 12: 57
        ShturmKGB
        no need to show them to the Americans ... let them go to hell ...

        They won’t go to hell, they will fly on another engine, UEC will remain without a buyer, that is, without the opportunity to develop
        1. -1
          24 February 2014 17: 21
          Quote: Kyrgyz
          They won’t go to hell, they will fly on another engine

          Interestingly, the Chinese have not yet copied? On what flew to the moon?
        2. timer
          +4
          24 February 2014 20: 55
          Firstly, it is very good that we returned to the topic of NK-33.
          Secondly, do not forget, the USA is our main enemy and sleeps and sees how Russia will fall into small pieces.
          Thirdly, the USA is not a planet earth. There are solvent customers in other countries (China, the European Union, India, Brazil).
          Fourth, how I VERY WANTED THAT RUSSIA EXPORTED BASICALLY SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTS 2 AND 3 RESTRICTED, NOT RAW MATERIALS!
      2. +3
        24 February 2014 17: 16
        ShturmKGB
        don't show them to americans


        They have long and lovingly converted all sizes into inches, and you say that ...
      3. dmitrij.blyuz
        +1
        25 February 2014 00: 00
        So they fly on our 180s! wassat
    2. +3
      24 February 2014 20: 58
      Bench tests of NK-33.
      1. +1
        25 February 2014 00: 47
        Imagine the picture, as it tears off part of the structure and goes into orbit)))
    3. +1
      24 February 2014 22: 30
      I am concerned about three things in the subject of Russian space;
      Renewal of the MAKS project, a cosmodrome on the Horn of Africa, and an increase in the thrust of the electric propulsion engine from Nm to Kgm.
  2. +5
    24 February 2014 11: 18
    NK-33 (11D111) - liquid rocket enginedeveloped by SNTK them. N.D. Kuznetsova.
    Type: LRE
    Fuel: Kerosene
    Oxidizing agent: liquid oxygen
    Combustion chambers: 1
    Country: USSR
    Usage:
    Operating time: 2013 - present
    Application: N-1 (first stage) Antares (first stage) Soyuz-2.1v (first stage)
    Development: NK-33-1
    Production:
    Constructor: SNTK im. N.D. Kuznetsova
    Producer: OAO "Motorostroitel"
    Options: NK-33-1 AJ-26
    Oversized
    Features
    Weight: 1393 kg
    Dry weight: 1240 kg
    Length: 3705 mm
    Diameter: 1490,5 mm
    Performance Characteristics
    Thrust: 171 Tc in Vacuum
    154 Tc at sea level
    Specific Impulse: 331 s in Vacuum
    297 with at sea level
    Operating time: 365 with
    Pressure in the combustion chamber: 142 kgf / cm2 (147 atm.)
    Thrust-to-weight ratio: 136
    Ignition: chemical
    1. 0
      24 February 2014 17: 50
      You look at the photo and you think - that’s a complicated thing!
      Immediately pride in Russian rocket science!
  3. +4
    24 February 2014 11: 23
    Serial space engine - what could be more technological?
  4. 0
    24 February 2014 11: 23
    I am infinitely happy for the new design excellence in the Russian cosmonautics hi fellow
    1. +5
      24 February 2014 11: 29
      for new design excellence wassat about the "new" in more detail ...
  5. +2
    24 February 2014 11: 38
    and where do the plans of Amer’s designers
    1. 0
      24 February 2014 12: 57
      Such an engine suits them and they are ready to buy it
      1. 0
        24 February 2014 15: 51
        Quote: Kyrgyz
        Such an engine suits them and they are ready to buy it

        If only he would not work against us after not in the X-37.
  6. +8
    24 February 2014 11: 57
    Geniuses lived and worked with us in the same era. 40 years ago, you had to be able to create something that is successful in modern life! For half the last 15-20 years the world has gone from wooden accounts to tablets and cell phones, but here it is 40 years and unconditional success ... It is a pity that the Americans keep their "beak" in our plate, but probably without their money it is still impossible.
    1. +4
      24 February 2014 12: 59
      Quote: propolsky
      It is a pity that the Americans keep their "beak" in our plate, but it is probably impossible without their money.

      We sell oil - it’s bad, we sell gas - it’s bad, engines are also bad, don’t you find some crap?
      1. +5
        24 February 2014 21: 51
        We sell oil refined products - well.
        We sell gas processing products - well.
        We trade in space on our launch vehicles and spacecraft - well.

        Or do you disagree?
  7. +4
    24 February 2014 12: 59
    and if Roscosmos asks the amers to restore the production of F-1 for purchase, it would be interesting to listen to their skirts. here we remember, here we do not remember
    1. +1
      24 February 2014 23: 12
      Obama from Barack has already banned Glonass base stations in the "striped" territory, what other questions can there be for them?
  8. predator.3
    +6
    24 February 2014 12: 59
    Quote: propolsky
    Geniuses lived and worked with us in the same era. 40 years ago, you had to be able to create something that is successful in modern life! For half the last 15-20 years the world has gone from wooden accounts to tablets and cell phones, but here it is 40 years and unconditional success ... It is a pity that the Americans keep their "beak" in our plate, but probably without their money it is still impossible.


    That's it, you still forgot to mention the slide rule! (Although today's youth do not even know what it is)
    And what for 40 years could not invent better than NK-33? here it is Soviet quality!
  9. 0
    24 February 2014 13: 03
    all “NEW” is well forgotten old. it’s bad when the history of technology is thrown into the landfill of HISTORY!
  10. Vita_vko
    +1
    24 February 2014 14: 19
    The Americans are forced to take orders for Russian rocket engines, otherwise these orders will be taken by China, Iran and other "friendly" US countries.
  11. 0
    24 February 2014 15: 13
    Serial NK-33 is good.
    But, the future of astronautics is electrochemical engines.
    http://www.findpatent.ru/patent/232/2328616.html

    It is unfortunate that there is no news on this topic.
  12. +3
    24 February 2014 15: 57
    The car is good. The specific parameters are decent at this time. The components are non-toxic. For the first stage of manned flights - that’s it.
    Although, talking about some uniqueness is hardly necessary. Motors of the Voronezh Chemical Engineering Bureau (I don’t know what it is now called) and the same Energomash Design Bureau (which is in Khimki) is no worse. And Voronezh residents have a decent oxygen-hydrogen engine for the second stage.
    The question is - are there still personnel and equipment for mass production? Equipment is now fundamentally different than 40 years ago. Altering and debugging technology for it is a non-trivial and difficult task. If they solve this problem, then God grant.
  13. +1
    24 February 2014 16: 52
    40 years have passed, but no one has been able to get closer to this result so far.
    1. +2
      24 February 2014 23: 39
      It's a matter of chance. Korolev needed a powerful engine for the N-1 (lunar program), and with the chief designer of Soviet rocket engines V.P. Glushko, to put it mildly, he was at odds. Glushko flatly refused to make an engine for the N-1. Even the higher authorities could not reconcile the two designers. As the KB employees later bitterly joked, "Stalin would definitely have reconciled them." Korolev had to turn to N.D. Kuznetsov, a purely aviation engine operator. The engine turned out to be very original, highly efficient for its weight, but low-powered. Therefore, I had to sculpt them as many as 30! pieces in the first stage. This decision created certain problems with the mutual influence of the engines on each other, which led to the missile accident. The lazy one will find on the Internet not only a description, but also a documentary. And the engine turned out to be brilliant, it's good that they remembered about it now.
  14. 0
    24 February 2014 17: 03
    GOOD FAMILY, HONOR AND PRAISE TO THE WORKERS CREATING SUCH ENGINES !! Nobody can copy them. Here we had them, there are and will be bright and brilliant heads. good
    1. 0
      24 February 2014 19: 31
      AJ-26 is a modification of the NK-33 engine developed by Aerojet and licensed in the USA for use on American launch vehicles (including Antares), created by removing some equipment from the original NK-33 (from among 37 copies purchased from SNTK them . N. D. Kuznetsova), adding American electronics, checking the engine for compatibility with fuel produced in the USA, as well as equipping it with a universal joint for controlling the thrust vector (similar to NK-33-1).
      The first flight of the Antares rocket with two AJ-26 engines took place on 21.04.2013 of the year.
      An Antares rocket being rolled out for testing, showing the two NK-33 engines.
  15. 0
    24 February 2014 18: 38
    The slogan: "Soviet means the best"! - is relevant to this day, but if someone reads carefully, the engine is modernized, which means that the manufacturing technology was sold (or just ...), which once again speaks of the shortsightedness of some , or even worse, about the presence of a "fifth" column in scientific or near scientific circles.
  16. 0
    24 February 2014 19: 02
    Quote: Kyrgyz
    We sell oil - it’s bad, we sell gas - it’s bad, engines are also bad, don’t you find some crap?

    Not, well, if only the engines went to Venezuela or Vietnam at the worst .. laughing
    And Tat sworn friends. negative

    In fact, the Yankees will at least not copy it until the patent expires, unlike the agile Chinese.
    1. Capyar 48315
      +5
      24 February 2014 19: 37
      sell - not sell, Yankees - not Yankees. If they want it, they will copy it (IF WE CAN). The main thing for us is to have our own in the series and due to new modifications and developments always be one step ahead. So it’s necessary to sell and the income should be spent wisely
  17. 0
    24 February 2014 21: 15
    it’s only bad that the West also gets advantages from our developments. Our job came and their funding is better than ours. In this regard, the cookie would show them everything. But in your own country it’s worth deploying it in series and improving it.
  18. +1
    24 February 2014 22: 23
    Russian and American designers are building ambitious plans to use the Soviet NK-33 engine on modern missiles

    And what side did the scramblers find themselves here? They just took and stripped them from us like some Chinese (see Andriuha077 comment a little higher). This is real betrayal!
  19. Antokha
    +1
    24 February 2014 22: 34
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikrMTorTGL4
    1. The comment was deleted.
    2. 0
      24 February 2014 23: 43
      http://topwar.ru/37566-proton-m-zhdet-sereznaya-konkurenciya-s-amerikanskoy-rake
      toy-falcon-9.html # comment-id-1792637
  20. The comment was deleted.
  21. 0
    24 February 2014 22: 47
    In the United States, there is a program to push Russia away from commercial launches into low Earth orbit. Thus, several companies were created trying to compete with us. The most famous are Antares and SpaceX. The most commercially effective missiles are oxygen-kerosene. But the Americans are still unable to make good engines themselves, although attempts have been going on for many years. So the United States has bought several dozen NK-33s and are buying the RD-180, but they cannot copy yet.
    1. 0
      24 February 2014 23: 37
      Well, great that
      Quote: Oops
      In the United States, there is a program to push Russia away from commercial launches into low Earth orbit.
      But the Americans are still unable to make good engines themselves, although attempts have been going on for many years. So the United States has bought several dozen NK-33s and are buying the RD-180, but they cannot copy yet.

      You need to sell it to get money to raise the production of these engines and design promising ones, but sell them directly for installation on a rocket.
      And it’s time to develop our protective technologies, such as chipping Western electronics, and connecting young people and sparing nothing for them, because with real development, we get more invested costs!
  22. The comment was deleted.
  23. Antokha
    0
    24 February 2014 22: 54
  24. dmitrij.blyuz
    +1
    24 February 2014 23: 56
    In the Podgorny settlement, we used to make rockets for nuclear submarines. And what is most important, the bow thrusters for Buran were tested on "table" No. 1! Even that look! The roar and roar, delight! Father-in-law was a general at the factory then !
  25. dmitrij.blyuz
    +1
    25 February 2014 00: 04
    I wish there were NK-25 for TU-22M3 and NK-32 for TU-160. Then it would be possible to sabat the step with joy!

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