Federal Space Agency has decided to develop a rocket engine on natural gas – Interfax

Moscow. January 14. INTERFAX.RU – Roscosmos has decided to develop a rocket engine on natural gas in the near future, writes newspaper “Izvestia”. Financing of the works incorporated in the draft of the Federal Space Program for 2016-2025 years (PCF).

Work on the creation of the engine are provided on methane development work “CB control” (“Propulsion launch vehicles”). As part of the “CB control” it is planned to develop the basic elements sustainer propulsion to the oxygen-carbon fuel. In OCD, “CB control” Roskosmos requested to allocate 25.223 billion rubles (with the beginning of funding this year – in the amount of 470.8 million rubles), but not all funds are intended to create a methane engine. In the “control CB” includes work on the creation of prototypes of liquid rocket engines of the new generation equipped with diagnostics and emergency protection, and basic elements of the engine based on composite materials, namely nozzles, nozzle tips radiative cooling and bottom screens.

According to the drafters of the French Communist Party, the state corporation will make the demonstrator engine on methane, even taking into account the fact that the vehicle with the engine build is not scheduled. “In this way we think to provide a reserve to be outdone in terms of technologies from foreign competitors. While we are talking about creating an engine average thrust for the second stage promising missiles. Originally conceived that methane engines will be equipped with the missile” Phoenix “(its development is also planned for the project FCP ), but later taking into account the situation with the budget decided entirely new rocket to do, and go back to the idea of ​​recreating the Russian “Zenith” with upgraded engine RD-171.

The ability to use methane as a propellant was studied in the USSR . The Russian theme methane engines were worked Khimki NGOs “the Energomash” Voronezh Chemical Automatics Design Bureau and Samara Samara Space “Progress”.

The methane engine mentioned in relation to the flight to Mars is believed that the Martian rocket it makes sense to complete the methane engine as well as methane can be synthesized from water and carbon dioxide from the Martian atmosphere.