NK-33

It was developed on the basis of the NK-15 engine, installed on the 1st stage of the N-1 launch vehicle. After four test flights of the N-1 (using the NK-15), which ended in accidents, work on it was stopped, despite the fact that the next rocket was made with the installed NK-33 engines, characterized by the ability to conduct multiple fire tests and increased resource. Some instances of NK-33 have accumulated a total of up to 14 thousand seconds ^[2] . The NK-33 engine has extremely high reliability - 999.4. “ Nikolai Dmitrievich Kuznetsov at one time decided to prove it; lengthy tests to failure were carried out. NK-33 worked without removing 16 launches from the stand, it worked for 15 thousand seconds ” ^{[3] [4]}

It is used in the first stage of the Soyuz-2.1 V launch vehicle ; it is planned to use the Soyuz-2-3 launch vehicle. It was used in the first stage of the Antares PH (Taurus II) of Orbital Sciences Corporation .

The single-chamber closed-cycle engine runs on a pair of oxygen - kerosene with oxidizing gas afterburning. It has neither steering chambers, nor rotary nozzles - at the initial application on the N-1 launch vehicle, control of the thrust of opposite engines was used to control the pitch and yaw channels.

Initially, it was not planned to resume production of this rocket engine and it was planned to use ready-made engines from the warehouse from stock for the H1 launch vehicle of the Soviet lunar program. However, in 2009 there were reports of plans to begin production of the NK-33 in Russia in the interests of Russian and foreign customers starting in 2014 ^[5] .

As of April 26, 2012, the NK-33A engine completed a series of interagency tests. Within a month and a half from this date, the Interdepartmental Commission will make a decision on admission to serial production of the NK-33A, as well as flight tests.

In April 2013, Vladimir Solntsev (NPO Energomash) announced that the production of the NK-33 would not resume. After exhausting the supply of old engines (there are about 20 of them), a new RD-193 engine, developed on the basis of RD-191, will be installed on Soyuz-2.1v ^[6] .

In August 2014, new tests of the NK-33 engine by specialists of OJSC Kuznetsov were held at a site in the village of Vintai with the participation of specialists from the American engine- building company Aerojet Rockettine . New components of the combustion chamber were introduced into the product: the collector and some parts of the engine units ^[7] . The total operating time following the results of three bench checks was 616 seconds. The engine worked successfully, confirming all the required parameters ^{[8] [9]} .

In mid-April 2018, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin , responding to a media question about the price of an engine for the United States, replied that it was a trade secret, but the approximate price was $ 10 million ^[10] .

NK-33-1

NK-33-1 - developed by SNTK them. N.D. Kuznetsova modification of the engine NK-33. It is planned to use this modification in the second stage of the Soyuz-2-3 launch vehicle (previously the Aurora launch vehicle ).

This modification, unlike the basic NK-33, has a thrust vector control unit (cardan joint for deflecting the chamber) and a retractable nozzle to optimize the degree of expansion of the nozzle at an altitude of more than 10 km.

The pressure in the combustion chamber is 175 kgf / cm ²

Thrust

• Earth - 185 tf
• in vacuum - 202.6 tf

Specific impulse of traction

• Near the Earth - 304.9 s
• in vacuum - 333.9 s

Engine weight

• filled - 1715 kg

NK-33A

Modification of the NK-33 engine, the production of which is planned for Russian space programs, as well as for potential foreign customers. In April 2012, the interagency tests of the NK-33A engine were completed ^[11] .

AJ-26

AJ-26 is a family of Aero-NK-33 engine modifications developed by Aerojet and licensed in the USA (AJ26-58, AJ26-62) for use on American launch vehicles (including Antares ) created by removing some equipment from the original NK-33 (out of 37 copies purchased from the N.D. Kuznetsov SNTK), adding American electronics, checking the engine for compatibility with fuel produced in the USA, and also equipping a universal joint for controlling the thrust vector (similar to NK-33-1) ^{[ 12] [13]} .

The first flight of the Antares rocket with two AJ-26 engines took place on April 21, 2013. A total of 5 launches of Antares LV using the AJ-26 were completed. After the fifth launch, which crashed in the turbopump at the 6th second of flight ^[14] , which caused the loss of rockets and cargo, it was decided not to use the AJ-26 engine.

• RD-191
• H1 (booster)
• Antares
• Soyuz-2-3
• Clipper (spacecraft)

• NK-33 on the manufacturer's website
• Modernization work NK-33
• NK # 6 2002 “Troublemakers from Samara”
• Air start
• “Russian engine for the American rocket”, nvo.ng.ru, 08/03/2007 - assessment of the prospects of the NK-33 and RD-180 in the US aerospace market
• NK-33/43
• Interdepartmental tests of the NK-33A engine completed
• The US launched the Antares rocket
• Vadim Ponomarev. How the battle of Soviet designers led to the creation of a better rocket engine. "Expert Online" , 2014