Yamal/Avrora Launch Vehicles as Alternative to Angara Family

Vladimir KIRILLOV

It is evident that launch vehicles (LV) assembled of a limited number of serially manufactured stages and boosters are cheaper than LV tailored for each missile class. Attempts to develop an LV family from the lightest class to the heaviest according to such a modular principle were made in the USSR already 40 years ago. This applies to the N-I/N-II/N-III programs of the early 1960s, the RLA family proposed in 1974 by Valentin Glushko and the partly developed Zenit/Energia-M/Energia/Vulkan series. The Kvant and Riksha LV families could be named among the latest projects. Most of them were designed at one of the veteran rocket companies – the Rocket & Space Corporation (RSC) Energia.

Today the Khrunichev State Space Science and Production Center (the Khrunichev Center) working on the Angara project has come the closest to implementing the modulal principle in LV manufacturing¹. In 1999 RSC Energia together with its branch, the Samara-based Volzhskoe KB (VKB), came out with a new project called Yamal that has become an open competitor to Angara.

The main requirement of RSC Energia and VB experts to the development of the Yamal family is the maximum utilization of existing components and units. This applies primarily to propulsion systems of LV stages. NPO Energomash still has to develop the RD-191M rocket engine for the universal rocket module (URM) to be used as the first stage of all LV modifications. So far the engine exists only in blueprints and as a full-scale model. The C5.98M (14D30 index) engine mounted on the second stage of Angara-1.1 LV was borrowed from the booster of the Briz family and is not the best option for such a heavy rocket unit. The three-component RD-0750 engine for the second stage of the heaviest Angara-4B is still development. Only the RD-0124 engine is practically ready and has gone through the entire testing process at Khimavtomatika Design Bureau in the framework of the Rus program for Soyuz-2K LV. It is regarded as the propulsion system for the second and third stages of several light (Angara-1.2) and medium (Angara-3, Angara-5) LV classes.

RSC Energia decided to stake on existing engines, first  of   all  the  NK-33M (11D111M)

developed in the first half of the 1970s for N-1M LV that has perfectly passed tests in Russia and the United States. These launch vehicles will also be equipped with the developed and tested RD-0124 (11D451) engine. Besides, the Yamal family is expected to employ a modification of 11D58M that has been used on boosters of the DM series for a long time.

The second advantage of the Yamal family is the use of existing launching facilities: the Soyuz and Zenit LV facilities at Plesetsk and Baikonur space centers for all Yamal LV types, the Sea Launch floating launch pad for medium and heavy Yamals, the AN-124-100 carrier aircraft for the light Polyot LV under the Air Launch program. Here it must be said that the Angara family may use only the uncompleted launching facility for Zenit LV in Plesetsk. The construction of a launching facility for Angara on Australia’s Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean is being considered, but the project will require heavy investments. Evidently for this reason there has been no decision on Angara launches from Christmas Island yet.

Another significant advantage of the Yamal family is that all stages of all LV types run on only one propellant: a combination of kerosene and liquid oxygen. There is the infrastructure for these traditional components for domestic LV at Baikonur and Plesetsk. Meanwhile, several Angara modifications in addition to kerosene and liquid oxygen imply the use of the toxic UHDM and nitric tetraoxide (the upper stages of Angara-1.1 and Briz M booster).

A rocket based on Soyuz-2K LV was the first member of the Yamal family to be presented. That happened back in 1996. The LV had been developed by VKB together with the Progress Central Design Bureau. Initially this model of Yamal was meant to take Energia-designed spacecraft into orbit. The LV was first demonstrated at the Moscow International Air Show (MAKS) in 1997. The main difference between it and the prototype was that the second stage (central unit) instead of the 14D22 four-chamber engine mounted on four side units of the first stage carried the NK-33 engine manufactured by Dvigateli NK Group (former Trud Scientific-Production Association). Besides, the maximum diameter of the central unit was increased from 2,660 mm to 3,440 mm. The plant of the Progress Central Design Bureau was supposed to begin producing these launch vehicles.

At the end of 1999 the project was radically changed. Now the central unit of the LV called Unit 3 carries a combined propulsion system consisting of one NK-33 in the middle and one four-chamber RD-0124 on the outside. The four chambers of RD-0124 are used as sustainer and control engines. The four side units of the Yamal rocket (A Units) remain the same as on Soyuz LV with the 14D22 propulsion system. The third stage (Unit 4) is equipped with one four-chamber RD-0124 with a high-altitude nozzle as on Soyuz-2K. It has been decided to couple such a Yamal LV developed on the basis of a Soyuz with a new booster. Initially the booster was supposed to be developed on the basis of LM unit with an 11D58MF engine and an 8-ton fuel intake. Now this is a modification of the Proryv unit with the same engine and 10-ton fuel intake (Unit 2). The Yamal LV based on a Soyuz rocket is to be developed by 2003. However, the greater degree of standardization has reduced the payload: while its old version could inject 14 tons in LEO (Hcir=200 km, i=51⁰), now only 12 tons despite the same launch weight of 360 tons.

Nevertheless, such a LV will have better properties than the Soyuz-2K proposed by Progress. It must be noted that Soyuz-2K was developed on the basis of Soyuz-U LV through several upgrades: first centrifugal single component nozzles were installed in the propulsion system of the first and second stages (a 480 kilo increase in payload), new elements were used in electronic systems (a 120 kilo increase in payload), the analog control system was replaced by digital with the terminal control principle (a 200 kilo rise in payload); then the engine was changed from 11D55 (RD-0110) to 11D451 (RD-0124) on the third stage (a 950 kilo rise in payload), the third upgrade resulted in the replacement of the propulsion systems 11D512 and 11D511 by the single 14D22 (RD-123) on the first and second stages and the use of the Fregat booster. All these upgrades should increase the payload to 11 tons with launch weight of 310 tons.

The August 4, 1999, decision of RSC Energia to develop the Air Launch aircraft-rocket system was a turning point in the life of the Yamal family. The corporation got an about 40% stake in Air Launch. In the framework of the project a two-stage Polyot LV should be developed to be launched from the An-124-100 Ruslan aircraft. The first stage (Unit 1) will have one NK-33MN engine. Compared to NK-33M its thrust should rise from 188 to 196 ton-force. The Yamal LV booster or Unit 2 should serve as its second stage.

RSC Energia developed a multipurpose rocket unit on the basis of Unit 1 of Polyot LV. The other LV of the Yamal family will also be made on its basis. These units with NK-33M engines (Blok-1M) are meant as the first stages of Yamal, Yamal-1 and Yamal-2. The same unit with a double fuel store and NK-33 (sustainer) and RD-0124 (four-chamber control) engines is used as the second stage (Unit 3). The third stage (Unit 4) is similar to the third stage of the Yamal based on Soyuz. Either Unit 2 based on the Proryv booster or a unit based on a diminished oxygen-hydrogen propelled Yastreb developed at RSC Energia is supposed to be used as the booster.

The entire family of medium and heavy LV will be built of such “bricks.” Two Units 1M, one Unit 3, one Unit 4 plus Unit 2 booster make the Yamal LV comparable in performance with the Yamal developed on the basis of the Soyuz. By increasing the number of Unit 1M from two to four you will get a LV approaching the Proton LV. Six Units 1M plus Unit 3 with an increased fuel store plus Unit 4 and the booster make a heavy class LV with a low orbit payload of up to 26.8 tonnes. The energy parameters of the Yamal family launch vehicles and the Polyot LV for the Air Launch projects are listed in Table 1 and more detailed parameters in Table 2. The energy parameters in case of launches from Christmas Island are given for the sake of comparison with the Angara family of the Khrunichev Center.

Unit 1, Unit 1M, Unit 3 and Unit 4 and also the head fairings could be produced at Progress Plant, Unit 2 and booster at the RSC Energia Experimental Machine-Building Plant.

The flight routes of Yamal, Yamal-1 and Yamal-2 LV from Plesetsk and Baikonur have been designed so as not to create new debris areas. If launched from Plesetsk at an inclination of 63 degrees Stage 1 falls at a distance of 880 kilometers from the space center in an existing debris area, Stage 2 at 1,950 kilometers in a new area. If launched from Baikonur at the inclination of 51 degrees Stage 1 should fall at a distance 880 kilometers in an existing debris area, Stage 2 at 1,950 kilometers in an also existing debris area.

The cost of launching such a carrier is estimated at about $27.5 million, i.e. the injection of one kilo of payload in a low orbit will cost about $2,300. However, this is only the cost, the selling price will naturally be higher. Still it will remain below $10,000/kg, which is a target figure for the families Atlas-V, Delta-IV and Angara.

Problems with developing the Yamal family abound. Funding is the greatest, of course.

Table 1. Energy parameters of Yamal and Polyot launch vehicles.

* – delivered from geotransitional orbit to GSO by spacecraft means;

** – with hydrogen-oxygen cryogenic booster developed at RSC Energia (Yastreb type)

Table 2. Parameters of components Yamal family and Polyot launch vehicles

However, RSC Energia has a clear plan in this respect. First of all it has to revive the serial production of NK-33, NK-33M and NK-33MN engines. To date Dvigateli NK group has some 50 NK-33 engines assembled back in the 1970s. Some 50 more have been sold to U.S. Aerojet. However, RSC Energia and Dvigateli NK expect that after staring commercial launches of Polyot LV and the first Yamal LV in two-three years they will earn enough to revive engine production. The trouble is that part of the technical documentation concerning NK-33 has been missing since the closure of the N-1 program, but project leaders say that it is not a big problem.

It seems that the Air Launch corporation has won support from the Russian Aviation and

Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos). Rosaviakosmos Director-General Yuri Koptev discussed the development of a heavy LV propelled by environmentally friendly fuel with Kazakh experts at Baikonur space center on April 18, 2000. The subject was also raised at a news conference after the negotiations. The Yamal LV family became such a project. It was announced that on the Russian side the project would involve RSC Energia and the Progress Central Design Bureau. The Kazakh side promised to offer for the purpose launch pad 112 in Baikonur that was designed for Energia LV but has remained idle for 13 years.

An overhaul of the earlier developed Soyuz-U LV will form the first stage of the Yamal project. Hence, “a new LV for taking heavy

objects into space will be developed in a short time and at a small cost,” Rosaviakosmos noted.

The development of a heavy LV on the basis of a multi-purpose module will constitute the second stage. Unlike the current Proton LV it will run on environmentally friendly fuel which is important for preserving the environment in Kazakhstan and Russia where the debris areas of LV are located, experts said.

It became clear after these announcements that it had been decided to replace with the Yamal family the project of developing a joint environmentally friendly Sodruzhestvo (Commonwealth) LV on the basis of Zenit-2 proposed by Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan in 1998-1999. According to the Kazakh side, “the old project will evidently have to be given up because its implementation would require great spending of up to $300 million.” Director of the Kazakh Aerospace Committee Meierbek Moldabekov said at a news conference that the Sodruzhestvo LV project was stalled by financial problems in Ukraine and Russia. Besides, the cost of developing Sodruzhestvo LV proved higher than the initial estimate of $170 million. “Even though the development of Sodruzhestvo LV was included in the Russian-Kazakh joint space program for 2000-2005 work on it never began,” Moldabekov added. So the Yamal family jointly developed by Energia, VKB and the Progress Central Design Bureau should come as a replacement for Sodruzhestvo.

However, government support alone is clearly insufficient for the rapid implementation of such a large-scale project. Therefore the partners started energetically seeking foreign investors. With the purpose RSC Energia in 1999 started talks with the Asia-Pacific Space Center (APSC) in Australia. Earlier APSC planned to start marketing the Angara LV developed at the Khrunichev Center. It even designed a launch facility for the LV in Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. However, after the Khrunichev Center in 1999 sold the marketing rights for Angara to Lockheed Martin APSC started looking for other LV and discovered that the most advantageous option was to conduct commercial launches of a Yamal LV developed on the basis of Soyuz-U from Christmas Island. Formalities took over a year to settle. Finally, at the beginning of 2001 the Russian government accepted the proposal of Rosaviakosmos on joint space exploration with APSC. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed corresponding instructions on March 10, 2001.

Under the ordinance Russia will cooperate with APSC in developing a medium class Avrora rocket and space system with the Korvet booster and constructing a space center in Christmas Island for commercial launches of civilian spacecraft. The project should involve RSC Energia, the Progress Central Design Bureau and the Barmin Design Bureau of General Machine-Building. The program also implies the development and delivery to APSC of ground equipment for the space center, blueprints and operation manuals of the Avrora system. Besides, the Russian side will manufacture and deliver launch vehicles and boosters, Russian experts will prepare them for launch and conduct spacecraft launches from the space center on Christmas Island.

Under the ordinance Baikonur space center should be refurbished for Avrora test flights. The project does not imply the sale of technologies or licenses for the production of aerospace equipment or its components to the Australian side. The ordinance bound Rosaviakosmos, the Defense, Justice and Foreign Ministries together with other interested federal executive bodies to take steps to protect Russian technologies in the context of the project. Rosaviakosmos was permitted to deliver rockets, their components and ground equipment for the space center only after settling the question of protecting Russian technologies with Australians. The space agency was placed in charge of coordinating the project.

The first commercial launch of an Avrora from Christmas Island is planned for 2003. Before that the new LV should be test launched from Baikonur. The returns from the commercial use of Avrora may be invested in the Yamal program, i.e. in the construction of modular Yamals, Yamal-1 and Yamal-2 LV.

A clear financial plan, support from the Russian government and the Russian Air and Space Agency, interest in former Soviet republics and other foreign countries make the Avrora/Yamal family a feasible project and a direct competitor to the Angara project of the Khrunichev Center. Besides, one should not forget the other long-standing partner of RSC Energia in two other major space projects – the International Space Station and Sea Launch – Boeing. It is quite possible that it will also show interest in the Air Launch and Yamal programs. Then, it is quite possible that Boeing will assume part of the financing and marketing responsibilities for the Yamal family. And this in its turn may significantly increase the competitiveness of Avrora/Yamal compared with Angara.

¹ See Vladimir Kirillov, “Family of Advanced Angara Launch Vehicles: Background, Technical Performance and Competitiveness Analysis”, Eksport Vooruzheniy, No.1, 2001