Boris Ivanovich Katorgin (russian: Борис Иванович Каторгин; born 13 October 1934 in

Solnechnogorsk Solnechnogorsk (russian: Солнечного́рск, lit. ''sunny mountain town'') is a town and the administrative center of Solnechnogorsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Moscow–St. Petersburg Highway and the Moscow ...

) is a Russian scientist who is known for his development of commercially successful

rocket engine A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, in accorda ...

systems.

Career

Katorgin graduated from the

Bauman Moscow State Technical University The Bauman Moscow State Technical University, BMSTU (russian: link=no, Московский государственный технический университет им. Н. Э. Баумана (МГТУ им. Н. Э. Баумана)), some ...

in 1958 and became

Doctor of Technology The Doctor of Technology (abbreviated variously in different countries) is a degree normally conferred upon candidates after having completed a course of study in technology and a dissertation or a project of lengthy duration in a technologically r ...

in 1983. He joined the NPO Energomash rocket engine manufacturer in 1958 and was its CEO and chief designer between 1991 and 2005. He has been a full member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; russian: Росси́йская акаде́мия нау́к (РАН) ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across ...

since 2003. Katorgin is mainly known for his work on cryogenic liquid-propellant rocket engines. He was the CEO and chief designer of NPO Energomash during the development of the

RD-180 The RD-180 ( rus, РД-180, Ракетный Двигатель-180, Raketnyy Dvigatel-180) is a rocket engine designed and built in Russia. It features a dual combustion chamber, dual- nozzle design and is fueled by a RP-1/ LOX mixture. The RD ...

engine, which has been exported to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

for driving Atlas III and

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas launch vehicle family. It was originally designed by Lockheed Martin, now being operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA), a joint venture between Lockheed Mart ...

rockets. He was also involved in the development of the earlier and twice as powerful

RD-170 The RD-170 ( rus, РД-170, Ракетный Двигатель-170, Raketnyy Dvigatel-170) is the world's most powerful and heaviest liquid-fuel rocket engine. It was designed and produced in the Soviet Union by NPO Energomash for use with the ...

engine. As of 2000, when the first RD-180-powered Atlas III rocket flew, the engine was considered to be 15 to 20 percent more fuel-efficient than competing designs. Katorgin has also contributed to the study of

nuclear pulse propulsion Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. It originated as Project ''Orion'' with support from DARPA, after a suggestion by Stanislaw ...

chemical laser A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can reach continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels. They are used in industry for cutting and drilling. Common examples of chemical ...

s and

superconducting Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in certain materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic flux fields are expelled from the material. Any material exhibiting these properties is a superconductor. Unlike ...

systems for power transmission. In 2012, along with

Valery Kostuk Valery Viktorovich Kostuk (russian: Вале́рий Ви́кторович Костю́к; born 26 August 1940 in Zaporizhia) is a Russian scientist who has contributed to the development of processes for producing gases and cryogenic liquids. ...

and

Rodney John Allam Rodney John Allam, MBE (born 1940 in St Helens, Lancashire) is an English chemical engineer and fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers who is credited with inventions related to power generation, notably the Allam power cycle, which ...

, Katorgin received the

Global Energy Prize The Global Energy Prize is an international award in the field of energy industry which is given for ''"outstanding scientific research and scientific-technical developments in the field of energy which promote greater efficiency and environmental ...

for his research and development relating to high-efficiency and reliable cryogenic-fuel-powered rocket propellant engines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katorgin, Boris 1934 births Living people Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian physical chemists Superconductivity scientists and engineers Rocket scientists People from Solnechnogorsky District