The KVTK (russian: Кислородно-водородный тяжёлого класса, Oxygen/Hydrogen Heavy Class) is a liquid oxygen/hydrogen

upper stage A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...

for high energy orbits that is currently under development. The KVTK contains an RD-0146D engine and is designed for use on Angara rockets. KVTK would be the first hydrogen-powered upper stage for use on a Russian launch vehicle, although

Khrunichev The Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center (''Государственный космический научно-производственный центр (ГКНПЦ) имени М. В. Хру́ничева'' in Russian) is ...

has previously produced a hydrogen-powered upper stage (

KVD-1 KVD-1 was an upper stage LOX/LH cryogenic engine developed by the Isayev Design Bureau (now KB KhIMMASH) of Russia in the early 1960s. It is a modified version of the RD-56, developed for a never-completed cryogenic upper stage of the N-1 super- ...

) for the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

GSLV Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) is an expendable launch system operated by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). GSLV was used in fourteen launches from 2001 to 2021. Even though GSLV Mark III shares the name, it is an ...

. KVTK is designed to provide up to five ignitions, allowing for complex orbital maneuvering, and have an on-orbit lifespan of up to nine hours. KVTK would allow an increase in payload to GTO of 20-50% compared to the Angara A5's standard

Briz-M The Briz-K, Briz-KM and Briz-M (russian: Бриз-К, КM and M meaning ''Breeze-K, KM and M'') are Russian liquid-propellant rocket orbit insertion upper stages manufactured by Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and used ...

upper stage, powered by UDMH and N₂O₄.

History

The KVTK was originally studied as an upper stage for the Energia family of rockets, but in 1987 was superseded by the RCS stage (Retro and Corrections Stage), based loosely on the American

S-IVB The S-IVB (pronounced "S-four-B") was the third stage on the Saturn V and second stage on the Saturn IB launch vehicles. Built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, it had one J-2 rocket engine. For lunar missions it was fired twice: first for Earth ...

. In 1996, consideration was briefly given to constructing a KVTK-derived Russian Propulsion Module for the International Space Station. Most likely, this module would have been transported to the ISS by a Space Shuttle. On 10 December 2020,

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

signed a 20.6 billion

Russian ruble ''hum''; cv, тенкĕ ''tenke''; kv, шайт ''shayt''; Lak: къуруш ''k'urush''; Mari: теҥге ''tenge''; os, сом ''som''; tt-Cyrl, сум ''sum''; udm, манет ''manet''; sah, солкуобай ''solkuobay'' , name_ab ...

(US$279M as of December 2020) contract with Khrunichev to manufacture KVTK test models and flight test them by December 2025. In August 2021, Khrunichev announced that the first flight test of the KVTK is expected to occur in 2027 on an Angara-A5M launch vehicle.

Variants

The KVSK (RCAF) would be a smaller cryogenic stage carrying of propellant for the proposed Angara A3, while the KVSK-A7 would be a larger stage loaded with for the proposed Angara A7.

References

Rocket stages Space launch vehicles of Russia {{russia-stub