The NK-15 (

GRAU index The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

11D51) was a

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 accordanc ...

designed and built in the late 1960s by the

Kuznetsov Design Bureau The Kuznetsov Design Bureau (russian: СНТК им. Н. Д. Кузнецова, also known as OKB-276) was a Russian design bureau for aircraft engines, administrated in Soviet times by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov. It was also known as (G)N ...

. The NK designation was derived from the initials of chief designer Nikolay Kuznetsov. The NK-15 was among the most powerful

LOX Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an appli ...

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

rocket engines when it was built, with a high

specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse i ...

and low structural mass. It was intended for the ill-fated Soviet N-1 Moon rocket.

History

The engine equipped the N1 rocket - the first two launch attempts failed due to this engine. Its successor the

NK-33 The NK-33 and NK-43 are rocket engines designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. The NK designation is derived from the initials of chief designer Nikolay Kuznetsov. The NK-33 was among the most powerf ...

was to be used on the N1F, a new version of the N1, but the program was cancelled.

Versions

* NK-15V (

11D52): Modified NK-15 optimized for vacuum operation, used on the N1 second stage.

References

NK-15
''

Encyclopedia Astronautica The ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'' is a reference web site on space travel. A comprehensive catalog of vehicles, technology, astronauts, and flights, it includes information from most countries that have had an active rocket research program, f ...

''
ОАО СНТК им. Н. Д. Кузнецова

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nk-15 Rocket engines of the Soviet Union Rocket engines using kerosene propellant Soviet lunar program Science and technology in the Soviet Union Rocket engines using the staged combustion cycle

History

Versions

See also

References

External links