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The RD-253 ( russian: italic=yes, Раке́тный дви́гатель 253 , ''Rocket Engine 253'') and its later variants, the RD-275 and RD-275M, are
liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket utilizes a rocket engine that uses liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. Liquids are desirable because they have a reasonably high density and high Specific impulse, specific impulse (''I''sp). T ...
engines developed in the Soviet Union by
Energomash The Energomash Corporation (Cyrillic: "Энергомаш") was a Russian power engineering company. Energomash manufactures small cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to gene ...
. The engines are used on the first stage of the
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
launch vehicle and use an oxidizer-rich
staged combustion Staged combustion is a method used to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides ( NOx) during combustion. There are two methods for staged combustion: air staged supply and fuel staged supply. Applications of staged combustion include boilers and ro ...
cycle to power the turbopumps. The engine burns UDMH/ N2O4, which are highly toxic but hypergolic and storable at room temperature, simplifying the engine's design.


History

Development of the RD-253 started in 1961. Preliminary investigations and development of the engine as well as its further production was performed under the guidance of Valentin Glushko and finished in 1963. The RD-253 uses a
staged combustion Staged combustion is a method used to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxides ( NOx) during combustion. There are two methods for staged combustion: air staged supply and fuel staged supply. Applications of staged combustion include boilers and ro ...
cycle for oxidizer-rich generator gas. It was used for the first time in July 1965 when six engines powered the first stage of the rocket. Development and production of RD-253 was a qualitative leap forward for rocketry of that time by achieving high levels of thrust, specific impulse and pressure in the combustion chamber. This engine is one of the most reliable engines in the USSR and modern Russia. As every first stage of Proton-K rockets used six RD-253 engines, the system played a pivotal role in Russian space missions when this rocket was chosen as carrier, including the following programs: "Luna", " Venera", "Mars probe", manned orbital stations "Salyut", " Mir" and it supplied several principal modules for ISS. It is used widely also for heavy satellites launches. The last RD-253 rocket engine was used on Proton-K rocket and launched on March 30, 2012. Since the original development of the engine, several modifications were designed that weren't used in rockets. One of them was the RD-256 engine for which development stopped on experimental models. It wasn't used in flights and was designed for a cancelled vehicle. The modification marked RD-254 was supplied with extended nozzle for work in vacuum.


Current state and development

All rights to sell and employ the RD-253 for
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
rocket are held by
Energomash The Energomash Corporation (Cyrillic: "Энергомаш") was a Russian power engineering company. Energomash manufactures small cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to gene ...
which produces it in Perm, Russia. The modification RD-275 (14D14) appeared as the result of development in 1987–1993 years with the purpose to achieve a more powerful version of the engine. Its 7.7% higher thrust was reached by raising pressure in the combustion chamber and enabled to raise
payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...
mass to geostationary orbit (GEO) up to more than . The successful maiden flight of a
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
rocket with the new engine was completed in 1995.
Energomash The Energomash Corporation (Cyrillic: "Энергомаш") was a Russian power engineering company. Energomash manufactures small cogeneration Cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) is the use of a heat engine or power station to gene ...
started the development of next more powerful version of engine in 2001. It has 5.2% higher thrust and has the designation 14D14M (RD-275M). It was designed to allow the rocket to deliver more payload to
GEO Geo- is a prefix derived from the Greek word ''γη'' or ''γαια'', meaning "earth", usually in the sense of "ground or land”. GEO or Geo may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''GEO'' (magazine), a popular scientific magazine ...
. In the period from 2002 to 2003 years some experimental work was completed with this version of the engine. It included four test firings of three experimental RD-275M with a total time of 735 s. In the middle of 2005 this engine went into production by government commission. First launch of Proton-M with 14D14M engines is conducted July 7, 2007. The final version RD-275M is sometimes designated as RD-276 but through 2009 the name RD-275M (14D14M) was more common. Some sources points out the cost of production per engine as much as 1.5 million USD and sometimes calls some lower figures around 1 million USD per unit.


Versions

During the years there have been many versions of this engine: * RD-220: Initial proposal for the
N-1 N1, N.I, N-1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now mostly ...
first stage. * RD-221: Initial proposal for the
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second stage. * RD-222 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 11D41): Development program for the
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first stage. * RD-223 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 11D42): Development program for the
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second stage. * RD-253 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 11D43): Serial production version for the
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
(8K62) first stage. Was proposed for the
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first stage. * RD-253F (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 11D43F): Project for R-36M (15А14) first stage. * RD-254 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 11D44): Project for UR-700 third stage and for
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
and
N-1 N1, N.I, N-1, or N01 may refer to: Information technology * Nokia N1, an Android tablet * Nexus One, an Android phone made by HTC * Nylas N1, a desktop email client * Oppo N1, an Android phone * N1, a Sun Microsystems software brand now mostly ...
second stages, it was a RD-253 high-altitude version. * RD-275 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 14D14): Serial production for Proton-M first stage. RD-253 with increased thrust by 8%. * RD-275М AKA RD-276 (
GRAU 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 ...
Index 14D14М): Serial production for Proton-M first stage. Improved RD-275.


See also

*
Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' elementary charge. Its mass is slightly less than that of a neutron and 1,836 times the mass of an electron (the proton–electron mass ...
- uses RD-275 * Rocket engine


References

{{Rocket engines Rocket engines of Russia Rocket engines of the Soviet Union Rocket engines using hypergolic propellant Rocket engines using the staged combustion cycle Energomash rocket engines