The RD-855 (
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 8D68M), also known as the RD-68M, is a four-nozzle
liquid-fuel rocket
A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entir ...
vernier engine, burning
N2O4 and
UDMH in a
gas generator cycle.
It was used on the
R-36,
Tsyklon-2 and
Tsyklon-3 first stage as
thrust vector control by
gimbaling of its nozzle.
The engine is distributed through a cylindrical structure that is integrated around the main engine
RD-251 module. The structure includes aerodynamic protection for the nozzles and small retro engines to assure the separation of the first stage.
The engine was ignited two second before the RD-251 main engine.
The engine was serially produced between 1965 and 1992. It was first launched on December 16, 1965 on an
R-36 and its last launch was on January 30, 2009 with the last launch of the
Tsyklon-3. The production capability was restarted for the
Tsyklon-4 but with the apparent cancellation of the program the engine would still be out of production.
See also
*
R-36 – The
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
ICBM
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons ...
for which the RD-855 was created.
*
Tsyklon-2 – A
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
small rocket that uses the RD-855.
*
Tsyklon-3 – A
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
small rocket that uses the RD-855.
*
Tsyklon-4 – A
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
small rocket project that would have used the RD-855.
*
Yuzhnoe Design Bureau
Pivdenne Design Office ( uk, Державне конструкторське бюро «Південне» ім. М. К. Янгеля , lit=State design bureau "Southern", named after M. K. Yangel, translit=Derzhavne konstruktors ...
– The RD-855 designer bureau.
References
External links
Yuzhnoye Design Bureau English-language home pageYuzhmash Home Page
Rocket engines of the Soviet Union
Rocket engines using hypergolic propellant
Rocket engines using the gas-generator cycle
Yuzhmash rocket engines
Rocket engines of Ukraine
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