The RD-864 (

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 ...

: 15D177) is 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, ...

liquid propellant rocket engine burning

UDMH Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH; 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, НДМГ or codenamed Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is used as a rocket propellant. It is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell ...

and

nitrogen tetroxide Dinitrogen tetroxide, commonly referred to as nitrogen tetroxide (NTO), and occasionally (usually among ex-USSR/Russia rocket engineers) as amyl, is the chemical compound N2O4. It is a useful reagent in chemical synthesis. It forms an equilibrium ...

in a gas generator combustion cycle. It has a four combustion chambers that provide

thrust vector control Thrust vectoring, also known as thrust vector control (TVC), is the ability of an aircraft, rocket, or other vehicle to manipulate the direction of the thrust from its engine(s) or motor(s) to control the attitude or angular velocity of the ve ...

by gimbaling each nozzle in a single axis ±55°. It is used on the third stage of the R-36M UTTKh (

: 15A18) and

Dnepr Dnepr may refer to: *Dnieper, a river flowing through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea * Dnepr (motorcycle), a Ukraininan motocycle brand * Dnepr (rocket), a 1999 space launch vehicle *Dnepr radar Dnepr may refer to: *Dnieper, a river ...

. For the R-36M2 (

: 15A18M), an improved version, the RD-869 (

: 15D300) was developed.

History

When the

military developed an improved version of the

R-36M The R-36 (russian: Р-36) is a family of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and space launch vehicles (Tsyklon) designed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The original R-36 was deployed under the GRAU index 8K67 and was given the ...

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 c ...

, Yangel's

OKB-586 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 ...

developed a new engine for the third stage, the RD-864. Developed between 1976 and 1978 it flew for the first time on October 31, 1977. With the

START I START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 De ...

and

START II START II (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and Russia on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed by US President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yelts ...

the some 150 R-36M and R-36M UTTKh were retired and to be destroyed by 2007. So, a civilian application was looked for and during the 1990s,

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 R-36M designer) successfully developed the

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

. It flew for the first time on April 21, 1999 and as of June 2016 it is still operational. So, while the production of the RD-864 has long since been finished, the engine is still to this day operational. The RD-869 was an improved version for the most powerful

ever, the R-36M2 (15A18M). It had improved efficiency, restart capability and burn life over the RD-864. As of January 2016 there are still 46 operational R-36M2 (RS-20V, SS-18) and thus the RD-869 is still in service, if out of production.

Versions

There are two versions of this engine: * RD-864 (

Index: 15D177): First developed as the third stage engine for the R-36M UTTKh (15A18)

and, by extension, on the

. * RD-869 (

Index: 15D300): An improved version of the RD-864. It has improved efficiency, restart capability and burn life. It is used on the R-36M2 (15A18M).

References

External links

Yuzhnoye Design Bureau English-language home page
Rocket engines using hypergolic propellant Rocket engines using the gas-generator cycle Rocket engines of the Soviet Union Yuzhnoye rocket engines Yuzhmash rocket engines Rocket engines of Ukraine {{rocket-stub

History

Versions

See also

References

External links