Rus-M
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Rus-M (russian: Русь-М) was a proposed launcher design which was intended to become Russia's main launch vehicle for crewed spaceflight after 2018, and an integral part of the
Orel spacecraft Orel (russian: Орёл, , Eagle) or Oryol, formerly Federation (russian: Федерация, Federatsiya}), and PPPTS (russian: Перспективная Портативный Пилотируемая Транспортная Система, ...
being developed to replace the
Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...
. Rus-M was being developed by
TsSKB-Progress The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...
, beginning in 2009. The program was halted in October 2011, restarted in 2012 and finally cancelled in August 2015.


History

In 2009, Roscomos published the specifications for a Rus-M launch vehicle. Several variants of the Rus-M were later proposed, creating a family of similar launch vehicles. In spring of 2009, TsSKB-Progress won a government contract to develop a new launcher for Russia's human space program. The project was featured in MAKS 2009 Airshow, and preliminary design of the vehicle was expected to be submitted to the Russian space agency
Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...
by August 2010.


Requirements

Safety requirements put forward by
Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...
emphasized that the launcher design is to be extremely reliable; safe abort options for crewed vehicles must be available at any stage of flight, and vehicle departure from the launch pad must be guaranteed for the case of an emergency during an early stage of the launch sequence. The launcher was planned to provide a basis for a future heavy launcher capable to carry a payload of 5060 tons, as well as for a super-heavy design lifting 130150 tons.


Description

Four variants of Rus-M were planned for development. Each version would use a variable number of common cores as the first stage and boosters, each powered by a single
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 ...
RD-180 The RD-180 ( rus, РД-180, Ракетный Двигатель-180, Raketnyy Dvigatel-180) is a rocket engine designed and built in Russia. It features a dual combustion chamber, dual-nozzle design and is fueled by a RP-1/LOX mixture. The RD-18 ...
rocket engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. Two upper stages were planned. The first would have used four
RD-0146 The RD-0146 (РД-0146, Ракетный Двигатель-0146, Rocket Engine-0146) is a liquid-fuel cryogenic rocket engine developed by KBKhA Kosberg in Voronezh, Russia. The RD-0146 is the first Russian rocket engine to burn liquid oxyg ...
hydrolox engines developed by
Chemical Automatics Design Bureau Chemical Automatics Design Bureau (CADB), also KB Khimavtomatika (russian: Конструкторское бюро химавтоматики, КБХА, KBKhA), is a Russian OKB, design bureau founded by the NKAP (People's Commissariat of the Ai ...
. The second option would have been a kerosene fueled stage common with
Soyuz-2 Soyuz-2 (GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stage bo ...
. The first version of the rocket was to use three first stage cores, inseparably bolted together, with an RD-0146 powered second stage. It would have been able to lift a cargo or satellite payload of 23.8 tons to a 200-km, 51.7-degree circular orbit, a crew vehicle of 18.8 tons to a 135 by 400-km orbit, 7.0 tons to
geostationary transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellite, Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous orbit, geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into ...
and 4.0 tons to
geostationary orbit A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitud ...
. The second variant would add two additional cores, and allow the strapon boosters to detach earlier in flight, boosting payload capacity to 35 tons. Version 3 would use stretched tanks on the booster cores, increasing payload again to 50 tons. Version 4 would fly with only a single core, and a Soyuz 2-derived upper stage.


Development

TsSKB Progress The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...
was responsible for overall project leadership, system integration, second stage development and production. First stage development was to be led by Makeev KB Mash, while
NPO Avtomatiki NPO Avtomatiki - State Enterprise Scientific Production Association Of Automation (russian: Научно-производственное объединение автоматики) is a company based in Yekaterinburg, Russia. It is currently a ...
was to provide the rocket's flight control system. After Rus-M was ultimately canceled in 2011 after falling victim to the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...
, and competition with
Angara The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'',  "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...
, TsSKB Progress disclosed the existence of the Soyuz-5 rocket concept in 2013. Soyuz-5, later renamed "Irtysh", became the successor to Rus-M after Rus-M's cancelation and Irtysh surviving Roscosmos budget cuts in 2015.


See also

* *
Comparison of orbital launch systems This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2022; a second list includes all retired roc ...


References


External links


Launch vehicle for PPTS spacecraft
{{RD-170 rocket engine family Expendable space launch systems Space launch vehicles of Russia