The future Soyuz 5 rocket becomes the Irtish

The future Soyuz 5 rocket becomes the Irtish https://danielmarin.naukas.com/files/2018/11/1527095050-1.jpg

If the Russian state corporation Roscosmos wants to play catch-up with the names of its future star rocket, it is getting it. The launcher formerly known as Soyuz 5 is now called Irtish (Иртыш) in honor of the Russian river of the same name (the names of more famous rivers such as the Volga or the Angará are already caught by other rockets or higher stages). And why is Soyuz 5 so important, sorry, the Irtish? Because this launcher has been chosen to put into orbit the future Russian manned ship Federatsia and will serve as the base for the giant rocket with which Roscosmos hopes to be able to travel to the Moon.

Versions of the Irtysh (to the left the unmanned, to the decha, the manned one (Roscosmos).

In 2014, following the conflict with Ukraine, Russia decided to build a substitute for the Zenit rocket, partially manufactured in the neighboring country. Until that moment, the Russian launcher that was destined to be the backbone of the space program was the Angará. This rocket of the Khrúnichev company, with capacity to put up to 25 tons in low orbit, had to replace the Proton and launch the ship Federatsia. The Zenit was relegated to the background. But the Kremlin decided that it was necessary to preserve the production of RD-171, the engine used by Zenit in its first stage, which is also the world's most powerful liquid fuel. On the other hand, it is easier to build a heavy launcher using blocks based on the Zenit and the RD-171 than in the Angará and its RD-191. The new Russian Zenit received the name of Féniks, making reference to the fact that the project was reborn from the ashes of its predecessor.

The Soyuz 5 / Irtish rocket with the ship Federatsia (RKK Energy).

After a series of internal fights, Roscosmos decided that the Féniks was built by the company RKTs Progress de Samara, manufacturer of the Soyuz rockets, with the participation of the company RKK Energía. The Féniks would take off from the Zenit facilities in Baikonur and, in the future, from the new Vostochni cosmodrome. In 2016 the version launched from Baikonur became known as Sunkar, "hawk" in Kazakh, as the Kazakh government wanted to participate in the new rocket within the framework of the Baiterek project, a program born in 2004 that had initially planned to launch the Angará from Baikonur. In 2017 it was decided to baptize Féniks as Soyuz 5, a somewhat controversial decision because RKTs Progress had recently proposed a family of methane-based launchers with a similar name. Last year it was also announced that the Federatsia ship would be launched by the Soyuz 5 / Sunkar from Baikonur and not by the Angará A5P from Vostochni. At the same time, the S7 company announced that it would use a version of the Soyuz 5 -Soyuz 5SL- to replace the Zenit in the launches from the Pacific using the facilities of the former Sea Launch company.

Russian rockets. On the left the Protón and the Angará family, including the canceled Angará A5V. On the right the Soyuz 5 / Irtish and a heavy launcher based on the same with seven blocks in the first stage (RIA).

The current head of Roscosmos, Dmitri Rogozin, played with the idea of changing the Irtys fuel and going from kerosene to methane and even suggested using other engines, but finally it seems that the preliminary configuration is maintained. According to the current design, Irtish has a launch mass of 530 tons (531 in the manned version), a length of 65.9 meters, a maximum diameter of 4.1 meters and a capacity to place 17.3 tons in an orbit low of 200 kilometers in height. The diameter of 4.1 meters is the maximum allowed by rail transport, but the Zenit had a diameter of 3.9 meters, so the Irtish must have a base of this size so that it can use the facilities of the Zenit. In the first stage Irtish will use a RD-171MV engine (the "V" could be by Vostochni), a simplified and cheaper and lighter version of the Zenit RD-171M with a thrust of 740 to 806 tons. The objective is to reduce the price of this engine manufactured by NPO Energomash, currently around 18 million dollars per unit. Rogozin wants the price of each launch of the Irtish does not exceed 60 million dollars so that it can compete with the Falcon 9 of SpaceX in the international market. In the second stage Irtish employs two RD-0124MS engines derived from the Soyuz-2.1b that replace the RD-120 of the Ukrainian-made Zenit. The upper stage will be a variant of the Blok-DM-03 of RKK Energy used in the Proton that has been christened Korvet.

The objective is to compete in the international market with Falcon 9 and Ariane 6 (Roscosmos).

To make things more complicated, recently the company S7 has made public its intention to develop a version of the Soyuz 5 / Irtish or the Zenit with a first recoverable stage to the Falcon 9, for which it is necessary to further reduce the weight of the RD- 171. He has also weighed the option of using NK-33 engines of the Soviet era, but has finally opted for the RD-171MV after Rogozin has assured that the new engine will be much lighter. S7 has declared that it is willing to create its own version of Zenit if the Irtys is not ready in time and also wants to launch cargo ships based on the Fedratsia as part of a battery of plans to each more ambitious. The logical thing would be to think that this company has nothing to do and that its plans are simple smoke, but let's not forget that S7 enjoys important contacts in the Kremlin and has signed several former senior officials of RKK Energía. It would be a mistake to underestimate them.

Irtish / Soyuz 5 / Féniks / Sunkar (Roscosmos).

Roscosmos assures that the definitive Irtish design will be ready by 2019 and that the first launch will take place from Baikonur in 2022. The first launch of the unmanned Federatsia ship will be a year later. Rogozin has announced that the Irtysh will serve as the basis for a heavy launcher capable of placing one hundred tons in low orbit and 27 tons en route to the Moon. This rocket will use six side blocks with RD-171MV engines surrounding a central block with an RD-180. For its part, S7 wants to launch a Zenit - modified? - next year. And, while Roscosmos becomes the seppuku going around with the design of the Irtys, Rogozin has said that the Angará should be revitalized and modernized. Ultimately, Russia's goal is to build two traditional launchers to compete with SpaceX, Blue Origin and, later, NASA's SLS. You'll make it?

Extra ball: It has nothing to do with the Irtysh, but I could not resist putting this weird video of a central stage of a Soyuz rocket in the middle of a forest after the launch of the latest Progress cargo ship to the ISS.