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Russia approves conceptual design of super-heavy carrier rocket

The presented conceptual design of the super-heavy carrier rocket provides for the fulfillment of the work to achieve the stated performance characteristics

MOSCOW, October 22. /TASS/. A meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council hosted by the Progress Space Rocket Center approved the conceptual design of a super-heavy carrier rocket, the Center said on its website on Tuesday.

"The meeting of the Scientific and Technical Council approved the results of developing a preliminary design of a super-heavy carrier rocket and its integral parts," the Center’s press office said in a statement.

The work was carried out by the Progress Space Rocket Center in accordance with the technical specifications while the presented conceptual design of the super-heavy carrier rocket provides for the fulfillment of the work to achieve the stated performance characteristics, the Scientific and Technical Council noted.

"Therefore, the results of the conceptual design worked out by the enterprises engaged in cooperation confirm the possibility of creating a carrier rocket with the parameters stipulated in the technical specifications," the statement says.

The Council’s meeting was attended by representatives of the federal space agency Roscosmos, the Progress Space Rocket Center, the Energia Space Rocket Corporation, Technomash Research and Production Association and other organizations, according to the statement.

Chief Designer of the Soyuz-5 medium carrier rocket Alexander Cherevan demonstrated designs and calculations for the carrier rocket’s layout, onboard systems and assembly options.

"The work on the conceptual design included a comparative analysis of the basic versions of creating a super-heavy carrier rocket, a substantiation for its technical layout and basic characteristics and defined the stages and the timeframe of its development," the statement says.

Work on Russia’s super-heavy carrier rocket

In late March 2018, Roscosmos placed an order with the Energia Space Rocket Corporation for developing the conceptual design of a super-heavy carrier rocket. The contract was worth 1.6 billion rubles ($25 million), according to the price indicated on the government procurement website. The work under the contract is due to be implemented by October 31, 2019.

Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin earlier said the Yenisei new super-heavy carrier rocket would be assembled using the principle of a technological building kit where each part of the launcher should be an independent flight element. Under the designers’ plans, the rocket is intended to deliver more than 70 tonnes of cargo into the low near-Earth orbit at the first stage.

Under Russia’s federal target program, the first launch of the Yenisei super-heavy carrier rocket is due to take place in 2028. Russia will build a launch pad for the super-heavy carrier rocket at the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East.

Russia intends to use the new rocket for missions to the Moon, including the landing of Russian cosmonauts on the surface of the Earth’s natural satellite. In Roscosmos’ estimates, the Yenisei will be able to deliver a 27-tonne payload to the Moon’s orbit.