Business, Industry
Proton-M launch vehicle: characteristics, launch, crash
Unfortunately, the devastation in the 90s significantly threw the industry back, but recently everything is starting to straighten out. Proof of this can serve as the resumed flights of a heavy rocket Proton-M, which is capable of putting into orbit record volumes of cargo.
History of creation
By 1960, which was almost officially considered the time of the unprecedented rise of Soviet cosmonautics, the need for a state in a very powerful launch vehicle, which would have been able to put more cargo into orbit, was finally clear. Of course, the first fiddle in the lobbying of such plans was not even the official cosmonautics, but the military, who needed a powerful "truck" for transporting heavy military cargoes into space.
Both sides of the Cold War in those years showed an unprecedented interest in plans to launch super-powerful hydrogen bombs into the geostationary orbit . Fortunately, until the practical implementation of such suicidal steps, the USSR and the US military still did not reach, but the Proton-M rocket was ready by that time.
Let us return to the immediate history of creation. OKB-52 was entrusted with development, headed by Chelomei VN. In order for this bureau to cope with the unimaginable volume of work that was to be accomplished in a relatively short time, it was necessary to include more than one dozen aviation KBs from all over the country.
Already in 1962 the first prototype was created. The missile was called "UR-200". From 1962 to 1964, nine trial launches of new equipment were carried out at once.
New prototype
All of them were successful, but in 1961, even before the trial flights began, Chelomei himself insisted on developing a new prototype. According to calculations, he was to be five (!) Times heavier than the original version!
Initially, the creators wanted to follow the path of "least resistance", combining two missiles "UR-200" and adding to the resulting design of another overclocking stage. However, preliminary calculations have clearly shown that the reliability of such a design will clearly leave much to be desired.
As a result, it was decided to create a new missile "UR-500", but for some simplification of calculations the scientists settled on a compromise version: taking a consistent arrangement of steps, as the upper part they used that for the "UR-200". Of course, the original project was significantly redesigned.
Engines
Classical oxygen-kerosene vapor was practically impossible, since it would have required to significantly increase the dimensions, and therefore a poisonous asymmetric dimethylhydrazine with nitrogen tetroxide as an oxidant was chosen as fuel.
On this basis, there was a conflict with Korolev, who demanded kerosene. Until 1965, large-scale tests were carried out on a new power plant under conditions that were as close to reality as possible.
Further history
As often happened in the domestic space industry of those years, politics dominated everything. By 1965, when the project was almost completely ready, the enterprise was tortured by inspections on the orders of L.I. Brezhnev. He was undisguised about the legacy of his predecessor.
Therefore, the development of the UR-200 was finally stopped. Fortunately, the 500th model was defended. In the middle of 1965, the satellite Proton was successfully launched into orbit. The signal from it was possible to receive only after some hours after an output in an orbit so for a long time start was considered unsuccessful.
In the first press publications, the missile was mistakenly named after the satellite. And it soon took root, and that's why it was in 1965 that Proton-M appeared in our space program. More precisely, instead of the "M" index, the rocket had a prefix "K".
Upgraded it began to be called only since 2001, when the first cargo was put into orbit with the help of it.
Main characteristics
The first stage has a diameter of more than six meters, the third - more than four. Considering that very toxic components are used as fuel, the strictest compliance with all preflight training standards for both the missile itself and the launch pad for it is required.
At the same time, the launch cost is less than $ 100 million. By the way, for the American Delta IV Heavy missile, which is one of the main competitors of our Proton-M, this figure is ... 265 million dollars. Three times higher!
Sad Statistics
Alas, but in the title of the article is not just the word "wreck". Not only the dimensions and the quantity of the output cargo became famous for this carrier. The fact is that the Proton-M rocket is known for the number of its unsuccessful launches. This tradition went back to the predecessor.
Judge for yourself. Of the four first launches that took place between 1965 and 1966, one was already unsuccessful due to the accident of the second acceleration stage. However, it would be strange to expect the opposite, since tests of a fundamentally new technique of this kind always involve a high probability of failure.
In general, there were recorded about 47 cases, when the launch of Proton-M ended in failure. Considering that there were only about 400 starts, we get about 89% of successful launches.
The most famous catastrophes
Accidents of this carrier rocket would hardly have caused such a wide public response (especially since abnormal situations have happened with "Proton" all the time), but only with its launches are the development of the domestic global positioning system - GLONASS.
So the $ 100 million worth of the start itself is simply insignificant compared to the damage the state incurs in the event of the loss of at least one such satellite. This was especially evident in 2010, when three satellites of the GLONASS group went to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, not into orbit.
The damage then amounted to about 3 billion rubles, not counting the price of the missile itself. As a result of this accident (which occurred because of mistakes during refueling fuel stages), dozens of high-ranking "space" officials lost their posts.
In 2011, again, due to malfunctions with the rocket engines, it was not possible to bring the unique Express AM4 satellite to the right orbit. It was connected with him full transition to digital television broadcasting in our country. Saving the device tried the whole world: telemetry stations were used all over the planet, but it was not possible to prevent the satellite from burning in the atmosphere.
The cost of damage is estimated at a minimum of 10 billion rubles.
In 2012, there was actually a similar story with two communications satellites. Again, because of malfunctions in the fuel system of the missile, the vehicles were put into an incorrect orbit. It was not possible to establish communication with them, the technology was recognized as lost. The cost of damage is about the same 10 billion.
In mid-2013, the epic with GLONASS continued. Again, three long-suffering companions (!) Exploded with the rocket. The investigation was thorough. This time the guards of angular speeds were guilty , which were installed at the assembly with a rotation of 180 degrees from the normal position. Because of this, the launch vehicle went in a completely irregular orbit.
Finally, in May of this year, the "Express" satellite again went to the bottom, again buried plans for an early transition to digital broadcasting.
Conclusions and prospects
As a result of all the above-described cases, many bosses lost their services. The government has allocated about 2 billion rubles for better preparation for the launch of missiles of this type. As a result, the cost of launching one "Proton" (including all losses) was equal to that of the American Atlas-5 missile.
Despite this, the Proton-M LV remains one of the most important pillars of commercial launches. Even with accidents, the cost of output to the geostationary orbit remains the lowest in the world, and therefore Roskosmos does not experience shortages in potential partners and customers.
New rocket
However, experts have long been talking about the fact that Proton-M soon flies away. The matter is that intensive development of the "Angara" is currently underway. This new block missile is not only cheaper than its predecessor, but also much easier to manufacture. The "Angara" uses kerosene-oxygen engines. It can be launched from the cosmodromes Plesetsk and Vostochny, without paying astronomical amounts to the Kazakhs for renting Baikonur.
Despite such bright prospects, the Proton-M launch vehicle will likely be used for a long time, since the development of new technology is delayed.
Similar articles
Trending Now