Baikal booster
Encyclopedia
The Baikal booster is a proposed reusable flyback booster for the Angara
rocket family based on the Angara universal rocket module. It was designed by the Molniya Research and Industrial Corporation (NPO Molniya
) for the Khrunichev
Space centre, reusing the flyback and control system for the reusable Buran orbiter. The booster would be equipped with a RD-191
rocket engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to provide approximately 200 tons of thrust. In addition, it would be equipped with a folding wing stored parallel to the fuselage of the vehicle during the booster stage of the flight. After separation from the Angara launcher's second stage at an altitude of about 75 kilometers and a speed of Mach
5.6, the Baikal's wing would rotate 90 degrees and the booster glides in upside down position reducing speed. Once the booster reaches subsonic speeds a U turn is performed and an air-breathing RD-33 jet engine in its nose section is started to fly back to its launching site and make a powered horizontal landing on a runway. Apart from economic advantages, this procedure
greatly reduces the risk of falling space debris. Reducing this risk was important as the Angara
rockets will be launched from the deep inland Plesetsk Cosmodrome
.
A full-size engineering mock-up of the Baikal was exhibited at the Paris Air Show
in July 2001. Similar mockups were tested in wind tunnels of the Central Aero- and Hydrodynamics Institute TsAGI
, at speeds of 0.5 - 10 Mach. However, according to unofficial statements by Khrunichev Center representatives, there is (as of 2010) still a long way to the production of models for captive tests, and the mock-up demonstrated at Le Bourget differs greatly in appearance and design from the Baikal that will actually be launched.
Angara
The Angara River is a long river in Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, south-east Siberia, Russia. It is the only river flowing out of Lake Baikal, and is the headwater tributary of the Yenisei River....
rocket family based on the Angara universal rocket module. It was designed by the Molniya Research and Industrial Corporation (NPO Molniya
NPO Molniya
NPO Molniya is a Russian scientific and production enterprise, founded on February 26, 1976 prior to and for the creation of Shuttle Buran. At present, NPO Molniya carrying works on the reusable launch systems.- External links :*...
) for the Khrunichev
Khrunichev
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center is a Moscow-based producer of spacecraft and space-launch systems, including the Proton and Rokot rockets. The company's history dates back to 1916, when an automobile factory was established outside Moscow...
Space centre, reusing the flyback and control system for the reusable Buran orbiter. The booster would be equipped with a RD-191
RD-191
The RD-191 is a high performance single-combustion chamber rocket engine, developed in Russia. It is derived from the RD-170 originally used in the Energia launcher....
rocket engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen to provide approximately 200 tons of thrust. In addition, it would be equipped with a folding wing stored parallel to the fuselage of the vehicle during the booster stage of the flight. After separation from the Angara launcher's second stage at an altitude of about 75 kilometers and a speed of Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
5.6, the Baikal's wing would rotate 90 degrees and the booster glides in upside down position reducing speed. Once the booster reaches subsonic speeds a U turn is performed and an air-breathing RD-33 jet engine in its nose section is started to fly back to its launching site and make a powered horizontal landing on a runway. Apart from economic advantages, this procedure
greatly reduces the risk of falling space debris. Reducing this risk was important as the Angara
rockets will be launched from the deep inland Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...
.
A full-size engineering mock-up of the Baikal was exhibited at the Paris Air Show
Paris Air Show
The Paris Air Show is the world's oldest and largest air show. Established in 1909, it is currently held every odd year at Le Bourget Airport in north Paris, France...
in July 2001. Similar mockups were tested in wind tunnels of the Central Aero- and Hydrodynamics Institute TsAGI
TsAGI
TsAGI is a transliteration of the Russian abbreviation for Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т or "Tsentralniy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut", the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute....
, at speeds of 0.5 - 10 Mach. However, according to unofficial statements by Khrunichev Center representatives, there is (as of 2010) still a long way to the production of models for captive tests, and the mock-up demonstrated at Le Bourget differs greatly in appearance and design from the Baikal that will actually be launched.