The Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with a spacecraft on board was launched from the Plesetsk cosmodrome on April 17. According to the United Engine Corporation, the RD-107A and RD-108A serial engines manufactured by the ODK-Kuznetsov enterprise in Samara worked normally, ensuring the payload was put into the target orbit at the calculated time.
The RD-107A is installed on the first stage and develops a thrust of 85.6 tons-force at Earth, with a specific impulse in vacuum of 320.2 seconds. The second stage is equipped with the RD-108A with a thrust of 80.8 tons-force and a specific impulse of 320.6 seconds. Both engines are made according to a four-chamber scheme with a common turbopump unit. Specialists from the ODK-Kuznetsov service center participated in the pre-launch preparation of the carrier and accompanied the launch, monitoring the operating parameters of the power plants.
The RD-107A/RD-108A family engines are equipped on all Soyuz-type launch vehicles — from manned missions to commercial launches. Confirmation of trouble-free operation once again demonstrates the preservation of the competencies of Samara engine building in the segment of liquid-propellant rocket engines of the first and second stages, which are critical for the Russian space program.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense published footage of today's launch of the Soyuz-2.1a medium-class launch vehicle from the Plesetsk cosmodrome in the Arkhangelsk region.
Read more materials on the topic:
- An engine that has never existed before is being created in Russia — it will open a new class of rockets
- ODK showed tests of the RD-107A/108A rocket engine: burns 12 tons of kerosene in minutes
- Flight is normal: RD-107A and RD-108A engines ensured the flight of Soyuz MS-28 to the ISS
