Dmitry Baranov, Director of the Progress RCC, spoke about the degree of readiness of the Soyuz-5 rocket
The first stage of the new Soyuz-5 launch vehicle is longer than any railway car, so a three-piece trailer is being created for its transportation, he said in an interview with Gazeta.Ru" Director of the Progress RCC (part of the Roscosmos State Corporation) Dmitry Baranov. He also explained why alloy 1580 was used for the fuel tank and why the Soyuz-5 will be launched from the launch pad, from which Ukrainian Zeniths were previously sent into space.
- Earlier you reported that all work on the production of Soyuz-5 PH is on schedule. What has been done so far? What will be done in the near future?
- At the beginning of June of this year, specialists of JSC "TsNIIMash" and JSC "RCC "Progress" (part of the state corporation "Roscosmos") successfully conducted static tests of experimental fuel tank images of the first stage of the bench unit of the promising Soyuz-5 launch vehicle. According to the test results, the static strength of the lower part of the fuel tank with the power ring of the first stage of the Soyuz-5 rocket launcher, designed for cold and fire tests, was confirmed.
(three-layer structures with aluminum filler and carbon fiber sheaths needed to protect the payload in the atmospheric flight section and in ground operation - "Gazeta.Ru") made of alloy 1580 for ground-based experimental testing and testing of the Soyuz-5 rocket launcher. By the end of 2022, it is planned to produce more than 30 shells (formerly "Gazeta.Ru" told that mixing welding installations were created and installed at the Progress RCC by the Cheboksary enterprise "Sespel". The equipment provides welding of plates with a thickness of about 30 mm. The use of this technological process will ensure the welding of the required thicknesses in one pass, with high quality and characteristics and will increase the strength of the tanks of the new PH).
- As you said above, the material from which the tanks of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle will be made is aluminum alloy 1580. It is also being applied for the first time. What is it good for?
- Compared with the alloy used in the production of the Soyuz-2 PH, it has increased mechanical characteristics combined with an acceptable cost. Alloy 1580 will provide an increase in the mass of the payload to orbit to several hundred kilograms.
- Earlier it was also reported that for the first time a strapless inertial unit with sensitive elements on small and light fiber-optic gyroscopes will be used on the new rocket. Please explain what it is, what it is for, and what is better than the previous block?
- Indeed, the free-form inertial block (BIB) was used for the first time on a Russian-designed launch vehicle. The innovation of the BIB device lies in the fact that it is built on fiber-optic gyroscopes (a gyroscope is a device capable of responding to changes in the orientation angles of the body on which it is installed relative to the inertial reference frame - "Gazeta.Ru").
Baranov Dmitry Alexandrovich
Image source: Press service of JSC "RCC "Progress"
A fiber-optic gyroscope is an optoelectronic device for changing the absolute angular velocity relative to inertial space. The BIB device builds the required coordinate system on board the launch vehicle at the launch point and maintains the position of the launch coordinate system in inertial space throughout the flight. The BIB also determines the position of the launch vehicle relative to this coordinate system and provides the control system with information about the angles of rotation of the rocket, namely the angles of pitch, yaw and rotation (this is necessary information about the flight of the rocket, since any movement in the wrong direction can lead to a deviation from the course - "Gazeta.Ru").
- Will the Soyuz-5 really be launched from the launch pad, which was previously used for launches of Ukrainian Zeniths?
- Yes, the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle is designed taking into account the requirements for its launch from the launch table, which was previously used for launches of the Zenit launch vehicles. This launch pad involves receiving, installing and launching a launch vehicle from it in an automated mode, without performing manual operations. This, in turn, imposes restrictions on the number of connections between the rocket and ground equipment.
This approach significantly reduces the number of ground-to-board communications, which implies the rejection of relay communications, and, as a result, the simplification of the on-board cable network, reducing the number of receiving and transmitting converting on-board equipment.
- We know that the Soyuz-5 will use an emergency engine protection system. Is this protection already ready? Is it tested? Where will these tests be conducted?
- At the moment we are completing the design of the emergency protection system for RD171MV, RD0124MS engines. The subsidiary of JSC "RCC "Progress" - JSC "NPO Automatiki" (Yekaterinburg) starts manufacturing prototypes and conducting autonomous tests of devices.
Designers have planned two types of tests for testing the system. One type will be carried out during fire tests of the RD0171MV engine in JSC NPO Energomash and the RD0124MS engine in JSC Design Bureau of Chemical Automation.
The other was during the firing bench tests of the Soyuz-5 rocket Launch vehicle stage and stage at the Scientific Testing Center of the Rocket and Space Industry.
- As we know, such an engine protection scheme will be used for the first time. At what stages of the launch vehicle flight will it be used?
- Indeed, the engine emergency protection system (SAZ D) RD171MV, RD0124MS will be used for the first time.
In fact, it will consist of three computers (one at the Ӏ stage and two at the ӀӀ stage), which will work according to complex algorithms created by engine development organizations.
- When is the Soyuz-5 PH planned to be sent to Baikonur and on what transport?
- In the draft design, options for rail transportation of the rocket to the cosmodrome have been worked out. The main feature of the set of railway equipment is a coupling of three cars with an understated landing. The latter is due to the dimensions of the rocket. For the same reason
The first stage of the Soyuz-5 rocket is longer than any railway car, which is why the coupling is used. It is manufactured by JSC "Central Design Bureau of Transport Engineering". Transportation of the Soyuz-5 launch vehicle by rail can be carried out in one echelon.
Anna Urmantseva
