Classification of launch vehicles based on the mass of the payload being launched and the launch method used. Comparison of characteristics and examples of operating launch vehicles. Molniya (booster) Molniya launch vehicle

In 1958-1960, the OKB-1 team under the leadership of S.P. Korolev, based on the modernized R-7a rocket, created a four-stage medium-class launch vehicle "Molniya", which was intended for exploration of the Moon and planets of the Solar system using automatic spacecraft, launching into highly elliptical orbits communication satellites of the "Molniya" type and spacecraft in the interests of Ministry of Defense.

To deliver interplanetary space stations to their departure trajectories, for the first time in Russian cosmonautics, an upper stage (block “L”) was developed, launching from near-Earth orbit. The launch of the propulsion system (PS) of the “L” block occurs in zero-gravity conditions after an hour and a half of the rocket’s flight in low-Earth orbit, so it was necessary to install a stabilization and orientation system on the “L” block and ensure the engine starts in weightlessness.

In 1963-1965, Branch No. 3 of OKB-1 (currently the State Scientific Research and Production Design Bureau TsSKB-Progress) actively worked to improve the flight performance characteristics of the Molniya LV, which resulted in the creation of the Molniya-M LV with a modified control system and increased energy indicators of the first stage remote control. Production of the first three stages of the modernized launch vehicle was organized at plant No. 1 (currently GNPRKTs TsSKB-Progress).

The first launch of the modernized Molniya-M launch vehicle was carried out on October 4, 1965 with the Luna-7 spacecraft. On January 31, 1966, the Molniya-M launch vehicle successfully delivered the Luna-9 spacecraft into orbit, which made a soft landing on the lunar surface in the Ocean of Storms region.

Subsequently, in the period 1966-1972, with the help of this launch vehicle, five automatic interplanetary stations were launched onto the flight path to Venus. However, the Molniya-M launch vehicle was most often used to launch Molniya-type communications satellites and Cosmos series spacecraft into highly elliptical orbits.

On September 30 at 21:01 Moscow time, the last launch of the Molniya-M launch vehicle was successfully carried out from the launch pad of the Plesetsk cosmodrome, which completed the flight program of this oldest Russian rocket.

From the beginning of operation to the present day, 280 launches of the Molniya-M launch vehicle have been carried out from the Baikonur and Plesetsk cosmodromes, confirming the operational reliability indicator of 0.980.

This carrier has been replaced by a new middle-class launch vehicle.
"Soyuz-2" developed by the Federal State Unitary Enterprise "GNPRKTs "TsSKB-Progress" with the Fregat upper stage (FGUP "NPO named after Lavochkin"), which has a higher payload capacity and, due to the use of the upper stage, can launch spacecraft to various types orbit.

Main characteristics of the Molniya-M launch vehicle

Main characteristics of the Soyuz-2.1b launch vehicle with the Fregat launch vehicle

Press service of TsSKB-Progress

LV "Molniya-M"

"Lightning" (GRAU Index - 8K78) - disposable four-speed middle class. Part of the R-7 family of launch vehicles.

Designed by OKB-1 in 1959-1960. Manufacturer: GNP RKTs TsSKB-Progress. The design and engine of the third stage (Block “I”) are based on the design and engine of the second stage of the R-9A (8K75) combat missile, the design of the 4th stage Block “L” is based on the design of block “E” of the 8K72 missile, but the engine was used fundamentally new, closed circuit and with the ability to launch in zero gravity. It was developed for launching to and, then for launching lunar vehicles of the E-6 and E-6C series (“Luna-4” - “Luna-14”), for which the control system was significantly modified. Gained fame in connection with Molniya launches on highly elliptical planes. Later used for launching satellites, warning systems missile attack(SPRN) "Eye", also to synchronous highly elliptical orbits.

After modernization of the engines of the first and second stages, it received the name “Molniya-M”. Served as the basis for the creation of the three-stage variants “Voskhod” and “Soyuz”.

The prospect of creating a multi-stage spacecraft carrier based on the R-7 rocket opened up new opportunities for exploring the Moon and the nearest planets of the Solar System - Venus and Mars.
The Government Decree of June 4, 1960 “On Plans for the Exploration of Outer Space” ordered the creation of a four-stage launch vehicle for flight to Mars and Venus.
The new four-stage launch vehicle was developed on the basis of the R-7 rocket. As the III stage (block I) they used (with modification) the II stage of the R-9 rocket with an engine developed by S.A. Kosberg, and the IY stage is block L, developed by OKB-1, on which the 11D33 closed-loop rocket engine, also developed by OKB-1, was first used.
The launch of the L block propulsion system was supposed to take place in zero-gravity conditions after an hour and a half of flight in orbit around the Earth, and not immediately after the completion of the third stage, therefore, on the L block it was necessary to install a stabilization and orientation system for the pause period and a unit for ensuring engine starting in weightlessness. Block L also installed a control system for blocks I and L, developed by a research institute under the leadership of N.A. Pilyugin.
The development of the AMS for the flight to Venus was carried out in the second half of 1960.

The first successful launch of a launch vehicle with an AMS on board took place on February 12, 1961. The spacecraft with upper stage L entered orbit, circled the Earth and, for the first time in the world, launched over Equatorial Africa towards Venus. This station was named "Venera-1".
On November 1, 1962, the first successful launch of the spacecraft towards Mars was carried out. This station was named "Mars-1".

In the period from October 1960 to March 1964, a series of emergency launches of the launch vehicle took place, the cause of which was the failure of the L block engine. Analysis of the accidents made it possible to identify the cause of the failures. A design error was made, as a result of which the IV stage engine (block L) did not start. Block L had a separate launch support unit, on the truss structure of which the orientation and stabilization system was located, as well as engine automation with power supply batteries. The control system was supposed to switch the power supply of the orientation and stabilization system of the batteries of the launch support unit to the batteries of block L 70 s before turning on the engine of block L. However, the power supply did not switch, and block L was in an uncontrolled mode for 70 s. The operation of the block could be successful if the angular disturbances of the block did not change its position beyond the permissible one; at that moment the power supply was turned on from the control system of block L. If the disturbances were greater than permissible, the gyroscopes stopped and the block L engine did not turn on. The error that caused so much trouble has been fixed. The launch of the AMS, carried out on April 24, 1964 towards Venus, took place without any comments on the launch vehicle.
It should be noted that the launch of rocket block L in an intermediate orbit under weightless conditions was carried out for the first time. The conditions of his flight, the nature of the environment, and the influencing factors were unknown. There were a lot of unknowns, encountered for the first time, and there was nowhere to learn and no one to learn from. I learned only from my own experience. This explains large number failures of block L. An additional difficulty was presented by the fact that the launch of block L took place over the Atlantic, in the region of the Gulf of Guinea. At that time, it was not possible to receive telemetric information from the IV stage in real time; information came from the ships of the command and measurement complex only in recordings and with a great delay.
On April 23, 1965, the launch vehicle in question successfully launched the Molniya-1 active repeater into orbit. to build with its help a long-distance radio communication line between Moscow and Vladivostok. On May 1, 1965, with the help of this satellite, residents Far East for the first time we saw on our television screens a live broadcast of a military parade and a demonstration of workers on Red Square in Moscow. After this, the launch vehicle began to be called "Molniya".

The Molniya-M rocket was launched on June 21 at 4:49 Moscow time from the Plesetsk cosmodrome. After 4 minutes 50 seconds, strangeness was noticed in her behavior, and then the command was sent to stop the engines. Eight seconds passed between the last events - it can be assumed that the instructions instructing the operator to destroy the spacecraft did not allow for discrepancies.

The crashed rocket was supposed to land in the Uvat district of the Tyumen region, where the Tobolsk test site is located. During successful launches, the spent third stage falls there. This time, as Roscosmos reported, it was she who failed to separate and went down together with the Ministry of Defense satellite Molniya-3K. The satellite, according to the military, was supposed to self-destruct. To make sure of this, a search operation began in the area, but in five hours the helicopters of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the An-2 plane did not find any traces of a fall or explosion. They decided to continue the search the next day.

There were no casualties in the accident. The launch went smoothly, and the area where the debris was supposed to fall was always considered a dangerous zone and therefore sparsely populated. But it seems that Roscosmos and the Ministry of Defense have other reasons for concern.

No one had previously doubted the reliability of Molniya-M. Since 1965, it has taken off 275 times, and only one accident occurred during launch (in several more cases the orbit differed from the calculated one, and the device was “removed from the distance”). The prototype of this model was the R-7 - the first Soviet intercontinental missile and a source of legitimate pride for the Korolev Design Bureau.

“Molniya” is distinguished from the others by the shape of its orbit: a highly elongated ellipse or parabola. In the first case, the distance between the satellite and the Earth changes hundreds of times during one revolution. In the second, the device leaves the vicinity of our planet for good.
Thanks to this property, several impressive results were associated with the first interplanetary stations: the ZMV-3 apparatus delivered a pennant with the Soviet coat of arms to Venus, and Luna 9 made a soft landing on the Moon.

Elongated but closed orbits are in demand for communications satellites. To remain in the field of view of ground-based antennas for a long time, they must move quite slowly. The “simplest” way is to completely synchronize the motion of the satellite with the rotation of the planet. Circular orbits with this property are called geostationary and have a significant drawback: the satellite is always removed from the Earth at an impressive distance of 42 thousand kilometers. In addition, the “hovering point” can only be located above the equator.

An alternative to geostationary orbits is elliptical geosynchronous orbits. According to Kepler's law, formulated back in the 17th century, when moving along an elliptical trajectory in the central field, the radius vector of a body “sweeps” equal areas in the same time, that is, the further the object is from the Earth, the lower its speed. For a satellite whose orbital semi-axes have a ratio of 1 to 100, this means 10 thousand times less speed of movement across the starry sky at the most distant point than at the closest point. By the way, the future famous science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke suggested using geosynchronous orbits for communication needs in his scientific article, when there were still 12 years left before the creation of the first satellite.

Eye

The military regularly resorted to the services of Molniya-M. Little is known about what the next satellite of the Ministry of Defense was supposed to do. The wording - “replenish the orbital military group” - does not mean anything. But small details attract attention.

Vladimir Putin was presented with a model of “Molniya” in Plesetsk, a frame from the “Namedni” program, February 2004

Representatives of Roscosmos claim that the satellite itself “fell or self-destructed.” It is likely that the latter option will seriously complicate the work of experts who will try to find out the cause of the accident. However, one of the participants in the emergency commission said that the “filling” of the rocket is a state secret, and this (and not at all the desire to “find out how everything was” or concern for the environment) can easily explain the thoroughness with which its fragments are searched. Another circumstance testifies to the importance of the tasks - in February last year, during the launch of the Molniya with similar equipment, the President of the Russian Federation was present on board, and this became his first visit to the Plesetsk cosmodrome.

In December 2003, the Don spacecraft suddenly broke into five parts in space, then called “the last Russian spy satellite” by the Kommersant newspaper. In August, they replaced Araks, which stopped working in orbit. The third satellite, which the military reported losing that year, was officially part of the Oko-1 system, which is supposed to detect ballistic missile launches from Earth in advance.

American experts consider most of the Molniya spacecraft launched from Plesetsk to be participants in this program. A fire at the command post in Serpukhovo helped “expose” the equipment: it happened in May 2001, after which four satellites simultaneously stopped adjusting their orbit. Soon there was only one left in orbit.

Environmentalists are no less concerned than the military. Although most reports emphasized that the fuel consisted of "safe" substances - kerosene and liquid oxygen, an "alternative version" was voiced - that there was heptyl, a highly toxic derivative of hydrazine, on board. Indeed, many Russian and Ukrainian missiles are equipped with it, but, according to all available descriptions, Molniya-M does not use it.

Apparently, the Molniya-3K satellite was supposed to fill a fairly significant gap in the country's defense capability. The military’s worries are understandable: they have a lot to figure out before the next device is sent into a highly elliptical orbit to take care of the “peaceful sleep” of the Russians.

Performance characteristics of the Molniya-M missile

(source - samspace.ru)

Engine type - liquid-propellant rocket engine with pump fuel supply

Fuel components (main) - liquid oxygen/kerosene

Flight tests of the first modification began in 1954. The flight test began in 1960. Entered service in 1975

Number of steps - 4

Launch weight - 305 tons

The length of the launch vehicle with the head unit is 43.4 meters

The mass of payload launched into orbit is up to 2010 kg

The first launch of the Molniya-M launch vehicle from the Plesetsk cosmodrome was carried out on February 19, 1970. A total of 230 launch vehicles of this modification were launched from the cosmodrome.

Borislav Kozlovsky

The oldest space launch vehicle in Russia's modern transport space system is the Molniya launch vehicle. Development of this space rocket began in the late fifties to launch interplanetary stations to Venus and Mars. For the first time in Russian cosmonautics, a new, fourth stage was developed, the launch of the propulsion system of which is carried out after a long flight in zero gravity conditions.

Since February 19, 1970, at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, launches have been carried out of the modernized Molniya-M space rocket, which is used to launch communications satellites of the same name, spacecraft of the Cosmos series and research satellites Prognoz-M2 into highly elongated elliptical orbits. Launch weight launch vehicle is about 305 tons, length - 43.4 meters.

The mass of the payload launched into an elliptical orbit reaches 1.9 tons. As of January 1, 1996, 206 launches of the Molniya-M launch vehicle were carried out at the Plesetsk cosmodrome, of which 199 were completely successful.

The first three stages of the Molniya-M launch vehicle served as the basis for the creation of a family of medium-class space launch vehicles designed to launch manned and unmanned spacecraft into low Earth orbits.

Originally it was "Voskhod". Then for launches spaceships Soyuz, changes were made to the design of the third stage and a launch vehicle of the same name appeared.

The Voskhod launch vehicle became the second space launch vehicle of the Plesetsk cosmodrome. Its launches were carried out from April 6, 1966 (Cosmos-114) to June 16, 1976 (Cosmos-833). A total of 166 launches took place, of which 155 were completely successful.

Cosmodrome "Plesetsk". LV "Molniya" on the launch pad