Energia

First Launch:

February 1961 Flight Rate:

5 to 6 launches per year Launch Site:

Tyuratam, Russia Capability:

3,564 lb lunar delivery trajectory;
2,596 lb Venus delivery trajectory;
2,090 lb Mars delivery trajectory

History

• Developed from the Vostok and Soyuz launch vehicles originally derived from the SS-6 ICBM
• Includes a third stage for high-energy interplanetary missions
• Used to launch many of the former Soviet Union’s early interplanetary space probes

Description

• Three-stage liquid fueled vehicle
• Stage 1 core has one RD-108 booster engine (one turbopump with four separate combustion chambers) burning LO2/kerosene propellant fed from stage 1 tanks, generating 167,000 lb of thrust
• Stage 1 strap-ons each have one RD-107 engine (one turbopump with four separate combustion chambers) burning LO2/kerosene propellant fed from stage 1 tank, generating a total of 740,000 lb of thrust
• Stage 2 has one RD-461 engine burning LO2/kerosene, generating 67,000 lb of thrust
• Stage 3 engine burns LO2/kerosene, generating 15,000 lb of thrust

Profile

Length:

138 ft

Launch Weight:

683,000 lb

Diameter

8.9 ft

Liftoff Thrust:

907,000 lb

Payload Fairing:

12.1 ft x 7.6 ft