Editing Energia (rocket)

{{short description|Soviet launch vehicle}}
{{About|the Soviet launch vehicle||Energia (disambiguation){{!}}Energia}}
{{Infobox rocket
|image          =File:Energia Render 3.png
|upright        = 1.3
|caption        = Energia perspective free render with multiple angles and human (1.76 m) for scale. <!-- Energia is spelled wrong on the render. It should be Энергия, not Эиергия. -->
|name           = Energia<br/>Энергия
|function       = [[Human-rated]] multi-purpose [[super heavy-lift launch vehicle]]<!-- it has 100-ton LEO capacity -->
|manufacturer   = [[NPO Energia|NPO "Energia"]]
|country-origin = [[Soviet Union]]
|cpl            = {{US$|764}}{{nbsp}}million (1985)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/e/energia.html |title=Energia |last=Wade |first=Mark |website=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |access-date=January 16, 2025 }}</ref>
|mass           = {{Convert|2400000|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
|height         = {{Convert|58.765|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia">[http://www.buran-energia.com/energia/energia-carac.php Energia Characteristics]</ref>
|diameter       = {{Convert|17.65|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia"/>
|stages         = 2
|capacities     =
{{Infobox Rocket/Payload
|location=[[Low Earth orbit|LEO]]
|mass={{Convert|100000|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref name="EnergiaOffSite">[http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/launchers/vehicle_energia.html Launch vehicle "Energia" Official Site]</ref>
  }}
{{Infobox Rocket/Payload
|location=[[Geostationary orbit|GSO]]
|mass={{Convert|20000|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref name="EnergiaOffSite" />
  }}
{{Infobox Rocket/Payload
|location=[[Trans-lunar injection|TLI]]
|mass={{Convert|32000|kg|lb|abbr=on}}<ref name="EnergiaOffSite" />
  }}
|status         = Retired
|sites          = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]]
|launches       = 2
|success        = 2
|fail           = 0
|first          = 15 May 1987
|last           = 15 November 1988
|stagedata      =
{{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |type     = booster
  |name     = [[Zenit (rocket family)|Zenit]]
  |number   = 4
  |length   = {{Convert|39.46|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia"/>
  |diameter = {{Convert|3.92|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia"/>
  |engines  = 1 [[RD-170]]<!-- Do not change the digit to 4. RD-170 is one engine with four combustion chambers. -->
  |thrust   = {{Convert|29000|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} sea level<br>{{Convert|32000|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} vacuum
  |SI       = {{cvt|309|isp}} at sea level<br>{{cvt|338|isp}} in vacuum
  |burntime = 156&nbsp;s
  |fuel     = [[RP-1]]/[[LOX]]
  }}
{{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |type     = stage
  |stageno  = Core
  |length   = {{Convert|58.765|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia"/>
  |diameter = {{Convert|7.75|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="buran-energia"/>
  |engines  = 4 [[RD-0120]]
  |thrust   = {{Convert|5800|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} sea level<br>{{Convert|7500|kN|lbf|abbr=on}} vacuum
  |SI       = {{cvt|359|isp}} at sea level<br>{{cvt|454|isp}} in vacuum
  |burntime = 480–500&nbsp;s
  |fuel     = [[LH2|LH<sub>2</sub>]]/[[LOX]]
  }}
}}
'''Energia''' ({{langx|ru|Энергия|Energiya|Energy}}; [[GRAU]] 11K25) was a 1980s [[super-heavy lift launch vehicle]].<!-- it has 100-ton LEO capacity --> It was designed by [[NPO Energia]] of the [[Soviet Union]] as part of the [[Buran programme|Buran program]] for a variety of payloads including the [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran spacecraft]]. Control system main developer enterprise was the [[Khartron]] NPO "Electropribor".<ref>[http://web.mit.edu/slava/space/essays/essay-krivonosov.htm Krivonosov, Khartron: Computers for rocket guidance systems]</ref><ref>[http://arkos.kharkov.ua/sumbr_e.php Control systems for intercontinental ballistic missiles and launch vehicles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205080645/http://www.arkos.kharkov.ua/sumbr_e.php |date=2010-02-05 }}</ref> The Energia used four [[strap-on booster]]s each powered by a four-chamber [[RD-170]] engine burning [[kerosene]]/[[Liquid oxygen|LOX]], and a central core stage with four single-chamber [[RD-0120]] (11D122) engines fueled by [[liquid hydrogen]]/LOX.<ref>Russian Space Web, [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/energia.html Energia] page. Accessed 21 September 2010</ref>

The launch vehicle had two functionally different operational variants: Energia-Polyus, the initial test configuration, in which the [[Polyus (spacecraft)|Polyus]] system was used as a final stage intended to put the payload into orbit, and Energia-Buran,<ref name= "Hendrickx">{{cite book|author1=Bart Hendrickx|author2=Bert Vis|title=Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRb1yAGVWNsC|year=2007|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-387-73984-7}}</ref> in which the [[Buran programme|''Buran'' orbiter]] was the payload and the source of the orbit insertion impulse.

The launch vehicle had the capacity to place about 100 [[tonne]]s in [[Low Earth orbit]], up to 20 tonnes to [[geostationary orbit]] and up to 32 tonnes by translunar trajectory into [[lunar orbit]].<ref name="EnergiaOffSite" />

The launch vehicle made just two flights before being discontinued.<ref name= "JBIS-2002" /><ref name= "Hendrickx" /> Since 2016, there have been attempts to revive the launch vehicle, reusing an [[RD-170#RD-171MV|updated version of its booster engine]] in the [[Irtysh (rocket)|Soyuz-5]] rocket.

== Development history ==
Work on the Energia/Buran system began in 1976 after the decision was made to cancel the unsuccessful [[N1 (rocket)|N1 rocket]]. The facilities and infrastructure built for the N1 were reused for Energia (notably the huge horizontal assembly building), just as NASA reused infrastructure designed for the [[Saturn V]] in the [[Space Shuttle program]]. Energia also replaced the "Vulkan" concept, which was a design based on the [[Proton (rocket family)|Proton]] and using the same [[hypergolic propellant]]s, but much larger and more powerful. The "Vulkan" designation was later given to a variation of the Energia which has eight boosters and multiple stages.

The Energia was designed to launch the Soviet "[[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]]" reusable shuttle,<ref name= "Hendrickx" /> and for that reason was designed to carry its payload mounted on the side of the stack, rather than on the top, as is done with other launch vehicles. Design of the Energia-Buran system assumed that the booster could be used without the Buran orbiter, as a heavy-lift cargo launch vehicle; this configuration was originally given the name "Buran-T".<ref name= "JBIS-2002">B. Hendrickx, "The Origins and Evolution of the Energiya Rocket Family," ''J. British Interplanetary Soc., Vol. 55,'' pp. 242-278 (2002).</ref> This configuration required the addition of an upper stage to perform the final orbital insertion.<ref name= "JBIS-2002" /> The first launch of the Energia was in the configuration of a heavy launch vehicle, with the large [[Polyus (spacecraft)|Polyus]] military satellite as a payload, however Polyus failed to correctly perform the orbital insertion.

Due to the termination of the [[Buran programme|Buran program]] the Energia program was concluded after only two launches. The legacy of Energia/Buran project manifests itself in the [[RD-170]] family of rocket engines, and the [[Zenit (rocket family)|Zenit]] launcher, with the first stage roughly the same as one of the Energia first-stage boosters.

== Launch history ==

=== First launch (Energia–Polyus) ===
[[File:Energia-Polyus drawing.png|thumb|left|Polyus satellite on Energia launch vehicle|150x150px]]
The Energia was first test-launched on 15 May 1987, with the [[Polyus (spacecraft)|Polyus spacecraft]] as the payload. An [[Zarya spacecraft|FGB]] ("functional cargo block") engine section originally built as a cancelled [[Mir]] module was incorporated into the upper stage used to insert the payload into orbit, similarly to Buran and the US Space Shuttle performing the final orbital insertion, since the planned "Buran-T" upper stage had not yet progressed beyond the planning stage.<ref name="JBIS-2002" /> The intended orbit had 280&nbsp;km (170&nbsp;mi) altitude and 64.6° inclination.<ref>Vassili Petrovitch, [http://www.buran-energia.com/polious/polious-desc.php Polyus] (accessed 21 September 2010).</ref>

The Soviets had originally announced that the launch was a successful sub-orbital test of the new Energia booster with a dummy payload, but some time later it was revealed that in fact the flight had been intended to bring the Polyus into orbit. The two stages of the Energia launcher functioned as designed, but due to a software error in its attitude control system, Polyus's orbital insertion motor failed to inject the payload into orbit. Instead, the Polyus reentered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean.<ref>{{Cite web |url = http://www.astronautix.com/p/polyus.html |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160820181720/http://www.astronautix.com/p/polyus.html |url-status = dead |archive-date = August 20, 2016 |title = Polyus |access-date = September 25, 2017 |website = Astronautix}}</ref>

=== Second launch (Energia–Buran) ===
[[File:CCCP Buran.png|left|thumb|150x150px|Buran shuttle on Energia launch vehicle]]
The second flight, and the first one where payload successfully reached orbit, was launched on 15 November 1988. This mission launched the uncrewed Soviet Shuttle vehicle [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]]. At apogee, the Buran spacecraft made a 66.7&nbsp;m/s burn to reach a final orbit of 251&nbsp;km × 263&nbsp;km.<ref name="Hendrickx" /><ref name=Wade>Mark Wade, ''Encyclopedia Astronautics'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20011225045427/http://www.astronautix.com/craft/buran.htm Buran].  (accessed 21 September 2010).</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Energia Flights
|-
! Flight number<br /><small>([[International Designator|COSPAR&nbsp;ID]])</small>
! Date (UTC)
! Launch site
! Serial no.
! Payload
! Orbit at payload separation
! Remarks
|-
| 1
| 15 May 1987<br />17:30:00
| [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 250|Site 250]]
| 6SL<ref name="BR_Energia_Serials">{{cite web |last=Lukashevich |first=Vadim |title=Manufacturing History of the Energia Launch Vehicle |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/rocrt3.htm |access-date=25 January 2018 |website=buran.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
|[[Polyus (spacecraft)|Polyus]]
| −15 × 155&nbsp;km × 64.61°<ref name="BR_Polyus_Flight">{{cite web |last=Lukashevich |first=Vadim |title=The Polyus Spacecraft |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/cargo.htm |access-date=25 January 2018 |website=buran.ru |language=ru}}</ref>
| Spacecraft software error led to orbit insertion burn performed in incorrect attitude and payload re-entered atmosphere without entering orbit.<ref name="StarWars">{{cite web |last1=Day |first1=Dwayne A. |last2=Kennedy |first2=Robert G. III |date=January 2010 |title=Soviet Star Wars: The launch that saved the world from orbiting laser battle stations |url=https://www.airspacemag.com/space/soviet-star-wars-8758185/ |access-date=25 January 2018 |publisher=[[Air & Space/Smithsonian]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2<br /><small>(1988-100A)</small>
| 15 November 1988<br />03:00:01
| [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|Site 110/37]]
| 1L<ref name="BR_Energia_Serials" />
| [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]]
| −11.2 × 154.2&nbsp;km × 51.64°<ref name="BR_Buran_Flight_Timeline">{{cite web |last=Lukashevich |first=Vadim |title=Timeline of the flight of Buran on 15 November 1988 |url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/cikmain.htm |access-date=25 January 2018 |website=buran.ru |language=ru}}</ref><br />After burn: 251 x 263 km<ref name=Wade />
| First and only flight of [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]]. The spacecraft orbited Earth twice before de-orbiting and landed at Baikonur at 06:24 UTC.
|}

== Discontinuation and potential revival ==
Production of Energia rockets ended with the end of the Buran shuttle project in the late 1980s, and more certainly, with the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|fall of the Soviet Union]] in 1991. Since that time, there have been persistent{{cn|date=July 2022}} rumors of the renewal of production, but given the political realities, that is highly unlikely. 

While the Energia is no longer in production, the Zenit boosters were in use until 2017. The four strap-on [[Liquid Rocket Booster|liquid-fuel boosters]], which burned kerosene and liquid oxygen, were the basis of the Zenit rocket which used the same engines. The engine is the four combustion chamber [[RD-170]]. Its derivative, the [[RD-171]], was used on the [[Zenit rocket]]. A half-sized derivative of the engine, the two-chamber [[RD-180]], powers [[Lockheed Martin]]'s [[Atlas V]] rocket, while the single-chamber derivative, the [[RD-191]], has been used to launch the Korean [[Naro-1]] (as a reduced-thrust variant named the [[RD-151]]) and the Russian [[Angara (rocket)|Angara]] rocket. The RD-181, based on the RD-191, is used on the [[Antares (rocket)|Antares]] rocket.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1407/09angara/#.U72yHvldV8E|title = First Angara rocket launched on suborbital test flight|date = July 9, 2014|access-date = July 9, 2014|website = Spaceflight Now}}</ref>

In August 2016, [[Roscosmos]] announced conceptual plans to develop a [[super heavy-lift launch vehicle]] from existing Energia components{{clarify|source seems to indicate that certain parts of the design might be reused; but not the actual components as full-up designed for their previous use|date=July 2022}} instead of pushing the less-powerful [[Angara A5]]V project.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://izvestia.ru/news/628028 |script-title=ru:"Роскосмос" создаст новую сверхтяжелую ракету |newspaper=[[Izvestia]] |date=August 22, 2016|language=ru }}</ref> This would allow Russia to launch missions towards establishing a [[Colonization of the Moon|permanent Moon base]] with simpler logistics, launching just one or two 80–160-ton super-heavy rockets instead of four 40-ton Angara A5Vs implying quick-sequence launches and multiple in-orbit rendezvous.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=Russia's New Rocket Project Might Resurrect a Soviet-Era Colossus |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a22515248/russia-super-rocket-energia/ |website=Popular Mechanics |date=24 July 2018 |publisher=Hearst Digital Media |access-date=24 October 2019}}</ref>
Tests of [[RD-170#RD-171MV|RD-171MV]] engine, an updated version of the engine used in Energia, were completed in September 2021 and may potentially be used in the successor [[Irtysh (rocket)|Soyuz-5]] rocket.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berger |first1=Eric |title=Rocket Report: Next Falcon Heavy launch date set, Soyuz 5 engines clear tests |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/09/rocket-report-next-falcon-heavy-launch-date-set-soyuz-5-engines-clear-tests/ |website=Ars Technica |date=9 October 2021}}</ref>

==Proposed variants==
Three major design variants were conceptualized after the original configuration, each with vastly different payloads.

===Energia-M===
The Energia-M was an early-1990s design configuration and the smallest of the three. The number of [[Zenit rocket|boosters]] was reduced from four to two, the core stage was shortened and fitted with just one [[RD-0120]] engine. It was designed to replace the Proton rocket, but lost a 1993 competition to the [[Angara rocket]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a16319/abandoned-russian-rocket-baikonur/|title=This Immense Russian Rocket Was Abandoned For Decades|date=2015-07-06|work=Popular Mechanics|access-date=2017-05-28|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Origin of the Angara project|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/angara_origin.html|access-date=2021-07-15|website=www.russianspaceweb.com}}</ref>

A non-functional prototype ("structural test vehicle") of the Energia M still exists in the Dynamic Test Stand facility at [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wenz|first=John|date=2015-07-06|title=This Immense Russian Rocket Was Abandoned For Decades|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a16319/abandoned-russian-rocket-baikonur/|access-date=2021-03-24|website=Popular Mechanics|language=en-US}}</ref>

===Energia-2 (GK-175)===
Energia-2 was an evolution of the Energia studied in the 1980s. Unlike the Energia-Buran, which was planned to be semi-reusable (like the U.S. [[Space Shuttle]]), the GK-175 concept was to have allowed the recovery and reuse of all elements of the vehicle, similarly to the original, fully reusable Orbiter/Booster concept of the U.S. Shuttle.<ref name="gubanov9841">{{Cite web|url=http://www.buran.ru/htm/41-3.htm|title = Б.И.Губанов. Триумф и трагедия «Энергии» глава 41}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110011792.pdf|title=The Space Shuttle – NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)|date=2011|website=nasa.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150405023618/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110011792.pdf|archive-date=5 April 2015}}</ref> The Energia-2 core as proposed would be capable of re-entering and gliding to a landing.<ref name="gubanov9841" />

===Vulkan===
The final never-built design concept was also the largest. With eight Zenit booster rockets and an Energia-M core as the upper stage, the Vulkan (which shared the name with another Soviet heavy lift rocket that was cancelled years earlier) configuration was initially projected to launch up to 200&nbsp;metric tonnes into 200&nbsp;km orbit with inclination 50.7°.<ref name="gubanov9838">{{cite book |last1=Gubanov |first1=Boris |title=Триум и трагедия "Энергии" |trans-title=Energia Triumph and Tragedy |date=1998 |location=Nizhny Novgorod |url=https://www.buran.ru/htm/gubanov3.htm |language=ru |chapter=38. Перспективный ряд ракет-носителей |trans-chapter=38. Perspective launch vehicles |publisher=NIER }}</ref>

The development of the Vulkan and the refurbishment of Universal Test Stand and Launch Pad at site 250 for its launches was in progress between 1990–1993 and abandoned soon after due to a lack of funds and the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref>{{cite book
  |last=Godwin
  |first=Robert
  |title=Russian Spacecraft
  |publisher=[[Apogee Books]]
  |series = Space Pocket Reference Guides
  |year=2006
  |isbn=1-894959-39-6
  |pages=59 }}
</ref>

==See also==
* [[Comparison of orbital launchers families]]
* [[Comparison of orbital launch systems]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Energia (rocket)}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080326235830/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/energia.htm Encyclopedia Astronautica: Energia]
*[http://www.buran-energia.com/energia/energia-desc.php Detailed site about Energia]
*[http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/launchers/vehicle_energia.html Official energia.ru page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172607/http://www.energia.ru/english/energia/launchers/vehicle_energia.html |date=2016-03-03 }}
*[http://k26.com/buran/index.html K26 Energia page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080321122454/http://k26.com/buran/index.html |date=2008-03-21 }}
*[http://www.buran.ru/htm/rocket.htm {{in lang|ru}} A page about Energia rocket on a site about Buran spacecraft] – [https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.buran.ru%2Fhtm%2Frocket.htm&hl=en&ie=UTF8&sl=ru&tl=en English translation]
* [http://kuasar.narod.ru/history/ussr-moon-program/energia.htm Energia – last Moon project.] (rus) [https://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fkuasar.narod.ru%2Fhistory%2Fussr-moon-program%2Fenergia.htm&sl=ru&tl=en&hl=en&ie=UTF-8 English translation]

{{Russian launch vehicles}}
{{RD-170 rocket engine family}}
{{Expendable launch systems}}
{{Reusable launch systems}}
{{Buran program}}

[[Category:Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Soviet inventions]]
[[Category:RSC Energia]]