The rocket engines turned out by Kuznetsov Publ. Corp. affiliated to the Samara-based United Engine Corporation (UEС) made possible 15 launches of Soyuz carrier rockets from Baikonur, Vostochny, Plesetsk and Kuru (Guiana Space Center) cosmodromes in 2017.
The RD-107A/108A engine powered stages I and II of 14 out of the 15 rockets while the NK-33A engine provided thrust for the one remaining launch. The carrier rockets put on orbit Roskosmos space vehicles (including ISS-bound expeditions), those of the Russian Ministry of Defense and commercial satellites, the UEC press service has reported.
The RD-107/RD-108 propulsion units have been providing thrust for all the R-7 carrier rocket s’stages I and II (including Soyuz carrier rockets) ever since 1958. Currently, these engines are batch-produced by the Samara Kuznetsov Works under the engineering supervision of the NPO Energomash – the engine originator. According to the UEC press service, the products statistical reliability exceeds 99.9%.
The NK-33A liquid-fuel rocket engine is a modification of the NK-33 base engine, which was the world’s first in the category featuring a closed circuit fuelled by oxygen and kerosene components and capable of a multiple launch and repeated use. As noted at the enterprise, this unit apart of being noteworthy for its reliability and perfection of technical parameters it also has the biggest thrust to mass ratio among modern engines.
