Amur (Launch Vehicle)

Amur
Function	Partially reusable orbital medium-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	KB Khimavtomatika
Country of origin	Russia
Project cost	US$900 million
Cost per launch	US$22 million (planned)
Size
Height	55 m (180 ft)
Diameter	4.1 m (13 ft)
Mass	360,000 kg (790,000 lb)
Stages	2
Capacity
Payload to Low Earth orbit (LEO)	Reusable: 10,500 kg (23,100 lb); Expendable: 13,600 kg (30,000 lb)
Launch history
Status	In development
Launch sites	Vostochny Cosmodrome
First stage
Engines	5 RD-0169A
Fuel	Methalox

Amur (Russian: Аму́р) is a partially-reusable, methane–fueled, orbital launch vehicle currently in the design concept stage of development by the Roscosmos State Corporation in Russia. Design began by 2020, with operational flights planned for no earlier than 2026. Amur is intended to substitute for the existing Soyuz-2, at a much lower per launch cost.^[2]

History

The contract for the preliminary design phase of the Amur was signed on 5 October 2020, to build "the first Russian reusable methane rocket."^[3] The design reference goals include high-reliability, operational launch cost target of US$22 million, and a reusable first stage, with an expendable second stage.^[3] Roscosmos has budgeted a "not to exceed" program cost of 70 billion rubles (US$880 million) for the development program through the first launch.^[4]

The rocket design is expected to follow the practice of SpaceX with the Falcon 9 to design the first stage for reusability.^[2]^[5] and the rocket engine to be reused 100 or more times.^[3]

Description

Amur is planned to be a 4.1 m (13 ft)-diameter two-stage-to-orbit, medium-lift^[2] vehicle of 55 m (180 ft) height, with a gross liftoff mass of 360 t (790,000 lb).^[4]^[3] It is aimed to deliver a payload to low-Earth orbit of 10.5 t (23,000 lb),^[2] but could loft 12.5 t (28,000 lb) if the first stage is expended and not reused, as all traditional launch vehicles of the early space age were.^[4] Amur will launch from the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East.^[6]

The first stage of the rocket will use grid fins to assist with attitude control during atmospheric reentry and is planned to be powered by five RD-0169A methane-oxygen engines,^[2] which are currently being developed at the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau.^[3] The long-term target is for most of the engines to fire 100 times, but the center engine, reignited for descent through the atmosphere and again for landing operations which will include extending landing legs,^[2] will be aimed to eventually reach a life expectancy of 300 engine firings.^[3]

The ground test program for the new methalox-propellant engines is expected to be completed by late 2024.^[6]

References

↑ Berger, Eric (6 October 2020). "Russian space corporation unveils planned "Amur" rocket—and it looks familiar". https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/10/russian-space-corporation-unveils-planned-amur-rocket-and-it-looks-familiar/.
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 berger, Eric (7 October 2020). "Russian space corporation unveils planned "Amur" rocket—and it looks familiar". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/10/russian-space-corporation-unveils-planned-amur-rocket-and-it-looks-familiar/.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 "Trouble-free as a Kalashnikov assault rifle: the Amur methane rocket". Roscosmos. 5 October 2020. https://www.roscosmos.ru/29357/.
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 "Russia to spend $880 mln on Amur reusable space rocket". TASS. 5 October 2020. https://tass.com/science/1208729.
↑ Russia "Copies" SpaceX by Designing Reusable Rockets: Elon Musk Reacts, Tech Times, 5 October 2020.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 "Russia to launch first reusable rocket with payload in 2026". TASS. 5 October 2020. https://tass.com/science/1208675.

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[1] Berger, Eric (6 October 2020). "Russian space corporation unveils planned "Amur" rocket—and it looks familiar". https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/10/russian-space-corporation-unveils-planned-amur-rocket-and-it-looks-familiar/.

[ars20201007-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 berger, Eric (7 October 2020). "Russian space corporation unveils planned "Amur" rocket—and it looks familiar". Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/10/russian-space-corporation-unveils-planned-amur-rocket-and-it-looks-familiar/.

[roscosmos20201005-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 ^3.4 ^3.5 "Trouble-free as a Kalashnikov assault rifle: the Amur methane rocket". Roscosmos. 5 October 2020. https://www.roscosmos.ru/29357/.

[tass20201005a-4] 4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 "Russia to spend $880 mln on Amur reusable space rocket". TASS. 5 October 2020. https://tass.com/science/1208729.

[techtimes20201005-5] Russia "Copies" SpaceX by Designing Reusable Rockets: Elon Musk Reacts, Tech Times, 5 October 2020.

[tass20201005b-6] 6.0 ^6.1 "Russia to launch first reusable rocket with payload in 2026". TASS. 5 October 2020. https://tass.com/science/1208675.

v t e Soviet, Russian, and Ukrainian launch vehicles
Active	Angara A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v UR Proton-M Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F
In development	Angara 1.2 Cyclone-4M Irtysh Proton Light Medium Soyuz-7
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon 2 3 4 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara A5 Antares 230+ Ariane 5 Atlas V Delta IV Heavy Electron Epsilon Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy GSLV Mk II Mk III H-IIA H-IIB Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A Kaituozhe 2 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 6 7 11 Minotaur I IV V C OS-M1 Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Safir Shavit Simorgh Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v Unha Vega Zenit 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque-1
In development	Angara 1.2 Ariane 6 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Eris Firefly Alpha Beta H3 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 11 21 31 LauncherOne Long March 8 9 Miura 5 New Glenn New Line 1 Nuri OmegA OS-M2 OS-M4 Orbex Prime SLS Soyuz-7 SSLV Starship Terran 1 Vega C Vega E Vulcan Zero Zhuque-2
Retired	Antares 110/120/130/230 Ariane 1 2 3 4 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV Diamant Dnepr Energia Europa Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M Lambda 4S Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan Pilot^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Saturn I IB V Scout SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Thor Able Ablestar Agena Burner Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon 2 3 4 UR (Proton) UR-500 (Proton) Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
Symbol ^† indicates projects terminated before a successful orbital launch

Amur (Launch Vehicle)

Contents

History

Description

See also

References