Rocket Engines

Liquid Rocket Engines (LREs)

Liquid Rocket Engines are reliability, efficiency, ecological safety and reusability.

Future LRE

Cost reduction

Energy and mass perfection

New materials (including carbon-carbon composite materials)

High reliability

Optimal parameters

New technologies (nano-, 3D)

Specialists of Keldysh Research Center justified and experimentally demonstrated for the first time ever a high efficiency of LRE, which operates on generator gas staged combustion cycle (closed cycle) and it has no analogues in the world.

Promising directions

• Development of new propellant components for LRE
  
• Development of LRE large-sized elements and components made of composite materials
• Research on LRE system stability as part of a rocket
  
• Research on heat exchange in LRE
  
• Laser ignition
• Thrust vector control
• Development of proposals for promising reusable propulsion of new generation of launch rockets
• Ecology and security issues
• Introduction of advanced methods of mathematical modeling based on complex multidisciplinary models of engine and its units, as well as the development of digital twins of products

More about digital technologies

• Physical modeling of some LRE units as well as processes occurring in them with the use of advanced measurement and control systems on a test bench including firing tests with the use of nominal propellant and propellant for testing model systems

More about a test bench

Keldysh Research Center was a pioneer in liquid rocket engine manufacturing. Several generations of highly reliable LREs were created in the premises of Keldysh Research Center.

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Electric Propulsion Thrusters

Keldysh Research Center has many years of experience in the development of electric propulsion thrusters that are successfully used as a part of new spacecraft. The main directions of our research are focused on two types of thrusters. They are Hall Thrusters and Ion Thrusters. When developing them, Keldysh Research Center applies its own mathematical models and calculations as well as its own plasma diagnostic tools. The testing facilities of the enterprise allows conducting a full cycle of experimental testing including functioning tests, impact of mechanical, climatic and thermo-cycle loads, measurements of the thrust vector and jet parameters in the thruster.

Keldysh Research Center has been developing flow rate control units in order to distribute and to adjust a working fluid flow rate in the manifold of electric propulsion thrusters. The fastidious work on miniaturization done in recent years made it possible to get unique weight and size characteristics having no analogues in the world.

Hall Thrusters

Keldysh Research Center developed first in the world flight prototypes of Hall thrusters with a high specific impulse of thrust, more than 2000 sec. The Hall thrusters family with a power of 200 W – 10,5 kW and a thrust of 10-580 mN was developed.

КМ-45

Development stage: Flight Model 

Power	350 W (200-450 W)
Thrust	18 mN (10-82 mN)
Specific impulse	1450 sec (1250-1500 sec)
Mass	2 kg
Overall dimensions	160x140x45 mm
Design service life	4000 h

KМ-60

Development stage: Flight Model 

Power	930 W
Thrust	42 mN
Specific impulse	1850 sec
Mass	3,1 kg
Overall dimensions	162 x 162 x 110 mm
Design service life	3000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	1,75±0,15 bar
Mass	0,325 kg
Overall dimensions	102 x 87 x 61 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 input, 1 anode output, 2 cathode outputs

Flow Rate Control Unit

KM-88

Development stage: Flight Model

Power	1,55 kW
Thrust	75 mN
Specific impulse	2100 sec
Mass	5,4 kg
Overall dimensions	225 x 215 x 115 mm
Design service life	4000 h

KM-75

Development stage: preparation for flight tests

Power	2,3 kW
Thrust	95 mN
Specific impulse	2680 sec
Mass	5,2± 0,1 kg
Overall dimensions	217 x 216 x 143 mm
Design service life	6000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	1,75±0,15 bar
Mass	0,325 kg
Overall dimensions	102 x 87 x 61 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 input, 1 anode output, 2 cathode outputs

Flow Rate Control Unit

KM-5

Development stage: Flight Model 

Power	1,35 / 2,0 / 2,5 kW
Thrust	80/110 / 140 mN
Specific impulse	1600 / 1900 / 2100 sec
Mass	4,9 kg
Overall dimensions	250 x 178 x 115 mm
Design service life	4000 h

KM-10

Development stage: Qualification Model 

Power	10,5 kW (1,5 -12,5 kW)
Thrust	510 mN (80- 580 mN)
Specific impulse	2600 sec (1500 -3200 sec)
Mass	11,8 kg
Overall dimensions	305 x 220 x 136 mm
Design service life	10000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	2,0±0,15 bar
Mass	0,4 kg
Overall dimensions	140 x 102 x 69 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 input, 1 anode output, 1 cathode output

Module

Technical Characteristics

Power	42 kW
Thrust	2 N
Specific impulse	2600 sec
Mass	60 kg
Overall dimensions	570 x 660 x 143 mm
Design service life	10000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit and Module

Ion Thrusters

Keldysh Research Center has been developing ion thrusters in order to use them on prospective geostationary spacecraft, transport modules and interorbital tugs. ID-500 is the biggest one among them with a power of 35 kW and a specific impulse of 7000 sec. It is the most powerful ion thruster in the world for now.

ID-500

Development stage: Qualification Model

Power	35 kW
Thrust	375-750 mN
Specific impulse	7000 sec
Mass	32,5 kg
Overall dimensions	690 x 690 x 500 mm
Design service life	20000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-500

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	1,75±0,15 bar
Mass	0,6 kg
Overall dimensions	117,5 x 144 x 60,5 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 cathode input, 2 inputs of manifold, 2 cathode outputs, 1 output of collector

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-500

ID-200

Development stage:
Qualification Model

Power	5 kW
Thrust	100 mN
Specific impulse	6500 sec
Mass	11 kg
Overall dimensions	350 x 350 x 350 mm
Design service life	20000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-200

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	1,75±0,15 bar
Mass	0,6 kg
Overall dimensions	117,5 x 144 x 60,5 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 cathode input, 2 inputs of manifold, 2 cathode outputs, 1 output of collector

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-200

ID-200KR

Development stage:
Qualification Model

Power	3 kW
Thrust	85 mN
Specific impulse	4500 sec
Mass	10 kg
Overall dimensions	345 x 345 x 325 mm
Design service life	10000 h

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-200KR

Technical Characteristics

Input pressure	1,75±0,15 bar
Mass	0,6 kg
Overall dimensions	132 x 134 x 69,5 mm
Gaseous interfaces	1 input, 2 cathode outputs, 1 output of collector

Flow Rate Control Unit BUR-200KR

Read more about Digital Technologies

Solid Propellant Rocket Motors (SRM)

• Development of look-ahead scientific & technical best practice for SRM promising systems, organization of work on SRM program development;
• Development of software and methodological support for operational processes modeling occurring in SRM, optimization of their design and analysis of experimental testing results;
• Complex tests of nominal and promising thermal protection and structural materials and filling materials;
• Studies on properties of combustion products of different fuel composition, including a dispersed analysis of condensed combustion products;
• Conducting calculation and experimental research for SRM of a promising emergency rescue system.