Russian developers want to create the first sample of a methane rocket engine in 2022-2023.
Russia is seeking to strengthen its position with an innovative methane engine for launch vehicles. Now the head of NPO Energomash, Igor Arbuzov, announced the approximate time frame for the creation of the first sample.
According to him, it will be ready in 2022-2023. The product is being developed by specialists from the Voronezh rocket engine building center.
At the moment, engineers are creating a demonstrator RD-0177, the technologies of which will form the basis of the flight model - RD-0169. To date, tests have been carried out on some elements of the engine, in particular the gas generator.
Earlier it became known that Russia intends to create a carrier rocket equipped with a methane engine. She appears as Amur and Soyuz-LNG. Among the main features of the rocket is a reusable stage designed to reduce the cost of launches.
Recently, the government procurement website published data on the cost of launching the launch vehicle. With the most economical configuration, the starting price should be $ 22 million. The launch of the most expensive configuration will cost 35 million.