Russia develops methane rocket engines for reuse for Amur boosters

Russia is developing a reusable methane rocket engine for Amur boosters capable of diverting an aircraft carrier off the launch pad in the event of a take-off incident.

Illustration. TASS. Igor Pshenichnikov, responsible for the Amur-LNG project, said Russian experts are developing a reusable methane rocket engine for the Amur boosters that can redirect carriers. off the launch pad in the event of take-off malfunction. “We are planning to deploy a hot backup and guidance system in the Amur boosters,” he said. If one of the motors fails, it will be turned off while the operation of the other thrusters will be accelerated. The lead expert explained: “In this situation, the quest continuation option would be considered.” If damage occurs during takeoff or near the ground, the missile will not be able to launch due to its large mass. That is why the missile is diverted to a safe distance so as not to damage the launcher. Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos and Progressive Space Missile Center signed a contract in October 2020 for the design of a space missile system concept with reusable methane-fueled rockets. The first Russian Amur application. The missile will be launched from Vostochny aerospace in the Russian Far East at a stage of reuse. In February, Dmitry Baranov – Director of the Advanced Space Rocket Center (a division of Roscosmos) said work on the conceptual design of the methane Amur fuel missile will be completed by the third quarter of 2021. . Amur is a commercial missile carrier. With the reuse phase, it will be able to put the payload of up to 10.5 tons into orbit as low as Earth, compared with the 8.5 tons carried by the Soyuz-2 rocket.