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Ukraine resumes testing of the RD-861K engine In October 2017, after a more than year-long break, Ukraine's KB Yuzhnoe resumed testing of the RD-861K engine developed for the upper stage of prospective space launch vehicles, such as Tsyklon-4 and Tsyklon-4M.
The original version of the RD-861K engine with a carbon nozzle. The RD-861K engine at a glance:
The RD-861K engine was originally intended for the ill-fated Tsyklon-4 project developed and funded jointly by Ukraine and Brazil. After the collapse of the venture around 2015, the RD-861K was re-purposed for the commercial Tsyklon-4M rocket, which KB Yuzhnoe hopes to develop in Ukraine and launch from a yet-to-be built spaceport in Canada. There are also reports that China has eyed the RD-861K for potential applications on one of its own future space launchers. According to industry sources, three series of multiple tests have been successfully conducted at a static facility in the city of Dnipro, Ukraine, on October 17, 20 and 24, 2017. Each test cycle, known as Delivery and Tune-up Test, ZDI, included multiple firings of the engine, simulating its performance in real flight of the defunct Tsyklon-4 rocket. Because RD-861K is intended for the upper stage tasked to perform orbital maneuvers, it should be able to fire up to five times in each mission. Besides their engineering goals, these tests probably aimed to demonstrate the validity of the RD-861K program to investors in the Tsyklon-4M project and potential foreign buyers of the engine itself. The resumption of the tests was also intended to boost the morale inside the beleaguered Ukrainian rocket industry, which had faced many problems after the breakdown of its ties to Russia in the wake of the annexation of Crimea in 2014. In particular, the Ukrainian propulsion systems depended on supplies of Russian structural materials and hardware. Experts familiar with the matter say that the RD-861K engine is almost ready for operational use, but its development and serial manufacturing still faces serious challenges due to lack of resources, personnel and propellant components. The engine burns hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide which are not currently produced in Ukraine and have to be imported from China. There are also problems with the production of new components for the engine, which forced engineers to recycle parts from older units and caused several delays in the latest tests. The development of the RD-861K engine started in 2003 and it began live firings in 2007. (809) A total of 17 engines are known to have been tested at a static stand in Dnipro. Around two thirds of these engines are reported to be refurbished units providing enough hardware for around eight fully assembled engines. Before the latest series of tests in October 2017, RD-861K had made 10 firings in April 2016. RD-861K engine nears completion of autonomous tests Another ZDI test of the RD-861K engine was completed on Nov. 21, 2017, despite a number of technical problems mostly associated with ground equipment. Again, the engine completed three burns lasting around 500 seconds and also featuring the operation of the gimbal mechanism designed to steer the engine in flight. The gimbal mechanism had been tested before and it was originally planned to be operational in the October 2017 firings, but an error during checks damaged an actuator within the mechanism. As of end of November 2017, the final ZDI test for the RD-861K engine was planned before the formal conclusion of the program. That firing will be conducted with another copy of the engine, which will be assembled from available spare parts and recycled components. Upon the completion of the test series for the defunct Tsyklon-4 program, KB Yuzhnoe hoped to use RD-861K for new firings, this time, to benefit the prospective Tsyklon-4M rocket. Engineers made plans to test-fire a fully assembled rocket stage, which had already been built as the third stage for Tsyklon-4, but now expected to serve as the second stage on Tsyklon-4M. Ukraine fires launch vehicle booster
On May 17, 2019, the Yuzhmash production plant announced that the third stage for the Tsyklon-4 rocket, known as Article 7000, was rolled out for tests at the beginning of May. The factory stressed that for the first time in its history, all the components of the booster had been internally manufactured without reliance on outside contractors. At the time, the first test of the stage was expected in July or August 2019. According to Yuzhmash, following the tests, the factory will manufacture the third stage for flight tests. In the future, specialists will also study an option of integrating Article 7000 on the Tsyklon-4M rocket and other medium-class launch vehicles, Yuzhmash said. The first live firing of the fully assembled third stage for the Tsyklon-4 rocket (Article 7000 No. 1) took place on August 23, 2019, at the static facility in Dnipro, Ukraine, according to KB Yuzhnoe. On August 25, KB Yuzhnoe announced that the booster had successfully fired a total of five times during the trials and the design bureau promised more details about the tests upon the full completion of the firing program. According to witnesses in the vicinity of the test facility, the roar of the firing was heard in the area as late as the evening of August 24. KB Yuzhnoe dedicated the test to the Ukrainian Independence day celebrated on August 24. An industry source said that in order to meet the deadline, specialists had to perform a risky fix of the fuel leak on the partially loaded stage, because the prior draining of propellant would require to postpone the firing. (The hypergolic fuel used in the Tsyklon-4 rocket can theoretically self-ignite even in contact with rusty metal). Fortunately, all the repairs were completed successfully. During the test sequence, the rocket's RD-861K engine first fired for slightly more than six minutes, followed by additional burns lasting around eight seconds each, simulating the maneuvering of the second stage during the delivery of a satellite into orbit, a source familiar with the matter said. At the completion of the first test, another firing sequence of the Tsyklon-4's second stage, intended to reconfirm the reliability of all operations, was planned for August 30, 2019. The latest successful firing of the engine took place on June 26, 2020. It included three series with a total of five burns with a total firing time of 1,601.6 seconds, KB Yuzhnoe said. Problems with structural materials One industry source told RussianSpaceWeb.com that KB Yuzhnoe had been able to line up domestic suppliers of the structural materials necessary for the RD-861K program. However according to another expert, the production of the turbine for the RD-861K still depended on the EP742 heat-resistant alloy that KB Yuzhnoe had procured from the TsNIIMV material science institute based in Korolev, Russia. Each turbine in the RD-861K engine is certified to operate in up to a dozen of live firings before being replaced. Theoretically, a similar material for the turbine could be acquired elsewhere, but it would need to go through its own tests before being certified for use on the engine, an expert familiar with the matter said.
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