Ukraine Designs Replacement For Russia’s RD-171 Rocket Engine – Yuzhnoye Design Office

Ukraine’s Yuzhnoye State Design Office has designed a rocket engine that could replace the world’s most powerful Russian RD-171M liquid-fuel engine in the future, the company’s General Director Alexander Degtyarev said

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik -) Ukraine‘s Yuzhnoye State Design Office has designed a rocket engine that could replace the world‘s most powerful Russian RD-171M liquid-fuel engine in the future, the company‘s General Director Alexander Degtyarev said.

The RD-171M engine, developed by Russia‘s Energomash, was used in the first stage of the Zenit launch vehicle manufactured in Ukraine. It is the most powerful liquid-fuel rocket engine in the world (with the thrust of 740 tonnes). At present, an RD-171MV engine is being developed on the basis of RD-171M for use in the first stage of the Soyuz-5 carrier rocket

“… The sorest point of the import substitution in the Zenit rocket is the RD-171M engine for the first stage. But the Yuzhnoye office has designed the RD-815 engine with the thrust of 250 tonnes and three [such] engines make the first stage of the [prospective] Mayak-3.9 rocket, which is slightly higher in overall characteristics than that of the RD-171 engine,” Degtyarev said in a video posted on the company‘s YouTube channel.

According to the Yuzhnoye chief, the development of theRD-815 engine will take two years with proper financing