U.S. Commercial Rocket Powered by Cold War-Era Soviet Moon Engines

RIA Novosti has some additional information about the Russian NK-33 engine, which will be used to power Orbital Sciences Corporation’s Taurus II rocket.

A series of NK-33 rocket engine tests were successfully completed in early March by Russia’s United Engine Corporation/SNTK in Samara. The basic NK-33 engine was originally designed and produced in Russia in late 1960s for the Russian N1 lunar launch vehicle.

Aerojet purchased approximately 40 of the NK-33 engines in the mid-1990s and, under contract with Orbital. The company is currently modifying the engines specifically for the first stage of the Taurus II launcher.

Ron Grabe, Orbital’s executive vice president and general manager of its launch systems group, said after the tests that the success of the NK-33 engine tests in Russia was an important step forward in the development of the Taurus II.

According to estimates, the U.S. companies will need more than 70 NK-33 engines in 2016-2020. Nikitin said SNTK has about 40 engines in storage but would have to restart production if the U.S. contract is signed.

Taurus II is being jointed funded by Orbital and NASA under the space agency’s COTS program, which is focused on commercial cargo delivery to the International Space Station. Orbital officials have said that they are considering adapting the rocket and its Cygnus freighter to ferry crews to ISS. The Obama Administration has proposed canceling NASA’s Constellation program and switching to commercially produced rockets and crew vehicles.

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