|
Launch of a Proton-K rocket
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|
| Function | Orbital launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union; Russia |
| Size | |
| Height | 53 metres (174 ft) |
| Diameter | 7.4 metres (24 ft) |
| Mass | 693.81 metric tons (1,529,600 lb) (3 stage) |
| Stages | 3 or 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 22.8 metric tons (50,000 lb)[1] |
| Payload to GTO |
6.3 metric tons (14,000 lb) |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | Baikonur, LC-200 & LC-81 |
| Total launches |
414
|
| Successes |
367
|
| Failures |
34
|
| Partial failures |
13
|
| First flight | Proton: 16 July 1965 Proton-K: 10 March 1967 Proton-M: 7 April 2001 |
| Last flight | Proton: 6 July 1966 Proton-K: 30 March 2012 Proton-M: 11 September 2017 |
| Notable payloads | |
| First stage | |
| Engines | 6 RD-275 |
| Thrust | 10.47 MN (1.9 million pounds) |
| Burn time | 126 s |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
| Second stage | |
| Engines | 3 RD-0210 & 1 RD-0211 |
| Thrust | 2.399 MN (539,000 lbf)[2] |
| Specific impulse | 327 s |
| Burn time | 208 s |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
| Third stage | |
| Engines | 1 RD-0212 |
| Thrust | 630 kN (140,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 325 s |
| Burn time | 238 s |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
| Fourth stage – Blok-D/DM | |
| Engines | RD-58M |
| Thrust | 83.4 kN (18,700 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 349 s |
| Burn time | 770 s |
| Fuel | LOX/RP-1 |
Proton (Russian: Протон) (formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocketwas launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use as of 2017, making it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight. All Protons are built at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center plant in Moscow, transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, brought to the launch pad horizontally, and raised into vertical position for launch.[3][4]
As with many Soviet rockets, the names of recurring payloads became associated with the Proton. The moniker “Proton” originates from a series of similarly named scientific satellites, which were among the rocket’s first payloads. During the Cold War, it was designated the D-1/D-1e or SL-12/SL-13 by Western intelligence agencies.
Launch capacity to low Earth orbit is about 22.8 tonnes(50,000 lb).[1] Geostationary transfer capacity is about 6.3 tonnes (14,000 lb).[5] Commercial launches are marketed by International Launch Services (ILS).[6] The rocket is intended to be retired before 2030.[7]
In January 2017, the Proton was temporarily grounded due to the manufacturer, Voronezh Mechanical Plant, having substituted a heat-resistant alloy in the engines with a cheaper metal.[8][9]
History
Proton[10] initially started its life as a “super heavy ICBM“. It was designed to launch a 100-megaton (or larger) thermonuclear weapon over a distance of 13,000 km. It was hugely oversized for an ICBM and was never deployed in such a capacity. It was eventually used as a space launch vehicle. It was the brainchild of Vladimir Chelomei‘s design bureau as a foil to Sergei Korolev‘s N1 rocket, whose purpose was to send a two-man Zond spacecraft around the Moon; Korolev openly opposed Proton and Chelomei’s other designs for their use of toxic propellants.
A rushed development program led to dozens of failures between 1965 and 1972. Proton did not complete its State Trials until 1977, at which point it was judged to have a higher than 90% reliability.
Proton’s design was kept secret until 1986, with the public being only shown the upper stages in film clips and photographs, and the first time the complete vehicle was shown to the outside world happened during the televised launch of Mir.
Proton launched the unmanned Soviet circumlunar flights and was intended to have launched the first Soviet circumlunar spaceflights, before the United States flew the Apollo 8 mission. Proton launched the Salyut space stations, the Mir core segment and expansion modules, and both the Zarya and Zvezdamodules of the ISS.
Proton also launches commercial satellites, most of them being managed by International Launch Services. The first ILS Proton launch was on 9 April 1996 with the launch of the SES Astra 1F communications satellite.[11]
Since 1994, Proton has earned $4.3 billion for the Russian space industry, and by 2011 this figure is expected to rise to $6 billion.[12]
