Space firm Roscosmos has completed the production of the RD-171MV liquid rocket engine for the first flight tests of the new Soyuz-5 carrier rocket in June. The primary objective behind the development of the Soyuz-5 is to facilitate the launch of unmanned spacecraft into diverse near-Earth orbits, utilizing booster capabilities when required.
In 2023, the company plans to finish assembling the engine for the second flight rocket and produce an engine for the third one.
According to Roscosmos, the project was launched in 2017, and since then two examples of the RD-171MV have been manufactured and sent for development and final testing. In total, the engine has undergone more than twenty tests. Two RD-171MV engines intended for fine-tuning and final adjustment tests were also checked for defects.
"The next stages of the program will include interdepartmental tests of the RD-171MV and the serial delivery of engines for the Soyuz-5 rockets," representatives of the state corporation added.
Roscosmos stressed that the new engine will be "the most powerful in the world" and announced the completion of the engine test-firing in August 2022. The RD-171MV engine itself is an improved version of the Russian RD-171M engine developed in 2001, while its thrust is 800 tons.
The Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia developed the Soyuz-5 medium-class launch vehicle, named Irtysh, to replace the Ukrainian-made Zenit launch vehicles. The new rocket will be launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome as part of a joint project with the Republic of Kazakhstan.