Boris Ivanovich Katorgin (; born 13 October 1934 in

Solnechnogorsk Solnechnogorsk (, lit. ''sunny mountain town'') is a town and the administrative center of Solnechnogorsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Moscow–St. Petersburg Highway and the Moscow–St. Petersburg railway, on ...

) is a Russian scientist who is known for his development of commercially successful

rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...

systems.

Career

Katorgin graduated from the

Bauman Moscow State Technical University The Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU; ), sometimes colloquially referred as the ''Bauman School'' or ''Baumanka'' (), is a public technical university (Institute of technology, polytechnic) located in Moscow, Russia. Bauman Univ ...

in 1958 and became

Doctor of Technology The Doctor of Technology, or Doctor of Engineering Sciences, or Doctor of Technical Sciences, or Doctor of Science (abbreviated and translated variously in different countries) is a degree normally conferred upon candidates after having completed a ...

in 1983. He joined the

NPO Energomash NPO Energomash "V. P. Glushko" is a major Russian rocket engine manufacturer. The company primarily develops and produces Liquid rocket engine, liquid propellant rocket engines. Energomash originates from the OKB, Soviet design bureau OKB-456, w ...

rocket engine manufacturer in 1958 and was its CEO and chief designer between 1991 and 2005. He has been a full member of the

Russian Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

since 2003. Katorgin is mainly known for his work on

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th International Institute of Refrigeration's (IIR) International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington, DC in 1971) endorsed a univers ...

liquid-propellant rocket A liquid-propellant rocket or liquid rocket uses a rocket engine burning liquid rocket propellant, liquid propellants. (Alternate approaches use gaseous or Solid-propellant rocket , solid propellants.) Liquids are desirable propellants because th ...

engines. He was the CEO and chief designer of NPO Energomash during the development of the

RD-180 The RD-180 () is a rocket engine that was designed and built in Russia. It features a dual combustion chamber, dual-nozzle design and is fueled by a RP-1/ LOX mixture. The RD-180 is derived from the RD-170 line of rocket engines, which were use ...

engine, which has been exported to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

for driving

Atlas III The Atlas III (known as the Atlas II-AR (R for Russian) early in development ) was an American orbital launch vehicle, used in the years between 2000 and 2005. It was developed from the highly successful Atlas II rocket and shared many componen ...

and

Atlas V Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...

rockets. He was also involved in the development of the earlier and twice as powerful

RD-170 The RD-170 () is the world's most powerful and heaviest liquid-fuel rocket engine. It was designed and produced in the Soviet Union by NPO Energomash for use with the Energia launch vehicle. The engine burns kerosene fuel and LOX oxidizer in fo ...

engine. As of 2000, when the first RD-180-powered Atlas III rocket flew, the engine was considered to be 15 to 20 percent more fuel-efficient than competing designs. Katorgin has also contributed to the study of

nuclear pulse propulsion Nuclear pulse propulsion or external pulsed plasma propulsion is a hypothetical method of spacecraft propulsion that uses nuclear explosions for thrust. It originated as Project ''Orion'' with support from DARPA, after a suggestion by Stanislaw ...

chemical laser A chemical laser is a laser that obtains its energy from a chemical reaction. Chemical lasers can reach continuous wave output with power reaching to megawatt levels. They are used in industry for cutting and drilling. Common examples of chemical ...

s and

superconducting Superconductivity is a set of physical properties observed in superconductors: materials where electrical resistance vanishes and magnetic fields are expelled from the material. Unlike an ordinary metallic conductor, whose resistance decreases g ...

systems for power transmission. In 2012, along with

Valery Kostuk Valery Viktorovich Kostuk (; born 26 August 1940 in Zaporizhia) is a Russian scientist who has contributed to the development of processes for producing gases and cryogenic liquids. He is a vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Ca ...

and

Rodney John Allam Rodney John Allam, MBE (born 1940 in St Helens, Lancashire) is an English chemical engineer and fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers who is credited with inventions related to power generation, notably the Allam power cycle, whic ...

, Katorgin received the

Global Energy Prize The Global Energy Prize is an international award in the field of energy industry which is given for ''"outstanding scientific research and scientific-technical developments in the field of energy which promote greater efficiency and environmental ...

for his research and development relating to high-efficiency and reliable cryogenic-fuel-powered rocket propellant engines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katorgin, Boris 1934 births Living people Bauman Moscow State Technical University alumni Full Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences Russian physical chemists Superconductivity scientists and engineers Rocket scientists People from Solnechnogorsky District