JSC Research & Development Production Enterprise Zvezda, or R&D PE Zvezda (russian: Научно-производственное предприятие "Звезда", НПП Звезда, Nauchno-Proizvodstvennoye Predpriyatiye "Zvezda", NPP Zvezda, lit. "Star") is a Russian manufacturer of life-support systems for high-altitude flight and

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

. Its products include

space suit A space suit or spacesuit is a garment worn to keep a human alive in the harsh environment of outer space, vacuum and temperature extremes. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, ...

s, ejector seats, aircraft escape slides, lifejackets and

fire extinguisher A fire extinguisher is a handheld active fire protection device usually filled with a dry or wet chemical used to extinguish or control small fires, often in emergencies. It is not intended for use on an out-of-control fire, such as one which ha ...

s. It is based in

Tomilino Tomilino (russian: Томи́лино) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in Lyuberetsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. Population: In terms of population, Tomilino is the largest urban-type settlement in Lyuberetsky District. Tomi ...

, near

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. Guy Illich Severin was the General Director and General Designer of the company from 1964 to 2008. Sergey S. Pozdnyakov has been Temporary General Director since 2008.

History

The organization was founded in 1952 to develop aviation pressure suits and in-flight refuelling systems for the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

's space research programme. In the 1960s it began to design space suits, including the one worn by

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who became the first human to journey into outer space. T ...

. In 1965, a

Berkut spacesuit The Berkut (Russian Беркут, meaning ''golden eagle'') is a space suit model developed to be used for extravehicular activity for the Voskhod 2 mission aboard a Voskhod spacecraft on the first spacewalk. It was developed by NPP Zvezda in 1964� ...

was worn during the first spacewalk. The Orlan-M space suit was used by cosmonauts in the

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

space station. Zvezda became a joint-stock company in 1994.

Products

Zvezda is also Russia's primary manufacturer of ejector seats for Russian

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

. The K-36 ejector seat was studied at length by the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

and

Air Force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an ...

; IBP Aircraft (currently

UTC Aerospace Systems UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS) was one of the world’s largest suppliers of aerospace and defense products, headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The company was formed in August 2012 when parent United Technologies Corporatio ...

) opened up a factory in the US to manufacture it for the

F-22 Raptor The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is an American single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force (USAF). As the result of the USAF's Advanced Tactical Fighter (ATF) program, th ...

and the Joint Strike Fighter. The

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

, however, selected the

Martin-Baker Martin-Baker Aircraft Company Limited is a British manufacturer of ejection seats and safety-related equipment for aviation. The company's origins were originally as an aircraft manufacturer before becoming a pioneer in the field of ejection s ...

seat from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

for its new fighter jet. For improved pilot survivability, the Russian

Kamov Ka-50 The Kamov Ka-50 "Black Shark" (russian: Чёрная акула, translit=Chyornaya akula, English: kitefin shark, NATO reporting name: Hokum A) is a Soviet/Russian single-seat attack helicopter with the distinctive coaxial rotor system of th ...

"Black Shark" helicopter is fitted with a NPP Zvezda K-37-800

ejection seat In aircraft, an ejection seat or ejector seat is a system designed to rescue the pilot or other crew of an aircraft (usually military) in an emergency. In most designs, the seat is propelled out of the aircraft by an explosive charge or rock ...

, which is a rare feature for a helicopter.Donald, David and , Daniel J March. "Ka-50/52, Kamov's 'Hokum' family". p. 308. ''Modern Battlefield Warplanes''. AIRtime Publishing, 2004. . Before the rocket in the ejection seat kicks in, rotor blades are blown away by explosive charges in the rotor disc and the canopy is similarly jettisoned. Also, there is a special ejection seat made for L-39 known as K-93. The company has patented a lightweight ejection seat for general aviation aircraft, such as SKS-94, KS-2012. The company also designed a unique complex consisting of ejection seat K-36RB for Buran space vehicle. The system is designed to allow the evacuation of the Buran as the crew at takeoff and landing.

List of directors

*1952-1964 - SM Alekseev - responsible manager and chief designer of the plant. *1964-2008 - Guy Severin - General Director and General Designer. *2008-n. at. - S. Pozdnyakov - General Director and Chief Designer.

References

External links

NPP "Zvezda" official web site

Research & Development Production Enterprise Zvezda at Google Cultural Institute
{{DEFAULTSORT:Npp Zvezda Military parachutes Manufacturing companies of Russia Aerospace companies of Russia Soviet and Russian space institutions Defence companies of the Soviet Union Aerospace companies of the Soviet Union Space industry companies of Russia Technology companies established in 1952 Ejection seats Russian brands Technodinamika Companies based in Moscow Oblast 1952 establishments in Russia Extravehicular activity Air refueling Aircraft component manufacturers of the Soviet Union