The RD-58 (,

GRAU index The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of ...

: 11D58) is a

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 ...

, developed in the 1960s by

OKB-1 S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" () is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components. Its name is derived from the Russian word for energy and is also named for Sergei Korolev, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, th ...

, now RKK Energia. The project was managed by Mikhail Melnikov, and it was based on the previous S1.5400 which was the first staged combustion engine in the world. The engine was initially created to power the

Block D Blok D () is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems, including the N1, Proton-K and Zenit. The stage (and its derivatives) has been included in more than 320 launched rockets . By 2002 its modification B ...

stage of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

's abortive N1 rocket. Derivatives of this stage are now used as upper stages on some

Proton A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...

and Zenit rockets. An alternative version of the RD-58 chamber, featuring a shorter nozzle, was used as the N1's roll-control engine. The RD-58 uses LOX as the

oxidizer An oxidizing agent (also known as an oxidant, oxidizer, electron recipient, or electron acceptor) is a substance in a redox chemical reaction that gains or " accepts"/"receives" an electron from a (called the , , or ''electron donor''). In ot ...

and RG-1 as

fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle. It features a single

gimbal A gimbal is a pivoted support that permits rotation of an object about an axis. A set of three gimbals, one mounted on the other with orthogonal pivot axes, may be used to allow an object mounted on the innermost gimbal to remain independent of ...

ed chamber, radial

centrifugal pump Centrifugal pumps are used to transport fluids by the Energy transformation, conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of the fluid flow. The rotational energy typically comes from an engine or electric motor. They are ...

s with auxiliary booster pumps, and an oxygen-rich preburner. Recent modifications include a lightweight carbon-composite nozzle extender developed by NPO Iskra. The Buran spacecraft used two of an evolution of the RD-58M, called 17D12, as its main orbital correction engines. Instead of RG-1, it burned

Syntin Syntin is a hydrocarbon with the molecular formula C10H16 used as a rocket fuel. It is a mixture of four Stereoisomerism, stereoisomers (see below). It has a density of 0.851 g/mL, and a boiling point of 158 °C. Due to the presence of thre ...

, and could be ignited 15 times. It is assumed that it was the base for the RD-58S, which had practically the same specifications and powered the

Blok D Blok D () is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems, including the N1, Proton-K and Zenit. The stage (and its derivatives) has been included in more than 320 launched rockets . By 2002 its modification Bl ...

M-2M. But the manufacturer states that the engine is compatible with both propellants. The current version of the engine is the RD-58M (manufacturer designation 11D58M), which has slightly reduced thrust, but increased isp. An even newer version is under development and is known as the RD-58MF (manufacturer designation 11D58MF). It will reduce thrust to to keep the same length but increase expansion ratio to 500:1. This will enable it to gain 20s of isp (to an expected 372s). It will eventually fly on the Blok DM-03. This new version of the engine will be built in the Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant. During a November 2014 interview, Vladimir Kolmykov, the Deputy General Director of the Chemical Division of Krasnoyarsk Machine-Building Plant, stated that the production of Block-DM was suspended during that year, but work on the stage and development of the RD-58MF will resume during 2015.

Versions

This engine has had many versions through the years: * RD-58 (

GRAU The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the Chief of ...

Index 11D58): Original version developed for the

of the

N1 (rocket) The N1 (from , "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: Н1) was a super heavy-lift launch vehicle intended to deliver payloads beyond low Earth orbit. The N1 was the Soviet counterpart to the US Saturn V and was intended to enable crewed travel to the Mo ...

. * RD-58M (

Index 11D58M): Improved version developed for the

Blok D. * RD-58M ( Carbon-carbon nozzle): Version of the RD-58M that replaces the regeneratively cooled nozzle for a carbon-carbon extension manufactured by NPO Iskra. Used on

Zenit-3SL The Zenit-3SL was an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it was launched 36 times, with three failures and one partial failure. It was a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Des ...

M-SL since June 10, 2003 on the

Thuraya Thuraya (, Gulf Arabic pron.: ; from the Arabic name for the Pleiades, ''Thurayya'') is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunic ...

2 launch. * RD-58MF (

Index 11D58MF): Reduced thrust and increased specific impulse version expected to fly on the Proton and Zenit Blok DM-03. Will probably also use a carbon-carbon nozzle extension. * RD-58S (

Index 11D58S): Version designed to use

synthetic propellant rather than RG-1. Used on the

M-2M. Probably developed based on the 17D12. * RD-58Z (

Index 11D58Z): Version adapted to the Zenit Blok DM-SL. * 17D12: Orbital maneuvering engines (DOM) of the Buran propulsion system 17D11, burned

/ LOX.

References

{{Russian and Soviet military designation sequences Rocket engines of the Soviet Union Rocket engines of Russia Rocket engines using kerosene propellant Rocket engines using the staged combustion cycle Energia rocket engines