Energia-5V-PTK

In 2014, when specialists began to discuss the new Federal Space Program for 2016-2025, the Moon was ultimately chosen as a goal by the Russian Academy of Sciences, as proposed by the Space Research Institute. As of 2017 Russian planned by 2030 to conducted a manned landing on the moon. By 2035, Russia planned to begin construction of a base on the Moon, able to accommodate up to 12 people. A new super-heavy space rocket would consist of the rocket Feniks and the third-stage hydrogen-fueled stage of the rocket Angara-A5B. By mid-2017 Roscosmos’s strategy scheduled the beginning of super-heavy rocket tests for 2035.

The first and second stages of the Energia-5V-PTK and Energia-5VR-PTK rockets will be built on the basis of the corresponding units planned for development within the framework of the Phoenix project. The third stage, in turn, will be borrowed from the heavy "Angara-A5B", which is also far enough from testing. The rocket will be able to use existing and prospective upper stages.

Lin Industrial noted "There are some advanced studies by RSC Energia — their vision of lunar base and infrastructure. On paper, everything is beautiful: lunar orbital station, space tugs, relatively large base on the surface. But the implementation deadlines for these great plans cause sadness and gloom: manned flights to the Moon (i.e. flybys) are after 2025, landing is after 2030; lunar base is after 2040, and then maybe Mars with the use of lunar resources after 2050. They could just as easily specify 3050 as the deadline — nothing would fundamentally change."

The Russian lunar mission, presented by RSC Energia at MAKS 2015, is based on quite a complicated concept. It involves as much as four Angara A5V launch vehicles. A space tug and lunar lander are launched into LEO, then dock and depart for the Moon and wait in lunar orbit. Then another space tug and manned spacacraft are launched into LEO, dock and depart for the Moon. In lunar orbit the manned spacecraft docks with the lander, cosmonauts move into the lander, land on the surface, take off, return to the spacecraft and depart for home. There are huge number of dockings, cryogenic space tugs, need to "shoot with both hands" — to launch rockets from two spaceports often enough, to prevent hydrogen boil off inside the space tug waiting in orbit. It's clear that the program was derived from the existing plans and designs, but even at the time of its creation it doesn't look feasible, unfortunately.

The super-heavy carrier will be used in the piloted program to fly around the Moon and land on it. For that, the industry will be working on a heavier and bigger 20-tonn version of the Federatsiya spacecraft. "The first stage of work on the super-heavy carrier will be implemented at the Baikonur spaceport, as the Feniks carrier and Federatsiya spacecraft are tested," the source said.

In 2015, the chairman of the science and engineering council of the Roscosmos corporation, Yuri Koptev, said a new heavy rocket for 70-80-tonne payloads would require 700 billion rubles to make. Later, it was announced that both the super-heavy rocket and the infrastructure for it at the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East would cost 1.5 trillion rubles.

The Energia Corporation had designed two projects of a super-heavy rocket - Energia 5V-PTK (liftoff mass of 2,368 tonnes) and Energia-5VR-PTK (launch mass of 2,346 tonnes). Both are capable of putting payloads of about 100 tonnes into near-Earth orbits and of about 20.5 tonnes - the estimated mass of the lunar configuration of the spacecraft Federatsiya - into near-Moon orbits.

Organization of the infrastructures for piloted launches from the Vostochnyi spaceport (assembly-testing facility for manned spacecraft, life support systems on the launch pad, infrastructures to accommodate crews) may be postponed until a super-heavy carrier for Moon flights is designed.

In November 2016 Rocket and Space Corporation "Energia" presented its project carrier rocket "Energy-5B" super-heavy class, intended to send a manned mission to the moon. "The plan is a creation of super-heavy carrier rocket, which is built on a modular principle of the key components that are already in use today in various launch vehicles," - the general director of the corporation "Energy" Vladimir Solntsev said at a conference in Moscow.

According to him, the design takes from the "Angara-A5V" the upper stage with hydrogen, the first and second stages will be used by the middle class, "Phoenix" prospective rocket. "In fact, the designer is created, from which we will begin to model a particular media type is all done in order to reduce the time and cost." he said.

"Angara-A5V" - modification of the heavy "Angara", which is characterized by an oxygen-hydrogen third stage. This solution will increase the carrying capacity of the carrier rocket just ten tons - nearly 40 tons. Earlier it was reported that the development of the rocket must manage in 37 billion rubles, and the entire program is the creation of "Angara-A5V" taking into account the construction and equipping of ground infrastructure will require 150 billion.

Medium-class booster, "Phoenix" will be developed until 2025. It should be displayed on the low-Earth orbit and 17 tons of payload, including the manned program, and in geostationary orbit (with the help of the booster) - up to 2.5 tons. At the same time, "Phoenix" as stated earlier in the Russian Space Agency, will be the first step in a promising super-heavy launch vehicle. It is expected that the creation of new media, which included the Federal Space Program till 2025, will spend almost 30 billion rubles, the budget financing of the project will begin in 2018.