Proton-K
Launch of a Proton-K with Zvezda
|
|
| Function | Heavy carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Khrunichev |
| Country of origin | USSR Russia |
| Size | |
| Height | 50 metres (160 ft) |
| Diameter | 7.4 metres (24 ft) |
| Stages | 3 or 4 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 19,760 kg (43,560 lb) |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | Universal Rocket |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Retired |
| Launch sites | Baikonur Sites 81 & 200 |
| Total launches | 311 |
| Successes | 275 (88%) |
| Failures | 36 |
| First flight | 10 March 1967 |
| Last flight | 30 March 2012 |
| First stage | |
| Length | 21.2 metres (70 ft) |
| Diameter | 7.4 metres (24 ft) |
| Empty mass | 31,100 kilograms (68,600 lb) |
| Gross mass | 450,510 kilograms (993,200 lb) |
| Engines | 6 RD-253-14D48 |
| Thrust | 10,470 kilonewtons (2,350,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 316 sec |
| Burn time | 124 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
| Second stage - 8S811K | |
| Length | 14 metres (46 ft) |
| Diameter | 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) |
| Empty mass | 11,715 kilograms (25,827 lb) |
| Gross mass | 167,828 kilograms (369,997 lb) |
| Engines | 4 RD-0210 |
| Thrust | 2,399 kilonewtons (539,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 327 sec |
| Burn time | 206 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
| Third stage | |
| Length | 6.5 metres (21 ft) |
| Diameter | 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) |
| Empty mass | 4,185 kilograms (9,226 lb) |
| Gross mass | 50,747 kilograms (111,878 lb) |
| Engines | 1 RD-0212 |
| Thrust | 613.8 kilonewtons (138,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 325 sec |
| Burn time | 238 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index, 8K82K, was a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The maiden flight on 10 March 1967 carried a Soyuz 7K-L1 as part of the Zond program. During the so-called "Moon Race" these Proton/Soyuz/Zond flights consisted of several uncrewed test flights of Soyuz spacecraft to highly elliptical or circumlunar orbits with the unrealized aim of landing Soviet cosmonauts on the Moon.
It was retired from service in favour of the modernised Proton-M, making its 311th and final launch on 30 March 2012.
The baseline Proton-K was a three-stage rocket. Thirty were launched in this configuration, with payloads including all of the Soviet Union's Salyut space stations, all Mir modules with the exception of the Docking Module, which was launched on the United States Space Shuttle, and the Zarya and Zvezda modules of the International Space Station. It was intended to launch Chelomey's manned TKS spacecraft, and succeeded in launching four unmanned tests flights prior to the program's cancellation. It was also intended for Chelomey's 20-ton LKS spaceplane that was never realised.
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