YF-73

YF-73
Country of origin China
First flight 1987-01-29
Last flight 2000-05-26
Designer Beijing Aerospace Propulsion Institute
Manufacturer China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (CALT)
Associated L/V Long March 3
Successor YF-75
Status Retired
Liquid-fuel engine
Propellant Liquid oxygen / Liquid hydrogen
Mixture ratio 5.00
Cycle Gas-generator
Configuration
Chamber 4
Nozzle ratio 40
Performance
Thrust (vac.) 44.15 kilonewtons (9,930 lbf)
Chamber pressure 25.9 bars (2,590 kPa)
Isp (vac.) 420 seconds (4.1 km/s)
Burn time 800 seconds (13 min)
Dimensions
Length 1.44 metres (4 ft 9 in)
Diameter 2.2 metres (7 ft 3 in)
Dry weight 236 kilograms (520 lb)
Used in
Long March 3 H8 third stage
References
References [1][2][3][4]

The YF-73 is China's first successful, cryogenic, gimballed engine, using liquid hydrogen fuel and liquid oxygen oxidizer. It was used on the Long March 3 H8 third stage. It run on the simple gas generator cycle and had a thrust of 44.15 kilonewtons (9,930 lbf). It had four hinge mounted nozzles that gimbaledeach on one axis to supply thrust vector control and was restart capable. It used cavitating flow venturis to regulate propellant flows. The gas generator also incorporates dual heat exchanger that heat hydrogen gas and helium supplied from separate system to pressurize the hydrogen and oxygen tanks. The engines was relatively underpowered for its task and the start up and restart procedures were unreliable. Thus, it was quickly replaced by the YF-75.[3]

History

In October 1970 the Beijing Aerospace Propulsion Institute was tasked with developing a 39 kN (8,800 lbf) prototype rocket engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. They settled on a pump-fed gas generator design. The prototype was successfully fire tested for 20 seconds on January 25, 1975. In March of the same year, Shina officially initiated the Project 311 do initiate the engineering work on the first Chinese cryogenic engine, which was named YF-73. It had its debut on April 8, 1984, when it sent the first geosynchronous communications satellite experiment, the Dongfanghong2 to geosynchronous orbit. It flew 13 times with 3 failures and was last used on May 26, 2000. It was replaced by the more capable YF-75 which enabled to increase payload from 1.5 t (3,300 lb) to over 2.6 t (5,700 lb) and significantly increased reliability.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Long March". Rocket and Space Technology. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  2. ↑ "YF-23". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  3. 1 2 3 Nan, Zhang (2013-09-23). "The Development of LOX/LH2 Engine in China" (pdf). 64rd International Astronautical Congress, Beijing, China. (International Astronautical Federation). IAC-13-C4.1 (1x18525): 5. Retrieved 2015-07-08.
  4. ↑ Sutton, George Paul (November 2005). History of Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines. AIAA. pp. 637–638. ISBN 978-1563476495.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, December 14, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.