ST. PETERSBURG, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Russia has completed construction of the first liquid rocket engine RD-171MV for flight tests of the new Soyuz-5 launch vehicle, Russian state corporation Roscosmos said on Friday.
In a press release issued on its website, Roscosmos noted that it also plans to complete the assembly of the RD-171MV for the second Soyuz-5 carrier rocket and produce an engine for the third one this year.
So far, more than 20 firing tests of the RD-171MV engine have been successfully conducted. When it passes interdepartmental tests, the company will start serial production.
According to Roscosmos, the thrust of the RD-171MV engine exceeds 800 tonnes, which makes it the most powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine in the world.
The Soyuz-5 two-stage medium-class carrier rocket, also known as the Irtysh, is developed in Russia for launches of automatic spacecraft into various near-Earth orbits. The rocket will be able to deliver up to 17 tons of cargo into space. ■
