How can be interpreted pictures of
an unknown rocket engine combustor
in
Iran presented as Simorgh future second stage engine
and used as Unha second stage main
engine ?
Norbert
Brügge, Germany
Upload: 2017;
Update:24.06.2020
Until this day it is a
mystery what kind of engines are used for the second stage of the
North Korean Unha SLV. All presented speculations are not suitable
to solve the problem. There is only two pictures, on which in the
open adapter three main engines and two control thruster are to
be seen (above).
Images from the on board camera
the Unha-3 flight # 3 confirm that worked more than one engine in
the second stage (below).
In this context are interesting two pictures of an unknown engine
in Iran. An illustration was shown by Tal Inbar, Israel, and another
was a long time ago (April 2012) on an Iranian forum presented,
now untraceable (right). In the Iranian source
of the image was reported that during the initial tests there were
many malfunctions. Finally they could increase the burn time to
150, 320 and then 350 seconds.
It was here also reported that this engine is a
newer engine for the second stage of the Simorgh.
This combustor (engine called here
LRE-X)
is not identical to that of the steering engines
LRE-15 in the
first stage of the Simorgh (as originally thought). The steering
engines for the first stage of the Simorgh are of other origin,
with a thrust of total 15 tons (see
end of this page).
So it is therefore more than likely that this LRE-X engine is used
in the vacuum version (nozzle extension) for the second stage of
the North Korean Unha SLV. Added are four small control thrusters.
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1. Combustor
The
engine seems to have a very old design. Striking
is a large combustion chamber and a typical old KB Isayev engines
ripple structure on the nozzle. On the combustion chamber are devices
for the pivoting of the engine mounted. The cooling system for the combustor
is unique (2, 3).
There are each a ring for the inflow and outflow of fuel mounted on
the nozzle. It looks as if the combustion chamber is not regeneratively
cooled because of outflow ring is located directly at the edge of the
nozzle and connected is with the injector directly. However, it is likely
that a part stream of the cooling flows upward through the wall of the
combustion chamber.
The dimensions of the combustor we can determine only in an indirect
way, with the assumption that the label nearby the LRE-4 combustor (4D10
steerimg engine) is written on a paper in A6 format (1)
and the label on the LRE-X combustor also in A6 format (2).
With 70 cm the combustor would be still 1.9
times higher as that from the LRE-4. By an possible additional skirt
for the expansion of the nozzle may be achieved a total length of about
95 cm for the second stage vacuum engine of the North Korean Unha SLV.
The total thrust of the four engines is unknown, but could be between
10 and 15 tons (125 kN ?).
Some nozzle extension skirts were presented in North Korea and Iran
(4, 5).
An assignment is not clear to clarify.
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