MAIN DESIGN AND PRODUCTION FACILITIES NPO Energiya-ZEM

NPO Energiya, the former “Korolyov design bureau”, was the organization in charge of the Energiya-Buran project as a whole, performing a role comparable with that of a “prime contractor” in the West. NPO Energiya was responsible for making all key technical decisions and coordinating work between the numerous organiza­tions. Situated in the Moscow suburb of Kaliningrad (renamed Korolyov in 1996), it was initially part of the N11-88 rocket research institute founded in 1946, but split off from that organization along with Factory 88 to form the independent OKB-1 (Experimental Design Bureau 1) in 1956. It was renamed Central Design Bureau of Experimental Machine Building (TsKBEM) in 1965, NPO Energiya (NPO standing for “Scientific Production Association”) in 1976, and RKK Energiya (RKK standing for “Rocket and Space Corporation”) in 1994. Factory 88 was renamed Factory of Experimental Building (ZEM) in 1967.

Placed in charge of NPO Energiya in May 1974 was Valentin P. Glushko, who thereby relinquished his duties as chief designer of KB Energomash, the rocket engine design bureau that had merged with TsKBEM to form NPO Energiya. Being a member of the Academy of Sciences (since 1953) and a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (since 1976), Glushko had considerable political clout and enjoyed almost unconditional support from Dmitriy Ustinov. Initially, Glushko was both “general designer” and “director” of NPO Energiya, but in June 1977 Vakhtang D. Vachnadze was assigned to the newly created post of “general director” to handle the organization’s day-to-day administrative affairs. Glushko died in January 1989 and was replaced in August 1989 by Yuriy P. Semyonov, who was initially only general designer, but also took over the post of general director from Vachnadze in March 1991.

By late 1977 work on the Energiya-Buran project at NPO Energiya was con­centrated in Department 16. Igor N. Sadovskiy was the chief designer of Energiya – Buran as a whole, with Yakob P. Kolyako, the former head of the heavy-lift launch vehicle section, serving as deputy for the rocket, and Pavel V. Tsybin as deputy for the orbiter. There were changes in the wake of a December 1981 party and government decree calling for organizational improvements in the Energiya-Buran program. Responsibility for the orbiter was transferred to design Department 17 of Yuriy P. Semyonov (Soyuz-Salyut), while Department 16 remained in charge only of the rocket. In January 1982 Sadovskiy, who had been on bad terms with Glushko, was replaced as chief designer of Energiya-Buran by Boris I. Gubanov, a veteran of KB Yuzhnoye in Dnepropetrovsk, who had played a key role in the development of missiles such as the R-14, R-36, and R-36M. From that moment on Gubanov was chief designer of the Energiya-Buran system as a whole and also chief designer of the rocket, while Semyonov was chief designer of the orbiter. Sadovskiy became Gubanov’s first deputy, while Vladimir A. Timchenko served as Semyonov’s deputy for the orbiter.

On the production side, NPO Energiya’s ZEM manufacturing facility was in

charge of building many key systems needed for orbital flight—in particular, the orbital maneuvering engines and primary thrusters of the ODU propulsion system as well as the power supply system. These parts were then shipped either to the Tushino Machine Building Factory or to Baykonur for installation in the vehicle. ZEM also housed a full-scale “electrical analog” of Buran (the so-called “Integrated Stand” or OK-KS).

ZEM also manufactured several parts of Energiya’s strap-on boosters. In the mid-1970s an agreement had been reached that KB Yuzhnoye in Dnepropetrovsk would only build the so-called “modular part’’ of the strap-ons—in other words, the part that was common to the strap-ons and the Zenit first stage. Most of what was unique to the strap-ons would have to be built at ZEM—in particular, the nose and tail sections of the boosters, the parachute containers, drain valves, and actuators. According to original plans, final assembly of the strap-on boosters was to take place at ZEM, but later it was decided to move this work to the Baykonur cosmodrome. The parts manufactured at ZEM were delivered to Baykonur by rail and integrated with the modular part in situ at the cosmodrome. Finally, ZEM also manufactured the pneumatic and hydraulic systems for the Energiya core stage. Directors of ZEM during the Buran years were Viktor M. Klyucharyov (1966-1978) and Aleksey A. Borisenko (1978-1999) [2].