Its origin dates back to a 1940 Moscow carburetor factory, evacuated to Berdsk in 1941, and then relocated to Voronezh city in 1945, where it now operates.
[7][8] KB Khimavtomatika's original mandate was to develop aviation fuel systems for Soviet military during World War II.
Kosberg had spent ten years working at the Central Institute of Aircraft Engine Construction on fuel systems and was tapped to run the new bureau.
Approaching German armies required the group to relocate to Berdsk, Siberia, where Kosberg and his team of about 30 specialists developed direct injection fuel systems, eventually implemented on the La-5, La-7, Tupolev Tu-2 and Tu-2D.
The development of space industry in the end of the 50th and beginning of 60th required the creation of more powerful LV for orbiting objects with mass up to 7000 kg.
To fulfill this purpose, the Design bureau – on the basis of second stage engine RD0106 of military rocker P-9A - developed engines RD0107, RD0108, and RD0110 (chief designer Y. Gershkovits) for third stages of S. Korolev LVs “Molnia”, “Voshod”, “Soyuz” that ensured launches of interplanetary stations to Mars and Venus, orbiting space ships with 2 and 3 cosmonauts on board.
Members of these crews were the first human beings entering into open space, made orbit docking and joint flight of two ships, including American “Apollo”.
Besides, for the position correction of “Almaz” space station, launched by “Proton”, KBKhA created pressure fed engine RD0225 (chief designer V. Borodin) and multiple startup (up to 100 times), with orbit stand-by mode (up to 2 years).
[11] One of KBKhA priority directions was the completion of defense contracts – creation of LREs with high energy characteristics and reliability, with low production costs, without servicing during entire life.
The creation of powerful LVs during these years required considerable increase of energy characteristics and operational features of LREs.
The application of such schematic allowed double combustion chamber pressure (up to 150 kg/cm2 as compared to 70 kg/cm2 for open cycle engines) and excluded Isp losses for TPA turbine drive.
Higher technical and operational requirements to LV defined the necessity of high engine efficiency and reliability, protection of its inner cavities from the environment, etc.
For time and costs saving, the nuclear reactor and “cold” engine (feed system, regulation and control components) were developed in parallel.
In early 70s KBKhA began development of continuous high power, gas-dynamic of CO2-lasers (GDL), operating on the transformation of the heat energy of active gaseous medium, obtained with non-equilibrium expansion in supersonic nozzle grid, into electromagnetic radiation.
By the early 1960s the bureau was designing Liquid Propellant Rocket Engines (LPREs) for man-rated space launch vehicles.
In one unique design, the engine is submerged in the UDMH propellant tank to save space (SS-N-23 submarine-launched ballistic missile).
The large volume of design work and continuous refinement led to a high degree of technical capability.
[citation needed] KBKhA team possesses productive design experience, highly qualified scientists in staff (6 Doktor nauk and over 50 Kandidat nauk), designers, production engineers, and workers who keep on working on the creation of the new rocket engines and power plants.
The main engine destination — delivery into the orbit of different payloads: satellites, cargo and crewed space vehicles.
It has the practically identical interfaces, overall dimensions and mass, but it offers the higher specific parameters — the best of the developed LRE of this class.
On December 1, 2007, 150 fire tests were performed, with overall development time over 30,000 seconds, which confirmed the compliance of main parameters with Technical Task requirements.
In 1993-1998 large volume of design, analysis, research and experimental work on development of a tri-propellant dual-mode[clarification needed] engine on the base of RD-0120 was conducted as a KBKhA initiative.
[citation needed] In 1997 KBKhA according to the Khrunichev Space Center Technical Specification has begun the development of the new oxygen-hydrogen engine RD-0146 (the chief designer — N.E.
In 1995 the research work for development expander kerosene-hydrogen LREs for advanced space boost units and interorbital tows has been initiated.
Engine RD0126Э has the following advantages as compared to traditional LREs: equal length, but higher vacuum Isp; lighter weight with the same Isp; possibility to obtain higher hydrogen temperature in cooling channels, which allows to use it as working medium for TPA turbine rotation; possibility of engine ground testing performed under high-altitude conditions without gas-dynamic tube.
5 sea level fire tests were performed that confirmed combustion products flow without boundary layer separation within high-altitude nozzle, which makes engine development considerably simpler.
The liquid hydrogen is an engine fuel passing CC cooling channels and being introduced into the combustion zones.
[11] In 2013 the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau successfully conducted a test bench magnetoplasmadynamic engine for long-distance space travel.
Tests carried out successfully on a special stand vacuum and confirmed the compliance parameters of the engine characteristics, laid down in the specifications.
By developing ion electric propulsion team started after KBKhA won the 2013 competition of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation to receive subsidies for the realization of complex projects for the organization of high-tech production.