| RD-263 (РД-263) | |
| Country Of Origin: | USSR |
| Date: | 1969-1975 |
| Designer: | Energomash, V.Glushko |
| Manufacturer: | PA Yuzhmash |
| Associated: | R-36M and Dnepr |
| Status: | Out of production |
| Type: | liquid |
| Oxidiser: | N2O4 |
| Fuel: | UDMH |
| Mixture Ratio: | 2.67 |
| Cycle: | Oxidizer-rich staged combustion |
| Combustion Chamber: | 1 |
| Thrust(Vac): | 1128kN |
| Thrust(Sl): | 1040kN |
| Chamber Pressure: | 20.6MPa |
| Specific Impulse Vacuum: | 318isp |
| Specific Impulse Sea Level: | 293isp |
| Gimbal: | 7° |
| Length: | 2150mm |
| Diameter: | 1080mm |
| Dry Weight: | 870kg (1,920lb) |
| Used In: | R-36M and R-36MUTTKh core stage (15А14 and 15A18) |
The RD-263 (GRAU Index 15D117) is a liquid rocket engine, burning N2O4 and UDMH in the oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle. Four RD-263 engines form a propulsion module RD-264 (GRAU Index 15D119). For the R-36M KB Yuzhnoye only ordered the first stage propulsion to Energomash, instead of both stages, arguing that they were overworked with the RD-270 development. By April 1970 Yuzhnoye was getting the engine documentation. By the end of 1972 Energomash started to test fire the engines in its own test stand. And by September 1973 the engine was certified for flight. While the engine is out of production, the ICBM as well as the Dnepr remain operational as of 2015.
The basic engine has been used for the
| Engine | RD-263 | RD-268 | RD-273 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AKA | 15D117 | 15D168 | RD-263F | |
| Propulsion module | RD-264 | N/A | RD-274 | |
| Development | 1969-1975 | 1970-1976 | 1982-1988 | |
| Engine type | Liquid oxidizer rich staged combustion using N2O4/UDMH propellant with an O/F ratio of 2.67 | |||
| Combustion chamber pressure | 20.6MPa | 22.6MPa | 22.6MPa | |
| Thrust, vacuum | 1130kN | 1240kN | 1240kN | |
| Thrust, sea level | 1040kN | 1130kN | 1130kN | |
| I, vacuum | 318s | 318.5s | 318s | |
| I, sea level | 293s | 295.6s | 296s | |
| Length | 2150mm | 2150mm | 2150mm | |
| Width | 1080mm | 1083mm | 1080mm | |
| Dry weight | 870kg (1,920lb) | 770kg (1,700lb) | Unknown | |
| Use | R-36M (15А14) and R-36MUTTKh (15A18) core stage | MR-UR-100 (15А15) and MR-UR-100UTTKh (15A16) first stage | R-36M2 (15A18M) and (15A18M2) first stage | |
| Status | Out of production | Retired | Retired | |
| References | ||||
Some of these engines were bundled into modules of multiple engines. The relevant modules and auxiliary engines are: