Energia version
Energia Energia-Polyus (6SL)
The test configuration of the first flight, in which the Polyus system itself acted as the final stage to inject the payload into orbit. It lifted off on 15 May 1987; the rocket performed, the payload did not.
- May 15, 1987
- First launch
- 100,000 kg
- LEO capacity
- No
- Reusable
History
The test configuration
Energia had two functionally different operational variants. The first was Energia-Polyus, the initial test configuration, in which the Polyus system served as the final stage responsible for placing the payload in orbit. The two-stage launcher stood 58.765 m tall, spanned 17.65 m across its four strap-on boosters and weighed 2,400,000 kg at lift-off.
The flight of 15 May 1987
Energia's first flight test carried the Polyus spacecraft. An FGB — functional cargo block — engine section originally built for a cancelled Mir module was incorporated into it. The Soviets announced the launch as a successful suborbital test with a dummy payload; it emerged later that the flight was meant to place Polyus in orbit and that the payload never got there.
Legacy
Although the programme closed after two flights, Energia's legacy survives in the RD-170 engine family: the four kerosene and liquid oxygen strap-on boosters were the basis of the Zenit launcher, which kept flying until 2017.