ZHUKOVSKY. Aug 28 (Interfax) - The prototype tests of the RD-171MV engine for the prospective Soyuz-5 launch vehicle will last at least two years, Dmitry Baranov, the head of the Progress rocket and space center in Samara, told reporters.
"Work is being done on some modernization of the 171st engine; a dynamic prototype of the 171st engine for the first stage has already been supplied. It is intended for prototype tests in the first stage," Baranov said on Tuesday.
The tests will last for "the next two years for sure," he said.
Progress has already started making the first elements of the future rocket, fuel container components, Baranov said.
The RD-171MV engine is the most powerful liquid rocket engine in the world, which will become the foundation of the Soyuz-5 rocket. The issue of its use in the first stage of the superheavy class carrier rocket, which is now being created, is being explored.