NK-33
UEC-Kuznetsov NK-33 is a historical LOX/RP-1 liquid rocket engine developed in 1969–1972 for the Soviet N1 lunar program from NK-15 heritage. UEC publishes 154.5 tf sea-level thrust (1,515.127 kN, derived), 171.5 tf vacuum thrust (1,681.840 kN, derived), 331±3 s vacuum specific impulse, 200 s flight time, and restart capability. Historical NK-33 remains distinct from the NK-33A adaptation used on Soyuz-2.1v and from Aerojet AJ26 derivatives; status remains historical.
Identity
- Aliases
- NK-33Kuznetsov NK-33N1 first-stage NK-33UEC NK-33
- Domains
- spaceflight
- Identity Level
- model
- Kind
- liquid-rocket-engine
- Name
- NK-33
- Status
- historical
Details
- Description
- UEC-Kuznetsov NK-33 is a historical LOX/RP-1 liquid rocket engine developed in 1969–1972 for the Soviet N1 lunar program from NK-15 heritage. UEC publishes 154.5 tf sea-level thrust (1,515.127 kN, derived), 171.5 tf vacuum thrust (1,681.840 kN, derived), 331±3 s vacuum specific impulse, 200 s flight time, and restart capability. Historical NK-33 remains distinct from the NK-33A adaptation used on Soyuz-2.1v and from Aerojet AJ26 derivatives; status remains historical.
- Developers
- Lineage
- Note
- Rostec identifies NK-33 as the modification developed from the N1 first-stage NK-15 during flight-test refinement.
- Related Propulsion System
- Relationship
- direct-derivative-of
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Publisher
- Rostec
- Title
- Moving upward: Kuznetsov space engines
- Manufacturers
- Propellants
- RP-1liquid oxygen
- Rocket Specs
- Burn Time S
- 200
- Cycle
- oxygen-rich staged combustion
- Restartable
- Yes
- Sea Level Thrust Kn
- 1515.127
- Vacuum Specific Impulse S
- 331
- Vacuum Thrust Kn
- 1681.84
Links
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- July 29, 2026 at 08:15:54 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 23, 2026 at 18:59:56 UTC
Other
- Sources
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Publisher
- NASA
- Title
- Orb-3 Accident Investigation Report: Executive Summary
- Accessed Date
- 2026-07-29
- Publisher
- Rostec
- Title
- Moving upward: Kuznetsov space engines
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-21
- Note
- UEC-Kuznetsov identifies NK-33 as a 1969–1972 engine developed for the Soviet lunar program and publishes 154.5 tf sea-level thrust, 171.5 tf vacuum thrust, 331±3 s vacuum specific impulse, 200 s flight time, 600 s resource, and the 2025 NK-33A Soyuz-2.1v flight context; the typed values here use the published central Isp and derived kN conversions.
- Publisher
- UEC-Kuznetsov
- Title
- Liquid rocket engine NK-33 for a space launch vehicle
- Accessed Date
- 2026-08-14
- Note
- NASA technical reporting identifies NK-33 and NK-43 as oxygen-rich staged-combustion LOX/kerosene engines with restart capability and N1/Kistler application context.
- Publisher
- NASA
- Title
- Liquid Engine Test Facilities Assessment