Circular metal preflight tag removed from a Soviet RD-0120 Energia core rocket engine prior to the launch of a Buran spacecraft. The tag measures 2″ in diameter and is engraved with an assortment of serial numbers. In fine condition, with expected wear.
The RD-0120 engine became the most powerful Soviet rocket engine with a single combustion chamber ever flown and it represented the technological pinnacle of rocket propulsion in the USSR. The engine was reportedly assembled out of 5,525 components and required 52,000 separate blueprints. After more than a decade in development, a cluster of four RD-0120 engines performed flawlessly during two launches of the Energia rocket in May 1987 and November 1988. The second Energia launch delivered the 100-ton Buran orbiter into the Earth orbit. However, the Energia and Buran were abandoned during the post-Soviet economic collapse of the 1990s.
