Zhukov, Boris Petrovich

Russian engineer. From 1951-1989 headed NII-125 / LNPO Soyuz, developing the propellants used in the Katysha rocket and the first Soviet solid propellant ICBM's.

For 37 years, headed the Lyubertsy Scientific and Production Association Soyuz (formerly NII-125, now the Federal Center for Dual Technologies Soyuz).

Born in Samarkand (now Uzbekistan ). In 1930 he started at the Zhilevsky Chemical Plant (Moscow region) as a worker, then became a senior technician at the Scientific Testing Institute of the Air Force in Moscow. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering named after DI Mendeleev in 1937. In 1939, Zhukov performed the first serious work on the development of smokeless / flashless charges for artillery. In 1941, under his leadership in the laboratory, formulations of pyroxylin-nitrate powders were developed, which provided the propellant for the Katyusha rockets used in such great numbers in World War II. Became a member of the Communist Party in 1944. Led development of the first large solid rocket motors for Soviet intercontinental ballistic missiles in the 1960's and 1970's. Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences.