The U.S. Space Shuttle and the U.S.S.R. Buran are large spacecraft that are designed to carry large payloads. Obviously, these powerful, expensive systems are no good for tasks that require taking small to medium sized cargoes to and from orbit. Such tasks need a reusable, orbital airplane that has a smaller cargo capacity and costs less to operate. A design involving a multipurpose aerospace system, called by its developers MAKS, satisfies those requirements entirely. The Spiral-Buran-MAKS represents a coherent, continuous chain of designs involving reusable space transportation systems. It is a two-stage complex in which the modified AN-225 Mriya carrier aircraft is employed as the first reusable stage. The second stage consists of the reusable orbital airplane and an expendable external fuel tank filled with fuel for the sustainer engines of the orbiter.
Project MAKS Air-Launched Spaceplane
1992
6 pages
Report
Keine Angabe
Englisch
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