GLL-8 (GLL-VK), nicknamed "Igla" (eng. needle), is a Russian

hypersonic flight Hypersonic flight is flight through the atmosphere below altitudes of about 90 km at speeds greater than Mach 5, a speed where dissociation of air begins to become significant and high heat loads exist. Speeds of Mach 25+ have been achieve ...

flying laboratory. It saw its first flight in 2005. It is part of Russia's ongoing ORYOL-2-1 research programme. Under ORYOL-2-1, the

Gromov Flight Research Institute The Gromov Flight Research Institute or GFRI for short (russian: link=no, Лётно-исследовательский институт имени М. М. Громова, russian: link=no, ЛИИ) is an important Russian State Researc ...

in Moscow has developed two possible Igla designs, and is leading an

SSTO A single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle reaches orbit from the surface of a body using only propellants and fluids and without expending tanks, engines, or other major hardware. The term usually, but not exclusively, refers to reusable vehicles ...

spaceplane effort and a

two-stage-to-orbit A two-stage-to-orbit (TSTO) or two-stage rocket launch vehicle is a spacecraft in which two distinct stages provide propulsion consecutively in order to achieve orbital velocity. It is intermediate between a three-stage-to-orbit launcher and a hyp ...

design conceived to build a "

Mir-2 ''Mir''-2 was a Soviet space station project which began in February 1976. Some of the modules built for ''Mir''-2 have been incorporated into the International Space Station (ISS). The project underwent many changes, but was always based o ...

" space station.

Purpose

The purpose of this "flying laboratory" is technical data study of

hypersonic speed In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since i ...

s, which cannot be done with average engines, and other crewed experimental flight-craft. This study includes the following: *

Aerodynamic Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

properties at hyper sonic speeds * Maneuverability at different speeds *

G-force The gravitational force equivalent, or, more commonly, g-force, is a measurement of the type of force per unit mass – typically acceleration – that causes a perception of weight, with a g-force of 1 g (not gram in mass measure ...

effects on fuselage at high speeds *

Scramjet A scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. As in ramjets, a scramjet relies on high vehicle speed to compress the incoming air forcefully ...

studies

Vehicles associated with the GLL-8

References

{{Reflist
Russian Spaceweb "Igla" (Russian)
Hypersonic aircraft Aircraft manufactured in Russia Experimental aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of Russia