The Zarya spacecraft () was a secret Soviet project of the late 1980s aiming to design and build a large crewed vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (
VTVL
Vertical takeoff, vertical landing (VTVL) is a form of takeoff and landing for rockets. Multiple VTVL craft have flown. The most widely known and commercially successful VTVL rocket is SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage.
VTVL technologies were dev ...
)
reusable space capsule
A space capsule is an often-crewed spacecraft that uses a blunt-body reentry capsule to reenter the Earth's atmosphere without wings. Capsules are distinguished from other satellites primarily by the ability to survive reentry and return a payl ...
,
[ a much larger replacement for the ]Soyuz (spacecraft)
Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...
. The project was developed during 1985–1989 years by Energia corporation until it was shelved in 1989, "on the eve of the Soviet Union's collapse" due to lack of funding.[ The name of the project was later reused by the Zarya space station module which served as the first component of ]International Space Station
The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
in 1998.
Design
The Zarya spacecraft would have differed from all previous spacecraft by having an array of a dozen rocket engines for making a soft landing upon return to Earth, without using a parachute.[
]
Mission
Zarya spacecraft would have brought crew and supplies to ''Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
'' or supplies only in automated mode.
It would have had a normal crew of one or two and offered the possibility of carrying a maximum of eight to twelve if used as a ''Mir'' lifeboat.
Timeline
;1985 January 27
* Preliminary design work began on Zarya "Super Soyuz". Concept was reusable spacecraft, launched by Zenit launch vehicle, with all possible systems recovered in landing module, together with significant payload delivered to and returned from orbit. Carriage in payload bay of Buran shuttle
''Buran'' (russian: Буран, , meaning "Snowstorm" or "Blizzard"; GRAU index serial number: 11F35 1K, construction number: 1.01) was the first spaceplane to be produced as part of the Soviet/Russian Buran program. Besides describing the fir ...
was also a requirement.
;1986 December 22
* Zarya "Super Soyuz" briefed to the Military-Industrial Commission.
See also
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References
Proposed spacecraft
Crewed space program of the Soviet Union
Cancelled Soviet spacecraft
VTVL rockets
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