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Spiral 50-50
Spiral 50-50
Spiral 50-50
Credit: © Mark Wade
Russian winged orbital launch vehicle. The Soviet Air Force had an enduring interest in a horizontal takeoff/horizontal landing, manned, reusable space launch system that could ferry crews and priority supplies between earth and space on the same basis as conventional aircraft. Between 1960 and 1976 Mikoyan developed this manned partially reusable space launch system. It consisted of a reusable hypersonic air-breathing booster; two expendable rocket stages; and the reusable Spiral manned spaceplane. The effort was never properly funded by the government, and by the mid-1970's had only reached the stage of flight tests of subscale versions of Spiral. Development was discontinued in 1976 in favor of the Buran, a copy of the US space shuttle. However it was resurrected in improved form in the 1980's as the MAKS spaceplane.

AKA: EPOS. Status: Cancelled 1975. Gross mass: 115,000 kg (253,000 lb).

Mikoyan GKAT OKB-155 began work in 1960 on the Spiral combination aerospace system. In 1965 the advanced project was approved, laying out an ambitious work plan leading to operation of a regular earth-orbit-earth reusable transportation system by the mid-1970's. Go-ahead to actually proceed with development of the manned orbital vehicle was given on 26 June 1966 and Lozino-Lozinsky was selected as project manager.

The Spiral system consisted of three main components:

The project plan for Spiral was as follows:

Interest in the project at higher levels of the Soviet hierarchy was difficult to maintain, due to the massive funding requirements, technical difficulties, and multi-year development program which could not promise quick results. Underfunded from the beginning, the project was finally reoriented to a simple test of the analogue systems without using these as the basis for a flight system. This was now designated EPOS (Experimental Piloted Orbital Aircraft) and would be flown by Soviet Air Force test pilots rather than cosmonauts. In February 1976, with the beginning of work on Buran, the project was effectively ended except for the test of the subsonic 105-11 article already built. The 105-11 incorporated the airframe and some of the systems of the planned orbital version.

Technical Description

The GSR reusable hypersonic air-breathing launch aircraft was powered by four turbo-ramjet engines, and two variants were planned. The conservative first variant would use kerosene fuel and accelerate to Mach 4 and 22 to 24 km altitude before releasing the RB+OS. The longer-term second variant would use liquid hydrogen fuel, which would allow it to reach Mach 6 and 28-30 km altitude before releasing the upper stages. The GSR would return to its launch base after completing its mission.

The layout of the GSR was that of a large arrow-shaped flying wing. Vertical stabilizers were mounted at the wingtips. The engine bay was under the fuselage, with high bypass engine inlets. On the top of the wing was the launch pylon for the OS+RB, with the nose and tail portions of the pylon enclosed by ogival fairings for aerodynamic reasons.

The RB rocket that would take the OS from the back of the GSR to orbit consisted of a two-stage rocket. The conservative early version would use Liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants; the later advanced version would use Liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen.

The OS orbital spacecraft was a flat-bottomed lifting body, triangular in planform, with a large upturned nose that earned it the nickname 'Lapot' (wooden shoe). A unique feature of the OS were the variable dihedral wings. These were set at a 60 degree angle above horizontal during launch, orbit, and re-entry, where they served as vertical stabilizers. After becoming subsonic, dual electric actuators moved them to a horizontal position, where they served as wings, substantially increasing the lift of the spaceplane for air-breathing operations.

The OS would be inserted into an initial 130 km altitude orbit by the RB, where only 2 to 3 revolutions could be maintained before orbital decay. Orbital propulsion consisted of a 1,500 kgf primary engine, with two 40 kgf backup engines. Orbital attitude control and translation were provided by two reaction control system (GDU) pods at the rear of the spaceplane flanking the backup engines. There were a total of six 16 kgf engines for coarse adjustment and ten 1 kgf engines for fine maneuvers. Fuel tanks for these system were located in the center of the spaceplane. All engines worked on N2O4/UDMH. After completing its mission the OS would enter the earth's atmosphere at a high angle of attack. After losing most of its velocity, the wings would have been moved to the horizontal lifting position, and the OS would fly to a landing at a conventional airfield.

During the development phase three single-place experimental reusable prototypes of the OS would be built. These would be built in the same configuration as the Spiral OS, but have somewhat smaller dimensions, so that they could be orbited by a Soyuz launch vehicle. For testing the OS in the subsonic terminal approach phase, aircraft-analogues were to be built, powered by a turbojet or rocket and air-launched from a Tu-95 bomber. Two were planned, one to be flown subsonic (article 105-11), and the other up to Mach 6 to 8 (article 105-12). The single reusable orbital manned prototype was designated article 105-13.

An important characteristic of the Spiral was its large usable payload, two to three times greater than that of a conventional launch vehicle of the same mass. Cost per kilogram of payload to orbit would be 3 to 3.5 times less. In addition the system, by using air launch, could reach any orbital inclination, maneuver in space, and return, even in adverse weather conditions.



Subtopics

Spiral OS Russian manned spaceplane, developed 1965-1980s, including subscale flight article tests. Evolved into the MAKS spaceplane. The Spiral was an ambitious air-launched manned space system designed in the 1960's.

MiG 105-11 Russian manned spaceplane. 8 launches, 1976.10.11 to 1978.09.15 . Atmospheric flight test version of the Spiral OS manned spaceplane. The 105-11 incorporated the airframe and some of the systems of the planned orbital version.

BOR-4 Russian spaceplane. BOR-4 were subscale test versions of the Spiral manned spaceplanes. Built by Molniya, Russia. Launched 1982 - 1984.

Uragan Space Interceptor Russian manned combat spacecraft. Russian sources continue to maintain that the Uragan manned spaceplane project never existed.

Family: aircraft-launched, orbital launch vehicle, Winged. Country: Russia. Spacecraft: Spiral OS, MiG 105-11. Agency: MiG. Bibliography: 197, 301, 376, 458, 474, 81, 83.

1962 January 13 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1965 January 1 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1965 June 1 - .
1965 July - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1965 September 2 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1965 November 23 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1966 February 1 - .
1966 April 29 - .
1966 June 26 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1967 June - .
1967 December - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1968 December 12 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1969 June 30 - .
1970 April 7 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1970 April 25 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1970 June 30 - .
1970 October 6 - .
1970 November 26 - .
1971 January 15 - .
1971 January 18 - .
1971 January 23 - .
1971 January 28 - .
1971 February 1 - .
1971 February 2 - .
1974 June 30 - .
1976 October 11 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1977 June 30 - .
1977 November 27 - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1978 September - .
1978 September - . Launch Vehicle: Spiral 50-50.
1978 September 30 - .
1982 June 3 - . 21:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar LC107/1. Launch Pad: LC107/pad?. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: K65M-RB.
1983 March 15 - . 22:30 GMT - . Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar LC107/1. Launch Pad: LC107/pad?. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: K65M-RB.
1983 December 27 - . 10:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar LC107/1. Launch Pad: LC107/pad?. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: K65M-RB.
1984 December 19 - . 03:55 GMT - . Launch Site: Kapustin Yar. Launch Complex: Kapustin Yar LC107/1. Launch Pad: LC107/pad?. LV Family: R-14. Launch Vehicle: K65M-RB.
1987 August 1 - . 03:59 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC45/1. LV Family: Zenit. Launch Vehicle: Zenit-2.
1987 August 28 - . 08:20 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC45/1. LV Family: Zenit. Launch Vehicle: Zenit-2.
1987 September - . LV Family: Zenit. Launch Vehicle: Zenit-2.

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