Orizont

Romanian manned spacecraft. Study 2004. X-Prize suborbital ballistic spacecraft concept of Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association. Reached the stage of engineering tests by 2003.

Orizont was a concept of Aeronautics and Cosmonautics Romanian Association (ARCA) of Rimnicu Vilcea, Romania, under a team led by Dimitru Popescu . The concept used a rocket powered vertical takeoff and parachute descent on water landing:. The Orizont vehicle was extremely simple to ensure a high reliability and low production cost. The vehicle was to take-off vertically, from a launch pad and accelerate to a speed of about 1,300 m/s. At 40 km the engine was to be shut down, and the vehicle would continue to coast to an altitude above 100 km. The acceleration was to be no greater than 3.5G. The crew capsule separated from the launch vehicle at an altitude of 80 km. The landings of the rocket and capsule of the Orizont vehicle were made separately. Both had a parachute recovery system suitable for splashdown at sea. The main parachutes were to be deployed at an altitude of 4 km. Helicopters would recover both the capsule and rocket. The occupants would stay in the capsule until the helicopter had returned it to land.