Skip to content

Future spaceships

Russia has no shortage of future spaceship designs and proposal, but as always the problem is in getting funding! The Kliper, Parom and TKS are the main projects given publicity in the early 2000s.

Kliper

The Kliper (“Clipper”) was first announced at an ITAR-TASS press conference on 17 February 2004 by then-head of Rosaviakosmos, Yurii Koptev. Energiya had begun working on the design of this new spaceship in 2000. Lack of funding initially hindered further development. The Kliper was included in the Russian government space plan for 2005-2015.

The Kliper configuration has undergone a few changes since it was announced, and the final outcome is still uncertain. In 2005 a plan was announced for an orbital tug called “Parom” to dock with a lighter Kliper version (both launched on a smaller booster than the proposed Soyuz-3 rocket) and then tow it to the ISS.

On 10 June 2005 ESA Director Genereal Jean-Jacques Dordain met with Anatoly Perminov, Head of the Federal Space Agency, to discuss future ESA-Russia space co-operation in the areas of Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration; Launchers; Telecommunications, Navigation, and Earth Observation. Regarding Kliper, it was agreed to develop a joint plan of work, to be presented at the ESA Ministerial Council in December 2005. At the December meeting, ESA government ministers initially declined the proposal to participate in the Kliper program (a 2-year research effort costing 51 million euros – $59.8 million), but did not reject it outright.

Such co-operation would be advantageous to both organizations, sharing the funding and development costs and giving ESA additional access to space. The Kliper could be launched from Russian facilities and the European space port in Kourou, French Guiana.

On 18 January 2006 Roskosmos put out a tender for the development of the Kliper, to be decided between the companies RKK Energiya, GKNPTs Khrunichev and NPO Molniya. The results were initially to be announced in the first half of February, but delayed this to April, the reason given being financial, safety and delivery data in bids. Energiya remained the favorite for the contract.

But on July Anatolii Perminov announced that Roskosmos was suspending the tender and instead would concentrate on developing a manned Soyuz-style space system first; a vehicle that would be capable of lunar circumnavigation flights using a Soyuz spaceship and a habitation module based on the Kliper’s cabin module. Energiya was selected to lead this development; it would continue to develop the Kliper in the meantime, though at a slower pace with less funding. Its current plan is to develop Kliper by 2015 and field-test it in 2016.

If Kliper comes to fruition, it will see the advent of a new spacecraft (at long last!) that is a major advancement on the venerable but somewhat limited Soyuz spaceship. It would be used for flights to the ISS and even around the Moon.

Energiya Kliper diagram, February 2006

Energiya Kliper computer concept illustration, February 2006

Trivia note: “Clipper” was the name given to fast sailing ships developed in the United States during the mid-1800s. Kliper is the transliteration of the word from Russian, so I will use this when referring to the spaceship.

Technical data

The Kliper would carry 2 pilots and up to 4 passengers. It would have a launch escape system similar to that of the Soyuz spacecraft.

It is of an aerodynamic lifting-body-type design and can thus conduct gliding maneuvers during re-entry (up to 500 km either side of its ground track), unlike the ballistic Soyuz Descent Module. Thermal protection systems are derived from both the Buran and Soyuz. It has a length of 10 meters and maximum diameter of 3.6 meters. The propulsion system is UDMH (Unsymmetric Dimethyl Hydrazine, propellant fuel) and Nitrogen Tetroxide (N2O4, an oxidizer).

Two design modifications are possible:

  1. Load-carrying hull. This would enable the Kliper to land on any flat surface using its 3 parachutes, similar to the Soyuz today.
  2. An aircraft-type hull (winged version). This lifting-body design, developed with the OKB Sukhoi design bureau, would limit the Kliper to landing on a runway like the Space Shuttle, but increase its gliding range from 500 km to 2000 km.

The inner crew compartment could be slotted inside either design, depending upon the flight requirements.

The Kliper is partly reusable, with a detachable front re-entry capsule which lands with the aid of three parachutes and solid-propellant engines. The habitation module (OA) is mounted behind the re-entry capsule and contains docking hardware and life-support systems. Surrounding this is the PAO which contains power supplies (power supplied by two solar panels) and orbital maneuvering systems. Both OA and PAO are jettisoned on re-entry to the atmosphere.

Reuse after each flight:

  • Cabin module; parachutes.

Replace after each flight:

  • Some sections of the thermal protection system, e.g. nose section
  • Habitation module (OA); utility module (BO) (jettisoned before descent from orbit)

The estimated development cost of the Kliper is 10 billion rubles.

There are currently three possible launch rockets proposed:

  1. Onega, a proposed new generation rocket from Energiya. It is a modified Soyuz rocket, and would be launched from a Plesetsk launch pad.
  2. The Angara booster rocket, another new-generation rocket under development.
  3. The Ukrainian Zenit, launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Kliper could even possibly be launched from other pads, such as the ESA pad in Kourou, French Guiana.

Kliper cutaway diagram (Novosti Kosmonavtiki)

Kliper cutaway diagram. Top descriptions, left to right:

  • Приборная зона, instrument zone
  • Контейнер с парашютом, parachute container
  • Модуль кабины, cabin module
  • Агрегатный отсек, service module
  • Стыковочный агрегат, docking assembly

Bottom descriptions, left to right:

  • Электрохимический генератор, electrochemical generator
  • Фюзеляж, fuselage
  • Блок хранения и подачи топлива, fuel storage and supply block
  • Бытовой отсек, utility module

Some Kliper technical data, in English and Russian:

Kliper piloted spacecraft
Mass, kilograms 13 000
• Re-entry module, mass 8800
• Habitation module, mass 4200
Crew number 6
Cargo mass, kg
• Launched 500
• Returned 500
• Moved away 200
Volume of flight deck, m³ 20
Time of autonomous flight, days 5
Maximum time spent docked to orbital station, days 360
G-force loads, regular descent profile 2.5
Carrier-rocket Zenit-2SLB
«Клипер» пилотируемый космический корабль
Масса, кг, в т. ч. 13 000
• возвращаемый аппарат 8800
• агрегатно-бытовой отсек 4200
Колическво членов экипажа, чел. 6
Масса грузов, кг
• доставляемых 500
• возвращаемых 500
• удаляемых 200
Объем кабины экипажа, м³ 20
Время автономного полека, сут. 5
Время нахождения в составе орбитальной станции, сут. 360
Перегрузки при штатном спуске, ед. 2.5
Ракета-носитель «Зенит-2SLБ»

Parom
«Паром»

Parom orbital tug (Energiya)

The Parom (“Ferry”) is a proposed reusable replacement for the Progress cargo ship, and would also serve as an unmanned orbital tug for the Kliper spaceship. The Parom is a different concept to the Progress. It would be launched into orbit and wait near the Space Station for cargo containers to be launched later; these containers would not need the complex guidance systems currently used by the Progress. The containers would dock with the Parom, which would in turn guide and propel itself to dock with the ISS. The Parom has docking ports at each end, and fuel transfer lines so that fuel can be transferred through it from the cargo container to the Station. It could also propel a payload into a higher orbit, or take a waste container down to the atmosphere to be incinerated, and head up back to orbit after releasing this. The 6800 kg Parom’s engines could handle cargo up to 27 215 kg.

It was proposed that the Parom could be used to tow a lighter version of the Kliper to the ISS. The reason for this was so that both ships could be launched on a version of the existing Soyuz-2 rocket (designated Soyuz-2-3), rather than a modified Soyuz-3, Zenit-2 or not-yet-developed Angara-2. The Soyuz-2-3 could also be launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana; the equatorial location means that more payload could be carried into orbit (the Earth rotates faster at the Equator and acts as a slingshot to help propel a spacecraft into orbit).

Cargo container (Energiya)

TKS
ТКС

The TKS (Транспортный корабль снабжения, Transportniy Korabl Snabzheniya, transport supply ship) is a proposed manned spaceship by the Khrunichev design bureau, based on the original TKS series developed from the 1960s. It would carry up to 6 crew and 6350 kg of cargo to Low Earth Orbit, and be used up to 10 times. Its launch vehicle would be the Angara A3M rocket. The TKS vaguely resembled the Apollo capsule in shape. For the January 2006 tender Khrunichev put forward several versions of the basic TKS (manned and unmanned) for consideration, but with the cancellation of the tender in July, the status of the TKS is unknown.

~ Page last updated: 4 August 2006

  1. Home
  2. Spaceships