The Buran Space Shuttle and the Energia Rocket in the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on November 22, 1999. Francis Demange Getty Images

On November 15, 1988, the Soviet Union's Buran spaceplane lifted skyward, joining NASA's space shuttle as a new breed of reusable spacecraft. But with the USSR on the brink of collapse, that hopeful first launch would be the orbiter's last.

The future also looked grim for the Energia rocket that propelled Buran into space. However, what seemed like a definitive end may instead have been the beginning of a 30-year-long hiatus. While the Buran spaceplane remains resigned to history, a 21st century update means that the Energia could become the basis for Russia's new super heavy rocket.

A Resurrection of Sorts

One of three designs proposed for the prospective Russian super-rocket closely resembles the Soviet-era Energia booster. In shown configuration, it carries a lunar lander for delivering a crew from lunar orbit to the surface of the Moon and back. Anatoly Zak/RussianSpaceWeb.com

Russia wants a super rocket. A few months ago its state space agency, Roscosmos, began a year-long study that will consider three designs, one of them resembling the ill-fated Energia. If this new super-heavy rocket becomes reality, it would join the largest class of heavier-than-air flying machines known to humanity, on par with the famous Saturn V rocket.

During a recent Kremlin meeting with the captains of its space industry, Russian President Vladimir Putin named the project among the top three priorities for the nation’s space program. “I would like to stress that all the previously set deadlines for the development (of the super-heavy rocket) have to be met and its flight tests should begin as planned in 2028,” Putin said publicly during an otherwise closed-door meeting.

The super-heavy class starts with rockets capable of delivering 50 to 60 tons of payload or more to low Earth orbit (for higher orbits or interplanetary destinations, that number goes down proportionally). But in six decades of space exploration, super-heavy rockets found no other jobs other than launching astronaut-carrying spacecraft such as the lunar expeditionary ships and space shuttles. These colossal vehicles were simply too expensive, complex, and inflexible for more practical uses, like today's burgeoning industry of launching satellites for scientists, businesses, and the military.

That hasn't stopped a new generation of mega-rockets built for propelling humans beyond low Earth orbit. NASA's working on its giant Space Launch System (SLS). SpaceX's Falcon Heavy made its own showy first flight back in February. China even has plans for its own super heavy rocket, rivaling the legendary Saturn 5.

A History of Failure and Frustration

Buran space shuttle with Energia carrier rocket being prepared for launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in October 1988. SVF2 Getty Images

The USSR twice tried to build a super space launcher during the Cold War. The 100-meter-tall N1 moon rocket of the 1960s was meant to compete with America's Apollo program. After its four failed launches, the N-1 project was abandoned in 1974.

It took another decade of efforts for the Soviets to field the Energia rocket, which made two largely successful flights in 1987 and 1988. The nearly 60-meter vehicle was widely acclaimed as the most advanced and powerful rocket of our time.

Putin's looking for ways to reassert Russia on the world stage.

But after the disintegration of the USSR in 1991, Energia was left rusting in the hangars of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Its army of workers and engineers left the rocket behind, and key technologies—such as the super-complex hydrogen engines—went out of production.

For almost two decades, as Russia struggled into a post-Soviet era, there could be no serious talk about reviving Energia. But with the rise of oil prices and a rebound in the country’s economy, Putin's looking for ways to reassert Russia on the world stage. The emergence of a new generation of heavy rockets provides a compelling opportunity.

The Possible Return of a Soviet Space Giant

Before launch of the launch vehicle Energia with the Buran spacecraft, November 15, 1988. SVF2 Getty Images

In its proposed form, the new Energia would be able to haul up to 80 tons of cargo into the low orbits and around 20 tons into the orbit around the Moon. Whereas the original Energia carried a side-mounted space plane, the new vehicle is designed to carry payloads in its nose cone, sending them on lunar-bound trajectories.



With the latest endorsement from the Kremlin, Roscosmos issued a contract to rocket designers in April, covering the development of the super rocket by the end of 2019. Two other smaller and leaner rockets are competing against the resurrected Energia in this preliminary design stage.

If the Energia concept wins out, the project will need to rebuild those huge hydrogen-burning RD-0120 engines. Three of these engines would propel the giant core stage of the rocket with a diameter of 7.7 meters, the same size as the original Energia. Four strap-on boosters of the first stage sporting RD-171 kerosene-burning engines, inherited directly from Energia, will help the rocket during its first two minutes in flight.

For now, Russia's super-heavy rocket remains in the early design and planning stages. But with Roscosmos committed to participating in the NASA-led program to build a space station in orbit around the Moon, it's likely that this very rocket could be the mega machine that helps establish humanity beyond Earth's orbit.

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