Dream Chaser (“Running for a dream”) - a new manned vehicle from private company Sierra Nevada Corporation (USA). This reusable manned spaceship will carry out the delivery of cargo and a crew of up to 7 people into low Earth orbit. According to the project, the spacecraft will use wings and use them to land on a regular runway. The design is based on the HL-20 orbital aircraft design

©Sierra Nevada Corporation

While the Americans of the middle of the last century were feverishly figuring out how to keep up with the “evil empire,” it was full of slogans: “Komsomol - on a plane,” “To Starry Space - YES!” Today, the United States can launch spaceships with the ease of kites, while ours can only roam the Bolshoi Theater for now. Understood the details of Naked Science.

Story

During the Cold War, space was one of the arenas for the struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States. The geopolitical confrontation between superpowers was the main incentive in those years for the development of the space industry. A huge amount of resources have been devoted to space exploration programs. In particular, the US government spent about twenty-five billion dollars on the implementation of the Apollo project, the main goal of which was to land a man on the surface of the Moon. For the 70s of the last century, this amount was simply gigantic. The USSR lunar program, which was never destined to come true, cost the budget of the Soviet Union 2.5 billion rubles. The development of the domestic reusable spacecraft Buran cost sixteen billion rubles. At the same time, fate destined Buran to make only one space flight.

Its American counterpart was much luckier. The Space Shuttle made one hundred and thirty-five launches. But the American shuttle did not last forever. The ship, created under the state program "Space transport system", on July 8, 2011, he carried out his last space launch, which ended in the early morning of July 21 of the same year. During the implementation of the program, the Americans produced six shuttles, one of which was a prototype that never carried out space flights. Two ships were completely catastrophic.

Apollo 11 liftoff

©NASA

From the point of view of economic feasibility, the Space Shuttle program can hardly be called successful. Disposable spacecraft turned out to be much more economical than their seemingly more technologically advanced reusable counterparts. And the safety of flights on the shuttles was questionable. During their operation, as a result of two disasters, fourteen astronauts became victims. But the reason for such ambiguous results of the space travel of the legendary ship lies not in its technical imperfection, but in the complexity of the concept itself spacecraft reusable.

As a result, the Russian Soyuz disposable spacecraft, developed back in the 60s of the last century, became the only type of spacecraft currently carrying out manned flights to the International space station(ISS). It should be immediately noted that this does not at all indicate their superiority over the Space Shuttle. The Soyuz spacecraft, as well as the Progress unmanned space trucks created on their basis, have a number of conceptual shortcomings. They are very limited in carrying capacity. And the use of such devices leads to the accumulation of orbital debris remaining after their operation. Space flights on Soyuz-type spacecraft will very soon become part of history. At the same time, today there are no real alternatives. The enormous potential inherent in the concept of reusable ships often remains technically unrealizable even in our time.

The first project of the Soviet reusable orbital aircraft OS-120 Buran, proposed by NPO Energia in 1975 and which was an analogue of the American Space Shuttle

©buran.ru

New US spaceships

In July 2011, American President Barack Obama said: a flight to Mars is a new and, as far as one can assume, the main goal of American astronauts for the coming decades. One of the programs carried out by NASA as part of the exploration of the Moon and the flight to Mars was the large-scale space program “Constellation”.

It is based on the creation of a new manned spacecraft "Orion", launch vehicles "Ares-1" and "Ares-5", as well as the lunar module "Altair". Despite the fact that in 2010 the US government decided to curtail the Constellation program, NASA was able to continue developing Orion. The first unmanned test flight of the ship is planned for 2014. It is expected that during the flight the device will move six thousand kilometers from the Earth. This is about fifteen times further than the ISS. After the test flight, the ship will head towards Earth. The new device will be able to enter the atmosphere at a speed of 32 thousand km/h. According to this indicator, Orion is one and a half thousand kilometers superior to the legendary Apollo. Orion's first unmanned experimental flight is intended to demonstrate its potential capabilities. Testing the ship should be an important step towards its manned launch, which is scheduled for 2021.

According to NASA plans, the Orion launch vehicles will be Delta 4 and Atlas 5. It was decided to abandon the development of Ares. In addition, for the exploration of deep space, the Americans are designing a new super-heavy launch vehicle SLS.

Orion is a partially reusable spacecraft and is conceptually closer to the Soyuz spacecraft than to the space shuttle. Most promising spacecraft are partially reusable. This concept assumes that after landing on the Earth's surface, the ship's habitable capsule can be reused for launch into outer space. This makes it possible to combine the functional practicality of reusable spacecraft with the cost-effectiveness of operating Soyuz or Apollo-type spacecraft. This decision is a transitional stage. It is likely that in the distant future all spacecraft will become reusable. So the American Space Shuttle and the Soviet Buran were, in a sense, ahead of their time.

Orion is a multi-purpose capsule partially reusable US manned spacecraft, developed since the mid-2000s as part of the Constellation program.

©NASA

It seems that the words “practicality” and “foresight” best describe Americans. The US government decided not to put all its space ambitions on the shoulders of one Orion. Currently, several private companies, commissioned by NASA, are developing their own spacecraft designed to replace the devices used today. Boeing is developing the CST-100, a partially reusable crewed spacecraft, as part of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. The device is designed to make short trips to low-Earth orbit. Its main task will be the delivery of crew and cargo to the ISS.

The ship's crew can be up to seven people. At the same time, during the design of the CST-100 Special attention was given to the comfort of the astronauts. The living space of the device is much more extensive than ships of the previous generation. It will likely be launched using Atlas, Delta or Falcon launch vehicles. At the same time, Atlas-5 is the most suitable option. The ship will land using a parachute and airbags. According to Boeing's plans, the CST-100 will undergo a series of test launches in 2015. The first two flights will be unmanned. Their main task is to launch the vehicle into orbit and test safety systems. During the third flight, a manned docking with the ISS is planned. If the tests are successful, the CST-100 will very soon be able to replace the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft, which have a monopoly on manned flights to the International Space Station.

CST-100 – manned transport spacecraft

©Boeing

Another private ship that will deliver cargo and crew to the ISS will be a device developed by SpaceX, part of the Sierra Nevada Corporation. The partially reusable monoblock Dragon vehicle was developed under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. It is planned to build three modifications of it: manned, cargo and autonomous. The crew of the manned spacecraft, as in the case of the CST-100, can be seven people. In the cargo modification, the ship will carry four people and two and a half tons of cargo.

And in the future they want to use the Dragon for flights to the Red Planet. Why will they develop a special version of the ship - “Red Dragon”. According to the plans of the American space leadership, an unmanned flight of the device to Mars will take place in 2018, and the first test manned flight of a US spacecraft is expected to take place in a few years.

One of the features of the “Dragon” is its reusability. After the flight, part of the energy systems and fuel tanks will be lowered to Earth along with the ship's habitable capsule and can be reused for space flights. This design ability sets the new ship apart from most promising designs. In the near future, “Dragon” and CST-100 will complement each other and act as a “safety net”. If one type of ship for some reason cannot perform its assigned tasks, another will take over part of its work.

Dragon SpaceX is a private transport spacecraft (SC) of SpaceX, developed by order of NASA as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation (COTS) program, designed to deliver payload and, in the future, people to the ISS

©SpaceX

The Dragon was launched into orbit for the first time in 2010. The unmanned test flight was completed successfully, and a few years later, namely on May 25, 2012, the device docked with the ISS. At that time, the ship did not have an automatic docking system, and to implement it it was necessary to use the space station’s manipulator.

This flight was considered to be the first ever docking of a private spacecraft to the International Space Station. Let’s make a reservation right away: the Dragon and a number of other spacecraft developed by private companies can hardly be called private in the full sense of the word. For example, NASA allocated $1.5 billion for the development of the Dragon. Other private projects also receive financial support from NASA. Therefore, we are talking not so much about the commercialization of space, but about a new strategy for the development of the space industry, based on cooperation between the state and private capital. Once secret space technologies, previously available only to the state, are now the property of a number of private companies involved in the field of astronautics. This circumstance in itself is a powerful incentive for the growth of technological capabilities of private companies. In addition, this approach made it possible to arrange in the private sphere a large number of space industry specialists who were previously dismissed by the state due to the closure of the Space Shuttle program.

When it comes to the program for the development of spacecraft by private companies, perhaps the most interesting is the project of the SpaceDev company, called “Dream Chaser”. Twelve company partners, three American universities and seven NASA centers also took part in its development.

The concept of the reusable manned spacecraft Dream Chaser, developed by the American company SpaceDev, a division of Sierra Nevada Corporation

©SpaceDev

This ship is very different from all other promising space developments. The reusable Dream Chaser looks like a miniature Space Shuttle and is capable of landing like an ordinary airplane. Still, the main tasks of the ship are similar to those of the Dragon and CST-100. The device will serve to deliver cargo and crew (up to the same seven people) to low Earth orbit, where it will be launched using the Atlas-5 launch vehicle. This year the ship should carry out its first unmanned flight, and by 2015 it is planned to prepare for launch its manned version. Another one important detail. The Dream Chaser project is being created on the basis of an American development of the 1990s - the HL-20 orbital aircraft. The latter’s project became an analogue of the Soviet orbital system “Spiral”. All three devices have similar appearance and intended functionality. This raises a completely logical question. Should the Soviet Union have scrapped the half-finished Spiral aerospace system?

What do we have?

In 2000, RSC Energia began designing the Clipper multi-purpose space complex. This reusable spacecraft, somewhat reminiscent of a smaller shuttle, was supposed to be used to solve a wide variety of problems: cargo delivery, evacuation of the space station crew, space tourism, flights to other planets. There were certain hopes for the project. As always, good intentions were covered with a copper basin of lack of funding. In 2006, the project was closed. At the same time, the technologies developed within the framework of the Clipper project are supposed to be used for the design of the Advanced Manned Transport System (PPTS), also known as the Rus project.

The winged version of the Clipper in orbital flight. Webmaster's drawing based on the Clipper 3D model

©Vadim Lukashevich

It is the PPTS (of course, this is still only the “working” name of the project), as Russian experts believe, that will be destined to become a new-generation domestic space system, capable of replacing the rapidly aging Soyuz and Progress. As in the case of the Clipper, the spacecraft is being developed by RSC Energia. The basic modification of the complex will be the “Next Generation Manned Transport Ship” (PTK NK). Its main task, again, will be the delivery of cargo and crew to the ISS. In the long term - the development of modifications capable of flying to the Moon and carrying out long-term research missions. The ship itself promises to be partially reusable. The living capsule can be reused after landing. Engine compartment - no. A curious feature of the ship is the ability to land without using a parachute. A jet system will be used for braking and soft landing on the Earth's surface.

Unlike the Soyuz spacecraft, which take off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the new spacecraft will be launched from the new Vostochny cosmodrome, which is being built in the Amur region. The crew will be six people. The manned vehicle is also capable of carrying a load of five hundred kilograms. In the unmanned version, the ship will be able to deliver more impressive “goodies” into low-Earth orbit, weighing two tons.

One of the main problems of the PPTS project is the lack of launch vehicles with the necessary characteristics. Today, the main technical aspects of the spacecraft have been worked out, but the lack of a launch vehicle puts its developers in a very difficult position. It is assumed that new rocket-the carrier will be technologically close to the Angara, developed back in the 1990s.

Model of PTS at the MAKS-2009 exhibition

©sdelanounas.ru

Oddly enough, another serious problem is the very purpose of designing the PTS (read: Russian reality). Russia will hardly be able to afford the implementation of programs for the exploration of the Moon and Mars, similar in scale to those implemented by the United States. Even if the development of the space complex is successful, most likely its only real task will be the delivery of cargo and crew to the ISS. But the start of flight tests of the PPTS was postponed until 2018. By this time, promising American spacecraft will most likely already be able to take on the functions that are currently performed by the Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft.

Vague prospects

The modern world is deprived of the romance of space flights - this is a fact. Of course, we are not talking about satellite launches and space tourism. There is no need to worry about these areas of astronautics. Flights to the International Space Station are of great importance to the space industry, but the ISS's stay in orbit is limited. The station is planned to be liquidated in 2020. A modern manned spacecraft is, first of all, an integral part of a specific program. There is no point in developing a new ship without having an idea of ​​the tasks of its operation. New US spacecraft are being designed not only to deliver cargo and crews to the ISS, but also for flights to Mars and the Moon. However, these tasks are so far from everyday earthly concerns that in the coming years we can hardly expect any significant breakthroughs in the field of astronautics.

Dragon (SpaceX) is a private transport spacecraft of the SpaceX company, developed by order of NASA, designed to deliver and return payload and, in the future, people to the International Space Station.
The Dragon ship is being developed in several modifications: cargo, manned "Dragon v2" (crew of up to 7 people), cargo-passenger (crew of 4 people + 2.5 tons of cargo), the maximum weight of the ship with cargo on the ISS can be 7.5 tons, also a modification for autonomous flights (DragonLab).

On May 29, 2014, the company presented a manned version of the Dragon reusable vehicle, which will allow the crew not only to get to the ISS, but to return to Earth with full control of the landing procedure. The Dragon capsule will be able to accommodate seven astronauts at a time. Unlike the cargo version, it is capable of docking with the ISS independently, without the use of the station’s manipulator. Main astronauts and control panel. It is also stated that the descent capsule will be reusable, the first unmanned flight is scheduled for 2015, and a manned flight for 2016.
In July 2011, it became known that the Ames Research Center was developing the concept of the Red Dragon Mars exploration mission using the Falcon Heavy carrier and the SpaceX Dragon capsule.

SPACESHIPTWO

SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is a private, manned, reusable suborbital spacecraft. It is part of the Tier One program founded by Paul Allen and is based on the successful SpaceShipOne project.
The device will be delivered to the launch altitude (about 20 km) using the White Knight Two (WK2) aircraft. Maximum height flight 135-140 km (according to BBC information) or 160-320 km (according to an interview with Burt Rutan), which will increase the weightlessness time to 6 minutes. Maximum overload - 6 g. All flights are scheduled to begin and end at the same airport in Mojave, California. The initial expected ticket price is $200 thousand. The first test flight took place in March 2010. About a hundred test flights are planned. Commencement of commercial operation - no earlier than 2015.

DREAM CHASER

Dream Chaser is a reusable manned spacecraft being developed by the American company SpaceDev. The ship is designed to deliver cargo and crews of up to 7 people to low Earth orbit.
In January 2014, it was announced that the first uncrewed orbital test flight was scheduled to launch on November 1, 2016; If the test program is successfully completed, the first manned flight will take place in 2017.
Dream Chaser will be launched into space on top of an Atlas 5 rocket. Landing - horizontal, airplane. It is assumed that it will be possible not only to plan, like the Space Shuttle, but also to fly independently and land on any runway of at least 2.5 km in length. The body of the device is made of composite materials, with ceramic thermal protection, the crew is from two to seven people.

NEW SHEPARD

Designed for use in space tourism, New Shepard is a reusable launch vehicle from Blue Origin that will have vertical take-off and landing capabilities. Blue Origin is a company owned by Amazon.com founder and businessman Jeff Bezos. New Shepard will begin traveling to suborbital heights, and in addition will conduct experiments in space, then perform a vertical landing for nutrition and recovery and reuse vehicle.
The New Shepard reusable spacecraft is capable of vertical takeoff and landing.
In accordance with the developers' idea, New Shepard can be used to deliver people and equipment into space to a suborbital altitude of about 100 km above sea level. At this altitude it is possible to conduct experiments in microgravity conditions. It is noted that the spacecraft can accommodate up to three crew members on board. After the vertical start of the device, the engine compartment (occupies about 3/4 of the entire device, located in the lower part) operates for 2.5 minutes. Next, the engine compartment is separated from the cockpit and makes an independent vertical landing. The cabin with the crew, after completing all the planned work in orbit, is capable of landing on its own; it is planned to use parachutes for its descent and landing.

ORION, MPCV

Orion, MPCV, is a US multi-mission, partially reusable manned spacecraft developed since the mid-2000s as part of the Constellation program. The goal of this program was to return Americans to the Moon, and the Orion ship was intended to deliver people and cargo to the International Space Station and for flights to the Moon, as well as to Mars in the future.
Initially, the test flight of the spacecraft was scheduled for 2013, the first manned flight with a crew of two astronauts was planned for 2014, and the start of flights to the Moon for 2019-2020. At the end of 2011, it was assumed that the first flight without astronauts would take place in 2014, and the first manned flight in 2017. In December 2013, plans were announced for the first unmanned test flight (EFT-1) using the Delta 4 launch vehicle in September 2014, The first unmanned launch using the SLS launch vehicle is planned for 2017. In March 2014, the first unmanned test flight (EFT-1) using the Delta 4 carrier was postponed to December 2014.
The Orion spacecraft will carry both cargo and astronauts into space. When flying to the ISS, the Orion crew can include up to 6 astronauts. It was planned to send four astronauts on the expedition to the Moon. The Orion ship was supposed to ensure the delivery of people to the Moon for a long stay on it in order to subsequently prepare a manned flight to Mars.

LYNX MARK

The main purpose of the Lynx Mark I will be tourism. Taking off horizontally from a conventional airfield, the machine will gain altitude up to 42 kilometers, maintaining a speed twice the speed of sound. Then the engines will turn off, but the Lynx Mark I will rise by inertia another 19 kilometers. At the very peak of the altitude range available to the ship, it will experience approximately four minutes of weightlessness, after which it will re-enter the atmosphere and, gliding, land on the airfield. The maximum overload during descent will be 4 g. The entire flight will take no more than half an hour. At the same time, the rocket plane is designed for intensive work: four flights per day with maintenance after every 40 flights (10 days of flights).
From the point of view of space tourism, the device has a number of undeniable advantages, the main one of which is its not too high speed both on ascent and descent. This allows the thermal protection shell to be reliable, but not disposable, like the SpaceX Dragon.
Considering that the cost of a two-seat orbital plane, according to the company’s promises, will not exceed $10 million, with four flights a day the device will quickly pay for itself. After this, the more ambitious Lynx Mark II and III will be created, with an orbital flight altitude of 100 kilometers, capable of carrying a load of up to 650 kilograms.

CST-100

CST-100 (from the English Crew Space Transportation) is a manned transport spacecraft developed by Boeing. This is Boeing's space debut, created as part of the Commercial Manned Spacecraft Program, organized and funded by NASA.
The CST-100 head fairing will be used to increase the air flow around the capsule, and after leaving the atmosphere it will be separated. Behind the panel is a docking port for docking with the ISS and, presumably, other orbital stations. To control the device, 3 pairs of engines are designed: two on the sides for maneuvering, two main ones that create the main thrust, and two additional ones. The capsule is equipped with two windows: front and side. CST-100 consists of two modules: the instrumentation compartment and the descent module. The latter is designed to ensure the normal existence of astronauts on board the vehicle and storage of cargo, while the former includes all the necessary flight control systems and will be separated from the descent vehicle before entering the atmosphere.
The device will in the future be used to deliver cargo and crew. The CST-100 will be able to transport a team of 7 people. It is assumed that the device will deliver crew to the International Space Station and the Bigelow Aerospace Orbital Space Complex. Duration when docked with the ISS is up to 6 months.
The CST-100 is designed for relatively short trips. The "100" in the ship's name means 100 km or 62 miles (low Earth orbit).
One of the features of the CST-100 is additional orbital maneuvering capabilities: if the fuel in the system separating the capsule and the launch vehicle is not used (in the event of an unsuccessful launch), it can then be consumed in orbit.
It is planned to reuse the descent capsule up to 10 times.
The return of the capsule to Earth will be ensured by disposable thermal protection, parachutes and inflatable cushions (for the final stage of landing).
In May 2014, the first unmanned test launch of the CST-100 was announced in January 2017. The first orbital flight of a manned spacecraft with two astronauts is planned for mid-2017. The launch will use the Atlas-5 launch vehicle. Also, docking with the ISS is not excluded.

PPTS -PTK NP

Perspective Manned Transport System (PPTS) and New Generation Manned Transport Ship (PTK NP) are the temporary official names of the Russian launch vehicle and multi-purpose manned partially reusable spacecraft projects.
Under these temporary official names lie Russian projects represented by a launch vehicle and a multi-purpose manned spacecraft, which is partially reusable. It is this that in the future will have to replace the manned spacecraft represented by the Soyuz series, as well as the automatic cargo ships of the Progress program.
The creation of the PCA was determined by certain government goals and objectives. Among them is the fact that the ship will have to provide national security, be technologically independent, allow the state to have unhindered access to outer space, fly into lunar orbit and land there.
The crew can consist of a maximum of six people, and if it is a flight to the Moon, then no more than four. The delivered cargo can reach 500 kg in weight, and the weight of the returned cargo can be the same.
The spacecraft will enter orbit using the new Amur launch vehicle.
As for the engine compartment of the descent vehicle, it is planned to use only environmentally friendly fuel components, including ethyl alcohol and gaseous oxygen. Up to 8 tons of fuel can fit inside the engine compartment.
It is expected that the territory of the landing sites will be located in the south of Russia. Landing of the descent vehicle will be carried out using three parachutes. This will also be facilitated by the soft landing jet system. Previously, developers had stuck to the idea of ​​using a fully reactive system, which would have included backup parachutes for situations when the engines turned out to be faulty.

Juno. The Juno spacecraft was launched in 2011 and is scheduled to enter orbit around Jupiter in 2016. It will make a long loop around the gas giant, collecting data on atmospheric composition and magnetic field, as well as mapping winds. Juno is NASA's first spacecraft not to use a plutonium core but to be equipped with solar panels.

Mars 2020. The next rover sent to the red planet will in many ways be a copy of the well-proven Curiosity. But his task will be different - namely, to search for any traces of life on Mars. The program starts at the end of 2020.

NASA plans to launch a space atomic clock for deep space navigation into orbit in 2016. This device, in theory, should work as a GPS for future spaceships. The space clock promises to be 50 times more accurate than any of its counterparts on Earth.

InSight. One of the important questions related to Mars is whether there is geological activity on it or not? The InSight mission, planned for 2016, would answer this with a rover carrying a drill and a seismometer.

Uranus orbiter. Humanity has visited Uranus and Neptune only once, during the Voyager 2 mission in 1980, but this is expected to be corrected in the next decade. The Uranus orbiter program is conceived as an analogue of Cassini's flight to Jupiter. The problems are funding and a lack of plutonium for fuel. However, the launch is planned for 2020 with the vehicle arriving at Uranus in 2030.

Europa Clipper. Thanks to the Voyager mission in 1979, we learned that beneath the ice of one of Jupiter's moons, Europa, there is a huge ocean. And where there is so much liquid water, life is possible. Europa Clipper will fly in 2025, equipped with a powerful radar capable of peering deep under Europa's ice.

OSIRIS-REx. Asteroid (101955) Bennu is not the most famous space object. But according to astronomers from the University of Arizona, it has a very real chance of crashing into the Earth around 2200. OSIRIS-REx will travel to Benn in 2019 to collect soil samples and return in 2023. Studying the data obtained could help prevent a disaster in the future.

LISA is a joint experiment between NASA and the European Space Agency to study gravitational waves, emitted by black holes and pulsars. The measurements will be carried out by three devices located at the vertices of a triangle 5 million km long. LISA Pathfinder, the first of three satellites, will be sent into orbit in November 2015, with a full launch of the program planned for 2034.

BepiColombo. This program was named after the 20th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Colombo, who developed the theory of gravitational maneuver. BepiColombo is a project of the space agencies of Europe and Japan, starting in 2017 with the estimated arrival of the device in Mercury orbit in 2024.

The James Webb Space Telescope will be launched into orbit in 2018 as a replacement for the famous Hubble. The size of a tennis court and the size of a four-story house, costing nearly $9 billion, the telescope is considered the best hope for modern astronomy.

Basically, missions are planned in three directions - a flight to Mars in 2020, a flight to Jupiter’s moon Europa and, possibly, to the orbit of Uranus. But the list is not limited to them. Let's take a look at ten space programs near future.

At the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget these days, Chinese representatives invited Roscosmos to participate in the Chinese space station project. As the head of the state corporation, Igor Komarov, said, there is no agreement or plans: the stations have different orbital inclinations. So far, Russia has no plans to join the project. The plan of the station in question is relatively finalized. The Chinese manned space program itself is young - the first Chinese taikunaut appeared less than a decade and a half ago.

However, after the closure of the ISS project in the 20s of this century, China may be one - if not the only - of the countries with a functioning station in Earth orbit.

ISS Closed Club

Both projects stretch back almost half a century into the past of the Cold War. Plans for an international multi-module space station called Freedom were announced in 1984 under Reagan. The 40th president of the United States inherited from his predecessor one of the most expensive orbital carriers in the history of the Space Shuttle and not a single permanent orbital station, and the new leadership in the United States always likes to appoint new areas of astronautics.

Fortunately, Mir-2 did not remain just a fantasy of the Orbiter simulator modellers: through the PMA-1 adapter, the Zarya modules and the Mir-2 base unit, which became the Zvezda, were connected to the American segment.

Over eighteen years in orbit, the ISS has acquired its current scope. The station, which has become one of the most expensive structures of humanity, has been visited by citizens of several dozen countries, many countries are conducting experiments on it - you just need to be a partner.

But only the United States, its allies and Russia, which has joined, have membership in the project. Does not participate in the ISS along with others, for example, India or South Korea. Other countries have real barriers to participation. Most likely, not a single Chinese citizen will ever be on board the station. The probable reason for this is geopolitical motives and political hostility. For example, all researchers at the American space agency NASA are prohibited from working with Chinese citizens associated with Chinese government or private organizations.

Fast start

Therefore, China is walking alone in space. It seems that it has always been this way: the Soviet-Chinese split prevented us from borrowing the experience of early Soviet launches. All that China managed to do before him was to adopt experience in creating the R-2 rocket, an improved copy of the German V-2. In the seventies and eighties of the last century, as part of the Intercosmos program, the USSR launched citizens of friendly states into orbit. And there was not a single Chinese here. Technological exchanges between China and Russia resumed only in the 2000s.

The first tykunaut appeared in 2003. The Shenzhou-5 apparatus was launched into orbit by Yang Liwei. Although much later, China became the third nation in the world after the USSR and the USA to create the possibility of putting a person into Earth orbit. The answer to the question of how independently this work was carried out is a matter for those who like to argue. But the Shenzhou ship, both externally and internally, resembles the Soviet Soyuz, and one of the world-famous Russian scientists received 11 years in prison on charges of transferring space technology to China.

In 2008, the People's Republic of China completed a spacewalk on Shenzhou-7. Taikunaut Zhai Zhigang was protected from space by the “Feitian” spacesuit, created in the likeness of the Russian “Orlan-M”.

China launched its first space station, Tiangong-1, into orbit in 2011. Externally, the station resembles the early devices of the Salyut series: it consisted of one module and did not provide for expansion or docking of more than one ship. The station arrived at the specified orbit. A month later, the unmanned spacecraft Shenzhou-8 was automatically docked. The ship undocked and docked again to test the rendezvous and docking systems. In the summer of 2012, Tiangong-1 was visited by two crews of taikunauts.

"Tiangong-1"

In world history, human launch was 1961, spacewalk was 1965, automatic docking was 1967, docking with a space station was 1971. China was rapidly repeating the space records that the USA and USSR set generations ago, it was increasing its experience and technology, even if resorting to copying.

Visits to the first Chinese space station did not last long, only a few days. As you can see, this was not quite a full-fledged station - it was created to test rendezvous and docking technologies. Two crews - and they left her.

On this moment Tiangong-1 is gradually leaving orbit, the remains of the device will fall to Earth somewhere at the end of 2017. This will probably be an uncontrolled derailment, since communication with the station has been lost.

Basic module "Tianhe"

In the design of the 22-ton Tianhe, there are noticeable similarities with the base module of the Mir and Zvezda of the ISS, which originated from the Salyut. In the front part of the module there is a docking unit; a robotic manipulator, gyrodynes and solar panels are located outside. Inside the module there is an area for storing supplies and scientific experiments. The crew of the module is 3 people.

Scientific module "Wentian"

The two scientific modules will have approximately the same size as Tianhe and approximately the same mass - 20 tons. They want to install another smaller robotic manipulator on the Wentian for conducting experiments in outer space and a small airlock chamber.

Scientific module "Mengtian"

The Mengtian has a gateway for spacewalks and an additional docking port.

Due to the paucity of available information, the Bisbos.com illustration takes liberties with assumptions and conjectures, but gives a good idea of ​​the future station. Here, in addition to the station modules, there is a Tianzhou model cargo ship (in the upper left corner) and a Shenzhou series crew ship (in the lower right corner).

Perhaps these plans could be combined with the Chinese project. But on June 19, the head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, said that there are no such plans yet:

They offered, we exchange offers to participate in projects, but they have a different inclination, a different orbit and plans that are somewhat different from ours. While there are agreements and plans for the future, there is nothing concrete.

He recalled that the Chinese space station project is a national project, although other countries can participate in it. On the other hand, to representatives of RIA Novosti the director of the department international cooperation Chinese National Space Administration (CNSA) Xu Yansong said that the project could become international.

The cited problem in the station's location is inclination, one of the most important characteristics of the orbit of any satellite. This is the angle between the orbital plane and the reference plane - in this case, the Earth's equator.

The orbital inclination of the International Space Station is 51.6°, which is interesting in itself. The fact is that when launching an artificial Earth satellite, it is most economical to increase the speed given by the rotation of the planet, that is, launch with an inclination equal to the latitude. The latitude of Cape Canaveral in the USA, where the shuttle launch pads are located, is 28°, Baikonur - 46°. Therefore, when choosing a configuration, a concession was made to one of the parties. In addition, from the resulting station you can photograph much more land. They usually launch from Baikonur with an inclination of 51.6°, so that the spent stages and the rocket itself do not fall onto the territory of Mongolia or China in the event of an accident.

The Russian modules separated from the ISS will maintain an orbital inclination of 51.6°, unless, of course, it is changed, which is very energy-intensive - it will require maneuvers in orbit, that is, fuel and engines, probably from Progress. Statements about the Russian National Space Station also hinted at operating at an inclination of 64.8° - this is necessary for launching devices to it from the Plesetsk cosmodrome.

In any case, all this is different from the announced Chinese plans. According to the presentations, the Chinese space station will be launched at an inclination of 42°-43° with an orbital altitude of 340-450 kilometers above sea level. Such an inclination discrepancy excludes the creation of a joint Russian-Chinese space station similar to the ISS.

Current life expectancy estimates that the ISS will last until at least 2024. The station has no successors. NASA has no plans to create its own space station in low Earth orbit and is concentrating its efforts on a flight to Mars. There are only plans to create the Deep Space Gateway module as a transfer point between the Earth and the Moon on the way to deep space, to the red planet. Probably, for a new round of international cooperation, the geopolitical climate of the early nineties and the present day differs significantly.

When creating the ISS, the Russian side was invited not only for the sake of technology, but also for experience. At that time, in the United States, orbital experiments were carried out on short-term flights of the reusable Spacelab laboratory, and experience at long-term orbital stations was limited to three Skylab crews in the seventies. The USSR and its specialists had unique knowledge of the continuous operation of stations of this type, the life of the crew on board and the conduct of scientific experiments. Perhaps the recent proposal of the PRC to participate in the Chinese space station project is precisely an attempt to adopt this experience.

In 2011, the United States found itself without space vehicles capable of delivering humans into low-Earth orbit. American engineers are now building more new manned spacecraft than ever before, with private companies leading the way, meaning space exploration will become much cheaper. In this article we will talk about seven planned vehicles, and if at least some of these projects come to fruition, a new golden age in manned space flight will begin.

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Space Exploration Technologies / Elon Musk
• Launch date: 2015
• Purpose: flights to orbit (to the ISS)
• Chances of success: very decent

When Elon Musk founded his company Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, in 2002, skeptics saw no prospects. However, by 2010, his startup became the first private enterprise that managed to replicate what had until then been a state diocese. A Falcon 9 rocket launched an unmanned Dragon capsule into orbit.

The next step on Musk’s path to space is the development, based on the Dragon reusable capsule, of a device capable of carrying people on board. It will be named DragonRider and is intended for flights to the ISS. Using an innovative approach in both design and operating principles, SpaceX says it will cost only $20 million per seat to transport passengers (a passenger seat on the Russian Soyuz currently costs the US $63 million).

Path to the manned capsule

Upgraded interior

The capsule will be equipped for a crew of seven people. Already inside the unmanned version, earth pressure is maintained, so it will not be difficult to adapt it for human habitation.

Wider windows

Through them, astronauts will be able to observe the process of docking with the ISS. Future modifications of the capsule - with the ability to land on a jet stream - will require an even wider view.

Additional engines developing 54 tons of thrust for emergency ascent into orbit in the event of a launch vehicle accident.

Dream Chaser - Descendant of the Space Shuttle

• Type: rocket-launched spaceplane Made by: Sierra Nevada Space Systems
• Planned launch into orbit: 2017
• Purpose: orbital flights
• Chances of success: good

Of course, space planes have certain advantages. Unlike an ordinary passenger capsule, which, falling through the atmosphere, can only slightly adjust its trajectory, shuttles are capable of performing maneuvers during descent and even changing the destination airfield. In addition, they can be reused after a short service. However, the crashes of two American shuttles showed that space planes are by no means an ideal means for orbital expeditions. Firstly, it is expensive to transport cargo on the same vehicles as the crews, because by using a purely cargo ship, you can save on safety and life support systems.

Secondly, attaching the shuttle to the side of the boosters and fuel tank increases the risk of damage from accidentally falling off elements of these structures, which was the cause of the death of the Columbia shuttle. But Sierra Nevada Space Systems vows to clear the orbital spaceplane's reputation. To do this, she has the Dream Chaser, a winged vehicle for delivering crews to the space station. The company is already fighting for NASA contracts. The Dream Chaser design eliminates the major shortcomings of older space shuttles. Firstly, they now intend to transport cargo and crews separately. And secondly, now the ship will be mounted not on the side, but on top of the Atlas V launch vehicle. At the same time, all the advantages of the shuttles will be preserved.

Suborbital flights of the device are scheduled for 2015, and it will be launched into orbit two years later.

How is it inside?

This device can send seven people into space at once. The ship launches on top of the rocket.

At a given point, it is separated from the carrier and can then dock at the space station's docking port.

Dream Chaser has never flown into space, but it's ready to at least run on the runway. In addition, it was dropped from helicopters, testing the aerodynamic capabilities of the ship.

New Shepard - Amazon's Secret Ship

• Type: habitable capsule Creator: Blue Origin / Jeff Bezos
• Launch date: unknown
• Chances of success: good

Jeff Bezos, the 49-year-old founder of Amazon.com and a billionaire with his own vision of the future, has been implementing secret plans for space exploration for more than ten years. Bezos has already invested many millions of his $25 billion capital into a daring venture called Blue Origin. His vehicle will take off from an experimental launch pad, which was built (with FAA approval, of course) in a remote corner of West Texas.

In 2011, the company published footage showing a cone-shaped missile system New Shepard. It takes off vertically to a height of one and a half hundred meters, hovers there for a while, and then smoothly descends to the ground using a jet stream. According to the project, in the future the launch vehicle will be able, having thrown the capsule to a suborbital altitude, to independently return to the cosmodrome using its own engine. This is a much more economical scheme than catching the used stage in the ocean after splashdown.

After Internet entrepreneur Jeff Bezos founded his space company in 2000, he kept its very existence a secret for three years. The company launches its experimental vehicles (like the capsule pictured) from a private spaceport in West Texas.

The system consists of two parts.

A crew capsule that maintains normal Atmosphere pressure, separates from the carrier and flies to an altitude of 100 km. The propulsion engine allows the rocket to make a vertical landing near the launch pad. The capsule itself is then returned to earth using a parachute.

The launch vehicle lifts the vehicle from the launch pad.

SpaceShipTwo - Pioneer in the tourism business

• Type: spacecraft launched in the air from a carrier aircraft Creator: Virgin Galactic /
• Richard Branson
• Launch date: scheduled for 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: very good

The first of the SpaceShipTwo vehicles during a test glide flight. In the future, four more similar devices will be built, which will begin to carry tourists. 600 people have already signed up for the flight, including celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo DiCaprio.

The device, built by the famous designer Burt Rutan in collaboration with tycoon Richard Branson, owner of the Virgin Group, laid the foundation for the future of space tourism. Why not take everyone into space? IN new version This device will be able to accommodate six tourists and two pilots. The journey into space will consist of two parts. First, the WhiteKnightTwo aircraft (its length is 18 m and its wingspan is 42) will lift the SpaceShipTwo apparatus to an altitude of 15 km.

Then the jet will separate from the carrier aircraft, start its own engines and blast off into space. At an altitude of 108 km, passengers will have an excellent view of the curvature earth's surface, and the serene glow of the earth’s atmosphere - and all this against the backdrop of the black depths of space. A ticket costing a quarter of a million dollars will allow travelers to enjoy weightlessness, but for only four minutes.

Inspiration Mars - Kiss over the Red Planet

• Type: interplanetary transport Creator: Inspiration Mars Foundation / Dennis Tito
• Launch date: 2018
• Purpose: flight to Mars
• Chances of success: doubtful

Honeymoon (lasting a year and a half) on an interplanetary expedition? The Inspiration Mars fund, run by former NASA engineer, investment specialist and first space tourist Dennis Tito, wants to offer this opportunity to the chosen couple. Tito's group hopes to take advantage of the parade of planets that will occur in 2018 (this happens once every 15 years). “Parade” will allow you to fly from Earth to Mars and return along a free return trajectory, that is, without burning additional fuel. Next year, Inspiration Mars will begin accepting applications for a 501-day expedition.

The ship will have to fly at a distance of 150 km from the surface of Mars. To participate in the flight, it is supposed to choose a married couple - perhaps newlyweds (an important question psychological compatibility). “The Inspiration Mars fund estimates that it will need to raise $1-2 billion. We are laying the groundwork for things that were previously unthinkable, such as going to other planets,” says Marco Caceres, head of space exploration at the Teal Group.

• Type: Self-propelled space plane Created by: XCOR Aerospace
• Planned launch date: 2014
• Purpose: suborbital flights
• Chances of success: quite decent

California-based XCOR Aerospace, headquartered in Mojave, believes it holds the key to the cheapest suborbital flights. The company is already selling tickets for its 9-meter Lynx device, designed for just two passengers. Tickets cost $95,000.

Unlike other spaceplanes and passenger capsules, the Lynx does not require a launch vehicle to reach space. Having launched jet engines specially developed for this project (they will burn kerosene with liquid oxygen), Lynx will take off from the runway in a horizontal direction, as a conventional plane does, and only after accelerating will soar steeply along its space trajectory. The first test flight of the device may take place in the coming months.

Takeoff: The space plane accelerates down the runway.

Ascent: Having reached Mach 2.9, it climbs steeply.

Goal: Approximately 3 minutes after takeoff, the engines shut down. The plane follows a parabolic trajectory, rushing through suborbital space.

Return to the dense layers of the atmosphere and landing.

The device gradually slows down, cutting circles in a downward spiral.

Orion - Passenger capsule for a large company

• Type: manned ship of increased volume for interstellar flights
• Creator: NASA / US Congress
• Launch date: 2021–2025

NASA has already, without regret, ceded flights to near-Earth orbit to private companies, but the agency has not yet given up its claims to deep space. The multi-purpose manned spacecraft Orion may fly to planets and asteroids. It will consist of a capsule docked with a module, which, in turn, will contain a power plant with a fuel supply, as well as a living compartment. The first test flight of the capsule will take place in 2014. It will be launched into space by a 70 m long Delta launch vehicle. Then the capsule must return to the atmosphere and land in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.

A new rocket will apparently be built for the long-distance expeditions for which Orion is being prepared. Work is already underway at NASA's Huntsville, Alabama, facility on the new 98-meter Space Launch System rocket. This super-heavy transport must be ready for the moment when (and if) NASA astronauts decide to fly to the Moon, to some asteroid, or even further. “We're increasingly thinking about Mars,” says Dan Dambacher, director of NASA's Exploration Systems Development Division, “as our primary goal.” True, some critics say that such claims are somewhat excessive. The projected system is so huge that NASA will be able to use it no more than once every two years, since one launch will cost $6 billion.

When will man set foot on an asteroid?

In 2025, NASA plans to send astronauts in the Orion spacecraft to one of the asteroids located near Earth - 1999AO10. The journey should take five months.

Launch: Orion, with a crew of four, will take off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Flight: After five days of flight, Orion, using the gravity of the Moon, will make a turn around it and set a course for 1999AO10.

Meeting: astronauts will fly to the asteroid two months after launch. They will spend two weeks on its surface, but there is no talk of actual landing. there is talk, since this space rock has too weak gravity. Rather, crew members will simply anchor their ship to the asteroid's surface and collect mineral samples.

Return: since asteroid 1999AO10 has been gradually approaching Earth all this time, the return journey will be slightly shorter. Having reached low-Earth orbit, the capsule will separate from the ship and splash down in the ocean.