Flighty Takeoffs: The Hydrofoil Albatros Rocket

1974 Russian Space Transport Plan Idea
Alexeyev Sukhoi Albatros 3 Phase Rocket Framework

At its center, the vehicle was conceptualized as a multi-stage framework, with the underlying stage highlighting a hydrofoil weighing roughly 1800 tons and extending 70 meters long. This hydrofoil, planned by Alexeyev, filled in as a forerunner to an undeniable ekranoplan. Its motivation was likened to the Space Transport's outside gas tank, conveying a significant payload of 200 tons of Fluid Oxygen (LOX) and Fluid Hydrogen (LH2). These charges were planned to fuel the engines of the subsequent stage.

Mounted on the hydrofoil, the subsequent stage, assessed at 210 tons, used the LOX and LH2 from the main stage to speed up the whole gathering to a momentous speed of 180 km/h over a range of 110 seconds. This speed increase happened along the outer layer of the Caspian Ocean, or on the other hand, the Aral or Lake Baikal, really using the huge water bodies as stopgap runways. Subsequent to arriving at the ideal speed, the subsequent stage disconnected from the hydrofoil and started its own impetus framework, taking itself off the now-unfilled flatboat.

This subsequent stage was an imaginative creation from Sukhoi, planned as a rapid reusable winged rocket plane/promoter. Its essential goal was to raise the third stage — a real spaceplane, likewise created by Sukhoi — to a high height. The spaceplane, a vital part of the framework, was prepared to push itself into space while the sponsor, having satisfied its motivation, drifted back to Earth. While insights concerning the steered idea of the supporter stay questionable, given Sukhoi's experience, it is conceivable that it could have been monitored.

The last phase of this striking vehicle was a tail-less rocket plane, bragging a mass around 80 tons and spreading over 40 meters long. This plan made it similar to the American orbiter. Regardless of its comparability in appearance to specific emphasess of the Hermes transport or the later Russian/European Kliper, it stood apart because of its payload limit of 30 tons to Low Earth Circle (LEO) and its group of two. In fact, this stage was a wonder, consolidating progressed designing ideas to accomplish its targets.