Baikal-1 Reusable Booster in International Debut

PARIS AIR SHOW 2001

	June 17	June 18	June 19	June 20

Baikal-1 Reusable Booster in International Debut

Baikal-1-From Launch To Safe Landing

Conventional boosters such as those used on the Space Shuttle flights tumble down to crash on the ground or into the sea after separating from the main engine. At an altitude of 50 km and a speed of Mach 5.5, the empty Baikal-1 booster will separate from the upper stage in a similar way. But instead of falling back to earth, it will initially continue its ballistic trajectory-flying inverted with its wing stowed in he operational position and controlled by rocket thrusters at its nose-to an apogee of 100 km. As Baikal-1 descends to denser atmospheric layers, drag rapidly reduces its speed below Mach 1.7, the vehicle rolls upright and its wing moves to the flight position as it begins its gliding descent. When speed is down to Mach 0.4 the turbojet engine kicks-in to sustain level flight for up to 400 km back to the launch site. Landing is fully automatic, at a speed of 280 km/h and a ground roll 1,200 meters.-Tamir Eshel

As you approach the air show grounds from the east, you can't miss a huge craft, half-airplane, half-missile, poised apparently for take-off.

This is Baikal-1, a reusable first-stage booster concept developed at the Khrunichev Space Center in Russia. If successful, it could dramatically reduce space launch costs.

Equipped with a pivoted wing, turbojet engine, retractable landing gear and an automatic flight and landing control system, Baikal-1 will offer unlimited launch directions, since there is no possibility of down-range damage from discarded boosters. Khrunichev's plans for the Baikal concept include twin-and quad-booster configurations for medium- and heavy-lift missions.

Baikal-1 has been designed for compatibility with many of the launch vehicles available on the international market. Initially it will be offered with the Angara upper stage, which will lift the payload into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). At a lift-off weight of 168.9 tons for the entire system, a combination of Angara and one Baikal-1 booster will be capable of lifting a 1.9-ton payload, compared to the 2.6-ton capacity provided by the comparable, expendable Proton launch vehicle.

The twin-booster will be capable of lifting 9.3-tons into LEO and one ton into Geosynchroneous Transfer Orbit (GTO), while the quad-booster configuration will lift 18.4- to 22-tons into LEO, 4.4- to 5.66-tons to GTO and a 2.5- to 3.2-ton payload into Geosynchroneous Earth Orbit (GEO).

Baikal is expected to yield 30% to 50% savings on the costs of comparable Proton launches, primarily because 80% of the empty mass is reusable-Baikal flies back to its launch site, thus saving both construction and transportation costs.

According to Oleg Sokolov, chief of international programs at Khrunichev Space Center's department of strategic planning, the Baikal program started in late 1998 and is currently financed as an R&D effort by the center's profits from commercial Proton launches. Sokolov told Show News that the Baikal-1 on display at Le Bourget is a full-scale, production class test vehicle, which was taken from the development program prior to structural and mechanical testing.

More vehicles are in production, and will be used for flight testing-in captive flights aboard the An-225 transport, and gliding and jet-powered flights-over the next five years. The first launch of a Baikal-Angara combination is planned for 2005.

Sokolov expects Baikal-1's appearance at Paris to boost international interest and participation in the program, which has already been endorsed by Boeing. However, there is as yet no formal cooperation agreement between the companies.

By Tamir Eshel


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