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Kliper
Kliper spacecraft rendering
OperatorRoscosmos
Major contractorsNPO Energia
Mission typeCrew Exploration Vehicle
Satellite ofEarth, Moon and Mars.
Launch dateIndefinitely postponed[1]
Carrier rocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur Cosmodrome

Kliper (Клипер, English: Clipper) was a proposed partly reusable manned spacecraft by RSC Energia.

Designed primarily to replace the Soyuz spacecraft, Kliper was proposed in two versions: as a pure lifting body design and as spaceplane with small wings. In either case, the craft would have been able to glide into the atmosphere at an angle that produces much less stress on the human occupants than the current Soyuz. Kliper was intended to be designed to be able to carry up to six people and to perform ferry services between Earth and the International Space Station.
Contents

1 Development

1.1 Announcement of the program

1.2 Early search for support

1.3 Estimated costs

1.4 First launch and target for regular flights

1.5 ESA's part in Kliper ? uncertainty over European cooperation

1.6 Russian Space Agency's tender for Kliper


2 Design

2.1 Overview

2.2 Lifting body design

2.3 Using a space tug

2.4 Final version of Energia's proposal


3 Missions

4 Carrier rockets

5 See also

6 References

7 External links

8 In the news


Development
Announcement of the programSoyuz TMA-6 spacecraft approaching the International Space Station - the Soyuz spacecraft would have been replaced by Kliper

In February 2004 Nikolai Moiseyev, the deputy director of Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA) told journalists that the Kliper project had been included in the Russian federal space program for 2005-15. At that point he announced that if the program is implemented successfully the first launch may even take place in five years' time. Kliper had been developed since 2000 and reportedly relied heavily on research studies as well as proposals for a small Russian lifting body spacecraft from the 1990s. Externally its design was comparable to the cancelled European minishuttle Hermes or the NASA study X-38. It was planned to be the successor to the veteran spacecraft Soyuz, which has been built in various modifications since 1961.
Early search for support

In 2005 Kliper was displayed in several air shows around Europe and Asia, in order to reach out to international partners who would be interested to co-fund and co-develop the spacecraft. The Russian Space Agency especially looked to Europe as the European Space Agency (ESA) had become its major partner in space activities during the last years. In May 2005 rumours started in the press that Europe would join the Kliper project in a specially funded venture that would be part of the Aurora Programme. These rumours turned out to be correct when both Russian and European space officials announced their cooperation to build Kliper during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget on June 10, 2005.[2][3]

Vladimir Taneev, the leading designer of the Kliper system, speculated on the contribution of Europe to the project in the following way:The European companies will likely contribute avionics, materials, and cabin systems. Many different options are on the table, and in the near future we expect to form Russian-European working groups specialized in different subsystems and fields of design.

The Russian Space Agency as well as ESA announced that they would continue to look for other international partners such as Japan to invest in Kliper. A substantive cooperation with NASA was unlikely, due to the parallel development of America's own next-generation manned launch vehicle, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).

A further element of this process was made public on October 12, 2005, when various press agencies revealed that JAXA, the Japanese space agency, had been officially approached by Russia to participate in the project. JAXA has made it clear that they are more likely to join the project if ESA does so first, which is in doubt after ESA members rejected a study for Europe's involvement in the Kliper project in December 2005. The addition of Japan would make Kliper a truly multinational project, potentially combining the rugged reliability of Russian launchers with Japanese computer technology. A greater pan-national consensus would have allowed for a lighter funding burden on each participant as well.
Estimated costs

Announcements and speculations following the February 2004 press conference suggested a development budget of 10 billion rubles (approximately US$400 million). However in looking at today's costs for human space travel it was clear that the 10 billion rubles figure was a rather low estimate. In May 2005 The Guardian reported that costs are estimated to be roughly US$3 billion (for development and construction of Kliper until 2015) of which the bulk of 1.8 billion was speculated to come from Europe.[4] Different sources in 2005 have reported that the money needed for the program would be 1.5 billion Euros ($1.