The reentry capsule is apparently designed to be reusable, and uses a lifting body based on Buran and Soyuz technology. Leave it to the Russians to come up with a cheaper (and likely more reliable) concept that basically fits the bill for the ISS Crew Recovery Vehicle than the stuff NASA's proposed...
Known specifications of Kliper spacecraft (as of February 2004):
Launch mass
14.5 tons (without launch escape system)
Reentry capsule mass 9.8 tons
Length 10 meters
Maximum diameter 3.06 meters
Crew 6 people (2 pilots, 4 passengers)
Cargo to orbit 700 kilograms
Cargo from orbit 500 kilograms
Internal available volume 20 cubic meters
Autonomous flight duration 10 days
G-loads during reentry up to 2.5G
Launch Vehicle Onega (possible Zenit)
Estimated cost of development 10 billion rubles*
Estimated flight resource 25 flights
*This figure includes the construction of the first flight version of the vehicle, but it does not include the development of the launch vehicle.
During the press-conference at the ITAR TASS news agency on February 17, 2004, Yuri Koptev revealed that RKK Energia, the developer of the Soyuz, was working on the brand-new vehicle called Kliper since 2000. In the following days, a flurry of reports in the Russian press provided first details on the project.
As of 2004, RKK Energia had submitted technical proposals for the new spacecraft to the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviacosmos. The agency has provided limited funding for further preliminary studies of the vehicle dubbed Kliper (Clipper). At the time of Koptev's announcement, the project apparently had already evolved through several reincarnations. The Russian television showed scaled models of the vehicle designed for aerodynamic testing in the wind tunnel.
In April 2004, Nikolai Moiseev, First Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, FKA, (formerly Rosaviacosmos) told Russian news agency that the Kliper project would be included in the federal space plan for 2005-2015.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Launch system
The spacecraft would be launched on top of the yet-to-be developed Onega booster with no payload fairing but with the emergency escape rocket attached at the nose section of the capsule. The emergency escape system, resembling that of the Soyuz spacecraft, would be capable of pulling the crew capsule away from the launch vehicle at every stage of the launch and orbit insertion.
The successful development of the Onega booster and its launch infrastructure would be one of the most challenging and expensive aspects of the project. Also, the decision to base the project on the expendable booster will limit economic viability of the reusable spacecraft.
The Onega booster, a heavily modified Soyuz rocket, can be launched from upgraded Soyuz facilities in Baikonur, Plesetsk and, potentially, French Guiana. Theoretically, the existing Zenit booster would have the capability to deliver the Kliper into the Earth orbit.
Orbital operations
While in orbit, the Kliper would be capable of delivering crew and cargo to the space station or carrying two pilots and four passengers, including tourists, on an autonomous flight. A special detachable habitation module partially borrowed from the Soyuz spacecraft will be mounted behind the reentry capsule, rather then in front of it, as in the Soyuz spacecraft. The habitation module will contain docking hardware, toilet and other life-support systems.
In turn, the habitation module, OA, will be surrounded by a thorus-shaped service module, PAO, containing orbital maneuvering and attitude control system and power supply systems with solar panels. The propulsion system will burn the mix of UDMH and nitrogen tetroxide. The habitation module/service module combination would be jettisoned from the reentry capsule after the braking maneuver to return to Earth, as it now done onboard the Soyuz spacecraft.
Reentry profile
The new spacecraft would be shaped as a "lifting body," which provides effective aerodynamic lifting force during the reentry into the atmosphere. As a result, the ship would be able to conduct side maneuvers during its return to Earth, unlike a traditional reentry capsule, which is limited to a narrow corridor along the ground track of its final orbit.
The aerodynamic body of the Kliper sporting two vertical and one horizontal movable rudders on its tail would allow the vehicle to glide as far as 500 kilometers left and right from the ground track of its orbit, with G-loads not exceeding 2 and the skin temperature in the most critical area of the nose not exceeding 3,000K.
The spacecraft will feature combination of thermal protection systems borrowed from the Buran program and from the Soyuz spacecraft. Some sections of the thermal protection system, such as nose section with the interface for the emergency escape rocket, would not be reusable.
Landing system
The Kliper will land with the help of a three main uncontrolled parachutes and several solid-propellant engines, which would be fired shortly before the touchdown. As of February 2004, engineers were still debating a choice between special landing legs and an inflatable cushioning device to soften the landing. The latter would probably enable the spacecraft to safely splashdown in the water.
The flight control system should be able to "zero in" on the landing site with the total area of one by one kilometer.
Apollo was a relatively simple, robust system. Those F-1 engines on the Saturn V were quite amazing.