Myasishchev M-19 “Gurkolyot”

Headed by the USSR's Myasishchev Experimental Design Bureau, the M-19 "Gurkolyot" was the name for a horizontal takeoff single-stage to orbit (SSTO) spaceplane. Beginning in the 60s, the Myasishchev Design Bureau would propose a three stage program consisting of three seperate aircraft. This program would bring the USSR in to the reusable orbiter business. The series of three vehicles would begin with a high-speed testbed aircraft, followed by a NASA Space Shuttle type launch system (later known as the Buran orbiter), and ending with an orbital spaceplane. The M-19, an SSTO spaceplane, would become the last stage of this program. For the time, the design was unique, but far out of reach. The spaceplane would run on turbofans burning hydrogen up to Mach 4 and once there, kick in scramjets. Once the scramjets accelerated the vehicle up to Mach 16, it would then use a nuclear rocket engine for the last push into orbit. The spaceplane was targeted to have a phenominal payload fraction, 40:500 tons, that is, 8%. The M-19 achieved this due to the novel propulsion system of choice. Only one propellant, LH2, was needed, no LOX necessary. This was possible since the nuclear rocket need no oxidizer, as no combustion takes place, the LH2 is simply superheated into a gas by the reactor. Oxidizer was neither needed by the jets since theirs came from the air. However, such developments were distant for the time and combining numerous sophisticated technologies into a single highly complex vehicle was ambitious at best. With focus on the Buran launch system, later dissolution of the USSR, and the death of Vladimer Myasishchev in 1978, a major proponent of the project, the vehicle would never come to fruition.

This rendition is, like the concept vehicle, an SSTO spaceplane designed for use in 1:5 solar systems. However, this vehicle uses turbojets and a kerolox rocket to push a maximum of 450 tons into low orbit. True to the concept design, an aeroshell covers the rocket engine. It must be jettisoned before using the rocket!