View source for Engineering:Zarya (spacecraft)

{{short description|Soviet orbital vehicle design}}
{{Infobox spacecraft class
| image = 
| name = Zarya (spacecraft)
| manufacturer = 
| country = USSR
| applications = Carry [[Astronaut|passengers]] and supplies to low Earth orbit and back
| operator = [[Astronomy:Soviet space program|Soviet space program]] 
| orbits = [[Astronomy:Low Earth orbit|Low Earth orbit]]
| lifetime = 
| derivedfrom = [[Engineering:Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]]
| derivatives = 
| status = Canceled, 1989
| launched = None
}}

The '''Zarya spacecraft''' ({{Lang-ru|Заря|lit=Dawn}}) was a secret Soviet project of the late 1980s aiming to design and build a large crewed vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing ([[Engineering:VTVL|VTVL]]) [[Astronomy:Reusable launch system|reusable]] [[Engineering:Space capsule|space capsule]],<ref name=bbc20090429/> a much larger replacement for the [[Engineering:Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz (spacecraft)]]. The project was developed during 1985–1989 years by [[Company:Energia (corporation)|Energia corporation]] until it was shelved in 1989, "on the eve of the Soviet Union's collapse" due to lack of funding.<ref name=bbc20090429/> The name of the project was later reused by the Zarya space station module which served as the first component of [[Astronomy:International Space Station|International Space Station]] in 1998.

==Design==

The Zarya spacecraft would have differed from all previous spacecraft by having an array of a dozen rocket engines for making a soft landing upon return to Earth, without using a parachute.<ref name=bbc20090429>
{{cite news |last=Zak|first=Anatoly |title=Russia mulls rocket power 'first' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8024590.stm |access-date=2011-10-11 |newspaper=BBC News |date=2009-04-29 |quote=''RKK Energia, ... in the 1980s ... worked on a highly classified project to develop a large manned capsule, called Zarya ("Dawn"), for a wide range of civilian and military missions.''}}</ref>

== Mission==
Zarya spacecraft would have brought crew and supplies to ''[[Astronomy:Mir|Mir]]'' or supplies only in automated mode.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1hmUjQxxXn8C&pg=PA160 The Continuing Story of The International Space Station] by Peter Bond].</ref>
It would have had a normal crew of one or two and offered the possibility of carrying a maximum of eight to twelve if used as a ''Mir'' lifeboat.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=dbGchpi1HP8C&pg=PA381 Soyuz: A Universal Spacecraft, Pages displayed by permission of Springer] by Rex Hall, David Shayler.</ref><ref>{{cite web |access-date=2020-04-13 |title=Zarya |url=http://www.astronautix.com/z/zarya.html |website=www.astronautix.com}}</ref>

== Timeline ==
;1985 January 27
* Preliminary design work began on Zarya "Super Soyuz". Concept was reusable spacecraft, launched by [[Engineering:Zenit (rocket family)|Zenit launch vehicle]], with all possible systems recovered in landing module, together with significant payload delivered to and returned from orbit. Carriage in payload bay of [[Engineering:Buran (spacecraft)|Buran shuttle]] was also a requirement.

;1986 December 22
* Zarya "Super Soyuz" briefed to the Military-Industrial Commission.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = USSR|url = http://www.astronautix.com/country/ussr.htm|website = www.astronautix.com|access-date = 2015-07-20}}</ref>
;During 1989
* Zarya "Super Soyuz" cancelled on financial grounds. <ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* {{Annotated link|McDonnell Douglas DC-X}}
* {{Annotated link|Reusable Vehicle Testing}}
* {{Annotated link|Quad (rocket)}}
* {{Annotated link|Project Morpheus}}
* {{Annotated link|New Shepard}}
* {{Annotated link|Kankoh-maru}}
* {{Annotated link|CORONA (SSTO)}}
* {{Annotated link|Falcon 9 prototypes}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Russian human spaceflight programs}}
{{Reusable launch systems}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zarya Spacecraft}}
[[Category:Proposed spacecraft]]
[[Category:VTVL rockets]]



{{Sourceattribution|Zarya (spacecraft)|1}}