Cosmopolis XXI was a late 2000s Russian concept

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

billed as a

space tourism Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. Tourists are motivated by the possibility of viewing Earth from space, ...

vehicle, similar to Mojave Aerospace's Tier One program. Designed and built by the Myasishchev Design Bureau, it would use the M-55X launch aircraft (derived from

Myasishchev M-55 The Myasishchev M-55 (NATO reporting name: ''Mystic-B'') is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed by OKB Myasishchev in the Soviet Union, similar in mission to the Lockheed U-2, but with a twin-boom fuselage and tail surface design. ...

), and the proposed C-21

spaceplane A spaceplane is a vehicle that can flight, fly and gliding flight, glide as an aircraft in Earth's atmosphere and function as a spacecraft in outer space. To do so, spaceplanes must incorporate features of both aircraft and spacecraft. Orbit ...

or its successor the Explorer. It would be a TSTSO (Two-Stage to SubOrbit) launch platform. The Explorer spaceplane is a

suborbital A sub-orbital spaceflight is a spaceflight in which the spacecraft reaches outer space, but its trajectory intersects the surface of the gravitating body from which it was launched. Hence, it will not complete one orbital revolution, will no ...

tourist spaceplane based on the C-21 design. The plane was being developed by

Space Adventures Space Adventures, Inc. is an American space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. Its offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights (with the option to participate in a spacewalk), and other spacefl ...

with the

Russian Federal Space Agency The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space flights, cosmonautics programs, and aerospace research. Originating from ...

and was intended to carry 3 passengers. It is to be air-launched by carrier aircraft from a Space Adventures

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

. Space Adventures abandoned the Explorer project in 2010 because "it got too expensive."Space Adventures returns to suborbital spaceflight
''NewSpace Journal'', 2010-05-28. Retrieved 2010-05-28. It is unclear if Russia continues its development.

References

Space.com, 2006-02-22.

External links

(SpaceAdventures) * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20151018222825/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11393569/ New group to develop passenger spaceship(MSNBC). Retrieved 2024-04-17.
''C-21 Spacecraft''
at

Myasishchev aircraft Human spaceflight programs Space Adventures Space tourism {{space-stub