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The Shuttle-C was a study by NASA to turn the Space Shuttle launch stack into a dedicated uncrewed cargo launcher. The Space Shuttle external tank and Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) would be combined with a cargo module to take the place of the Shuttle orbiter and include the main engines. Various Shuttle-C concepts were investigated between 1984 and 1995.
The Shuttle-C concept would theoretically cut development costs for a heavy launch vehicle by re-using technology developed for the shuttle program. End-of-life and Space Shuttle hardware would also have been used. One proposal even involved converting ''
Encyclopedia Astronautica link on the Shuttle-C
{{Reusable launch systems Space Shuttle program Partially reusable space launch vehicles Shuttle-derived space launch vehicles Cancelled space launch vehicles
The Shuttle-C was a study by NASA to turn the Space Shuttle launch stack into a dedicated uncrewed cargo launcher. The Space Shuttle external tank and Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) would be combined with a cargo module to take the place of the Shuttle orbiter and include the main engines. Various Shuttle-C concepts were investigated between 1984 and 1995.
The Shuttle-C concept would theoretically cut development costs for a heavy launch vehicle by re-using technology developed for the shuttle program. End-of-life and Space Shuttle hardware would also have been used. One proposal even involved converting ''Columbia
Columbia may refer to:
* Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America
Places North America Natural features
* Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
'' or '' Enterprise'' into a single-use cargo launcher. Before the loss of Space Shuttle ''Challenger'', NASA had expected about 24 shuttle flights a year. In the aftermath of the ''Challenger'' incident, it became clear that this launch rate was not feasible for a variety of reasons. With the Shuttle-C, it was thought that the lower maintenance and safety requirements for the uncrewed vehicle would allow a higher flight rate.
The Shuttle-C would have been the main crew launch vehicle for the Piloted ILREC Lander in the International Lunar Resources Exploration Program.
In the early 1990s, NASA engineers planning a crewed mission to Mars included a Shuttle-C design to launch six non-reusable, 80-ton segments to create two Mars ships in Earth orbit. After President George W. Bush called for the end of the Space Shuttle by 2010, these proposed configurations were put aside.
See also
*Shuttle SERV
SERV, short for Single-stage Earth-orbital Reusable Vehicle, was a proposed space launch system designed by Chrysler's Space Division for the Space Shuttle project. SERV was so radically different from the two-stage spaceplanes that almost ever ...
* Magnum (rocket)
The Magnum was a large Super heavy-lift launch vehicle, super-heavy-lift rocket designed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center during the mid-1990s. The Magnum, which never made it past the preliminary design phase, would have been a launcher s ...
* Shuttle-derived vehicle
* Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle
The Shuttle-Derived Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle ("HLV") was an alternate super heavy-lift launch vehicle proposal for the NASA Constellation program. It was first presented to the Augustine Commission on 17 June 2009.
Based on the Shuttle-C concep ...
, a heavy lift launch vehicle
A heavy-lift launch vehicle, HLV or HLLV, is an orbital launch vehicle capable of lifting between
(by NASA classification) or between (by Russian classification) into low Earth orbit (LEO).50t payloads" , operational heavy-lift launch vehicl ...
with a similar design.
*Energia
Energia or Energiya may refer to:
* Energia (corporation), or S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, a Russian design bureau and manufacturer
** Energia (rocket), a Soviet rocket designed by the company
*Energia (company), a company th ...
* List of space launch system designs
Even before the launch of Sputnik 1, there were various types of launch vehicle designs. The launch vehicle designs described below are either canceled or never left the drawing board.
20th century
21st century
See also
*Comparison of or ...
References
External links
Encyclopedia Astronautica link on the Shuttle-C
{{Reusable launch systems Space Shuttle program Partially reusable space launch vehicles Shuttle-derived space launch vehicles Cancelled space launch vehicles