The Soviet "Spiral" Space Plane

In the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union began developing a space plane. The vehicle was to be carried aloft by a large airplane, and then released to be rocketed into orbit. To me, this sounds like the X-15 on steroids. It was nicknamed “Spiral.”

A Space Plane for An Early Cosmonaut?

Gherman Titov, an early cosmonaut and the second to fly in space, was to be the first pilot. But this never happened. Due to a variety of complications involving technical difficulties, funding problems and competing priorities, the project dragged on for years…without ever producing an operational spacecraft.

Instead, Buran.

The Soviets eventually dropped the project in favor of the Buran—the Soviet version of America’s space shuttle. The Buran DID fly…but only once and that flight was unmanned.

The Unrealized Joys of the Space Plane

In my opinion, the space plane is a great idea. It’s more flexible than a space shuttle, because it can be launched from almost anywhere. And, it has a focused mission—putting astronauts efficiently into space. The shuttle is a bit of a hybrid: an astronaut launcher, a heavy-lift cargo craft, and a really bad glider. NASA made the most of the shuttle…but it shows the dangers of too many parties with conflicting interests affecting its design.