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Astronautix.com:
PROJECT HISTORY
During a press-conference at the ITAR TASS news agency on February 17, 2004, Yuri Koptev revealed that RKK Energia, had been working on a brand-new vehicle called Kliper (Clipper) since 2000. In the following days, a flurry of reports in the Russian press provided the first details on the project.
At the time of Koptev's announcement, the project apparently had already evolved through several reincarnations, however from the outset it was a partially reusable "lifting-body" vehicle launched by a medium class rocket.
As of 2004, RKK Energia had submitted technical proposals for the new spacecraft to the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviacosmos. The agency has apparently provided limited funding for further preliminary studies.
In April 2004, Nikolai Moiseev, First Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Space Agency, FKA, (formerly Rosaviacosmos) told Russian news agency that the Kliper project would be included in the federal space plan for 2005-2015.
On November 30, 2004, RKK Energia invited the press into its Checkout and Testing Station, KIS, to inspect a full-scale mockup of the Kliper spacecraft. The company also released revised technical information on the project, including details on a winged version of the spacecraft, developed in parallel with the work on the "lifting body."
During 2004, RKK Energia apparently contacted its European partners on the feasibility of cooperative development of the Kliper. In 2005, RKK Energia displayed the spacecraft at EXPO-2005 in Japan and Le Bourge Air and Space Show, France.
However, the funding for the project was not forthcoming. In April 2005, in the interview with the Russian Novosti News Agency, Valeri Ryumin, Deputy designer General at RKK Energia said that the Russian federal budget did not earmarked any money for the program.
Enter Europe
In the meantime, in April 2004, the Director of Manned Space Programs of the European Space Agency, ESA, visiting RKK Energia said that Council of Ministers of the ESA members decided to consider the issue of funding of the Kliper spacecraft during its meeting in December of 2005.
On June 10, 2005, the head of manned space program of the European Space Agency, ESA, who conducted talks with Russian space officials in Moscow, said that his agency would support the Kliper project, according to the Russian press. Nikolai Moiseev, Deputy Chief of Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, was quoted as saying that the Kliper system would be adapted for launches from Russian facilities, as well as from the European space port in Kourou, French Guiana. According to Russian space officials, with the European support, the Kliper could fly "no later than" 2011 rather than "after 2012" launch date quoted previously.
Launch system
According to the original plans, the Kliper would be launched on top of a yet-to-be developed Onega booster -- a heavily modified Soyuz rocket -- with no payload fairing but with the emergency escape rocket attached to the nose section of the reentry capsule. The emergency escape system, resembling that of the Soyuz spacecraft, would be capable of pulling the crew capsule away from the launch vehicle at every stage of the launch and orbit insertion.
A successful development of the Onega booster and its launch infrastructure would be one of the most challenging and expensive aspects of the project. Also, the decision to base the project on the expendable booster would limit economic viability of the reusable spacecraft. The Onega booster, could be launched from upgraded Soyuz facilities in Baikonur, Plesetsk and, potentially, French Guiana.
Given virtually nonexistent chances of obtaining funding for the Onega, RKK Energia considered the Zenit booster with similar capabilities. The most advanced vehicle in the Soviet rocket fleet, the Zenit was essentially banished from the Russian space program, when the collapse of the USSR left its prime manufacturer in the newly independent republic of Ukraine. Yet, in the case of Kliper, technical pragmatism outweighed political considerations. By August 2004, the company essentially committed to "re-tailor" the Kliper for the Zenit. The spacecraft had to shed around 1.5 tons from its total mass and around one ton from the mass of its reentry capsule. In addition, the emergency escape system was moved from the top of the spacecraft to the launch vehicle adapter. This way, during a nominal flight, emergency escape engines would be used for final orbital insertion maneuver, providing extra weight savings.
Orbital operations
While in orbit, the Kliper is capable of delivering crew and cargo to the space station or carrying two pilots and four passengers, including tourists, on an autonomous flight. A special detachable habitation module partially borrowed from the Soyuz spacecraft would be mounted behind the reentry capsule, rather then in front of it, as in the Soyuz spacecraft. The habitation module contains docking hardware, toilet and other life-support systems.
In turn, the habitation module, OA, will be surrounded by a doughnut-shaped service module, PAO, containing orbital maneuvering and attitude-control system and power-supply systems with solar panels. The propulsion system will burn the mix of UDMH and nitrogen tetroxide. The habitation module/service module combination would be jettisoned from the reentry capsule after the braking maneuver to return to Earth, as it now done onboard the Soyuz spacecraft.
Reentry profile
The originally released configuration of the new spacecraft was a "lifting body," which provided effective aerodynamic lifting force during the reentry into the atmosphere. As a result, the ship would be able to conduct side maneuvers during its return to Earth, unlike a traditional reentry capsule, which is usually limited to a narrow corridor along the ground track of its final orbit.
The aerodynamic body of the Kliper sporting two vertical and one horizontal movable rudders on its tail would allow the vehicle to glide as far as 500 kilometers left and right from the ground track of its orbit, with G-loads not exceeding 2 and the skin temperature in the most critical area of the nose not exceeding 3,000K.
The spacecraft will feature combination of thermal protection systems borrowed from the Buran program and from the Soyuz spacecraft. Some sections of the thermal protection system, such as nose section with the interface for the emergency escape rocket, would not be reusable.
Landing system
The Kliper will land with the help of a three main uncontrolled parachutes and several solid-propellant engines, which would be fired shortly before the touchdown. As of February 2004, engineers were still debating a choice between special landing legs and an inflatable cushioning device to soften the landing. The latter would probably enable the spacecraft to safely splashdown in the water.
The flight control system should be able to "zero in" on the landing site with the total area of one by one kilometer.
Prior to each re-flight, critical parts of the thermal protection system, parachutes and soft landing engines would be replaced.
Winged version
In November 2004, RKK Energia presented a winged version of the Kliper spacecraft, apparently developed in cooperation with OKB Sukhoi, a renown manufacturer of military jet aircraft. The new configuration would enable Kliper to increase range of its side maneuver from 500 to 2,000 kilometers and to terminate its flight at virtually any orbit with subsequent landing on a regular runway. However, an emergency escape during the launch accident would now require a controlled landing at the airport rather than a relatively simple descent under parachutes into a random location along the flight path.
Modular design
It was clear from the line art released in November 2004, that a fully encapsulated crew compartment of the Kliper spacecraft could be mated to either a lifting-body or winged carrier platform, both designed as separate modules. Such architecture would probably allow a phased development of the vehicle, first as a lifting body and later as a winged spacecraft.
PS: Il sistema Kliper si basa su un "lifting body", cioè un corpo che da se genera portanza, al contrario di un "flying wing". Per maggiori dettagli:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifting_body