be destined to be the main work-horse for the Soviet space industrialization programme, since, marginally, it seems to be the economically optimum version. The whole system will be man-rated. 4.1 The shuttle USA DoD reports have shown the SLW in a configuration to launch the new USSR shuttle, (Fig. 10), which is rather similar in appearance to the USA one, but with a greater payload and jet engines to give greater launching flexibility. The complete recoverability of the core and strap-ons makes sense of the main-engineless orbital design. In any case the main-engineless orbiter could have better glide characteristics and cross range than its USA equivalent. Indications are that attempts to launch the shuttle will begin this year. The pay load accommodation appears to be similar to that of the US shuttle with the doors extending the length of the fuselage between the crew cabin and the fin. The
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