The 1st stage of Proton was designed to convert these two upper stages into a 3- stage launcher with a low Earth orbit capacity of 20 tonnes. This vehicle supported the unmanned lunar programme with advanced reconnaissance missions and re-entry capsule tests. [A further change that may be tried is to use a strap-on unit from the new large vehicle to replace the first stage of the existing Proton launcher, converting what is currently the heaviest Soviet launcher to a more closely optimised system, and uprating its performance to LEO towards 30 tonnes. All 3 stages would then be manrated.] The re-entry capsule has proved to be identical to the Soyuz in service, indicating that this vehicle was developed for the lunar mission (Fig. 12). In addition, the Salyut space station has an envelope substantially identical to that of the Proton 3rd stage with the Soyuz attached, indicating that it could be carried under the same payload shroud. The role of Salyut as a test vehicle for deep space missions has been emphasized by the Soviets. It is important to note that all of the hardware flown in the above programmes is still in service, having accumulated a great deal of time in service and reliability. Thus we can conclude that the new Soviet launcher developments will give immediate access to the moon with their current technology. 4.3 GEO The SLW (6) could carry a Proton third stage with 8 tonne payload to GEO. If this were a Soyuz it could de-orbit itself and effect re-entry. Thus manned access to GEO is also possible immediately the new launching system is ready. A Salyut could be placed into GEO by an SLW (4) using the Proton 2nd stage partially fuelled. Thus the
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