"Dlya Rodina" - An SFS Alternate History
- Thread starter MonkeSpaceflight
- Start date
Chapter 4: Shifting Focus
In the wake of moon landings from both major superpowers, countries all over the world were growing more and more interested in space exploration. In Europe, the initial alliance of ESA splintered into different groups. In a major move, Germany left the Ariane project, and began developing it's own launch system with Norway, Sweden, and a little help from Russia. The participating countries remained very quiet about their project, and not much could be gathered. France pivoted from Ariane, which had now failed several times, to a new rocket called Rubis. It would use a new hydrolox upper stage, which could serve as a pathfinder for future vehicles. The UK began prototyping a spaceplane to be launched on a Blue Streak first stage, which could carry crew to orbit and potentially to orbiting stations. UKSA revealed in a press release that they would develop the new vehicle with the Royal Air Force, and it would be dubbed the RAF Orbital Fighter. It would remain to be seen if the craft really had military applications, or if the name was just for show. Italy revealed their own independent launch system, Stallion, which could rival Commander and Atlas in it's payload capability.
Above: From top to bottom, Stallion, RAF Orbital Fighter, Rubis
In America, a man named Philip Bono was making waves in the aerospace community with innovative new designs. He proposed SSTO vehicles, which could reach orbit and return to earth in one piece. They could act as shuttles for cargo and people, to and from orbit. While NASA remained skeptical about some of his larger concepts, one of his vehicles caught their eye. His SASSTO (Saturn Application Single Stage to Orbit) could bring a Gemini spacecraft to orbit in one stage, and land back at the launch site. After initial interest from NASA was shown, McDonnel Douglas was eventually given a massive 3 billion USD contract to develop Pegasus, which would be a slightly modified version of the SASSTO.
Above: An advertisement explaining the specifics of Pegasus.
This naturally caused some alarm in the USSR, where progress had been moving steadily along on more expendable launch systems. Representatives from the newly formed Soviet Space Development Council, SSDC, contacted design bureaus, asking that initial designs be put forward for a SSTO vehicle. Korolev, Chelomei, Glushko, and their respective bureaus all began working, eager to snatch more funding and prestige for their establishments.
In Africa, the group of Soviet defectors made an exciting pitch to the United African Nations. In return for asylum and the necessary resources, they could build Africa a space program. It sounded crazy, but the UAN council quietly accepted them, and set up design and testing facilities. The engineers got to work, and soon drew up preliminary designs for launch vehicles.
Above: The Kapumpe 1 manned rocket
Thats all for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed. I know this chapter was mostly just lore without any actual launches, but don't worry, in Chapter 5 many big rocket go boom.
In the wake of moon landings from both major superpowers, countries all over the world were growing more and more interested in space exploration. In Europe, the initial alliance of ESA splintered into different groups. In a major move, Germany left the Ariane project, and began developing it's own launch system with Norway, Sweden, and a little help from Russia. The participating countries remained very quiet about their project, and not much could be gathered. France pivoted from Ariane, which had now failed several times, to a new rocket called Rubis. It would use a new hydrolox upper stage, which could serve as a pathfinder for future vehicles. The UK began prototyping a spaceplane to be launched on a Blue Streak first stage, which could carry crew to orbit and potentially to orbiting stations. UKSA revealed in a press release that they would develop the new vehicle with the Royal Air Force, and it would be dubbed the RAF Orbital Fighter. It would remain to be seen if the craft really had military applications, or if the name was just for show. Italy revealed their own independent launch system, Stallion, which could rival Commander and Atlas in it's payload capability.
Above: From top to bottom, Stallion, RAF Orbital Fighter, Rubis
In America, a man named Philip Bono was making waves in the aerospace community with innovative new designs. He proposed SSTO vehicles, which could reach orbit and return to earth in one piece. They could act as shuttles for cargo and people, to and from orbit. While NASA remained skeptical about some of his larger concepts, one of his vehicles caught their eye. His SASSTO (Saturn Application Single Stage to Orbit) could bring a Gemini spacecraft to orbit in one stage, and land back at the launch site. After initial interest from NASA was shown, McDonnel Douglas was eventually given a massive 3 billion USD contract to develop Pegasus, which would be a slightly modified version of the SASSTO.
Above: An advertisement explaining the specifics of Pegasus.
This naturally caused some alarm in the USSR, where progress had been moving steadily along on more expendable launch systems. Representatives from the newly formed Soviet Space Development Council, SSDC, contacted design bureaus, asking that initial designs be put forward for a SSTO vehicle. Korolev, Chelomei, Glushko, and their respective bureaus all began working, eager to snatch more funding and prestige for their establishments.
In Africa, the group of Soviet defectors made an exciting pitch to the United African Nations. In return for asylum and the necessary resources, they could build Africa a space program. It sounded crazy, but the UAN council quietly accepted them, and set up design and testing facilities. The engineers got to work, and soon drew up preliminary designs for launch vehicles.
Above: The Kapumpe 1 manned rocket
Thats all for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed. I know this chapter was mostly just lore without any actual launches, but don't worry, in Chapter 5 many big rocket go boom.
Thank you
I look at real rockets for inspiration on little details. Rockets often have little details like fuel lines, rivets, ullage motors, etc. visible on the exterior of the tanks. Take a look at rockets from the space race for the best examples of this. You can BP edit fairing halves to achieve many of these details. In fact, fairing halves make up a large chunk of the part count on most of my builds. You can also set them to have shape textures like Strut_2 or Flat for certain details. The best way to learn all this is by just playing around and practicing on smaller builds. I also find that recreating real-life rockets is a good way to hone your skills, since you already know what to put, you just need to figure out how.
I look at real rockets for inspiration on little details. Rockets often have little details like fuel lines, rivets, ullage motors, etc. visible on the exterior of the tanks. Take a look at rockets from the space race for the best examples of this. You can BP edit fairing halves to achieve many of these details. In fact, fairing halves make up a large chunk of the part count on most of my builds. You can also set them to have shape textures like Strut_2 or Flat for certain details. The best way to learn all this is by just playing around and practicing on smaller builds. I also find that recreating real-life rockets is a good way to hone your skills, since you already know what to put, you just need to figure out how.
Chapter 5: The New World
"A barren, lifeless companion to earth, the moon has gone round and round us humans for billions of years. For the entirety of our existence, it has remained devoid of life, nothing but a bright shape in the sky. In the 20th century however, mankind has made a bold step of off it's home world, and dared to go further than ever before. Ladies and gentlemen, It is with immense pride that I may announce to you, Plymouth Rock. Over the next decade it is the goal of the United States of America to establish a lasting settlement on the moon. This first outpost will be home to up to ten astronauts, with crew rotations of three astronauts slated to begin in 1975. With the development of new reusable launch vehicles underway, the United States will be capable of constantly supplying the moon base, with an end goal of Plymouth Rock becoming self-sufficient. It will take many years, but along the way we will make countless breakthroughs in science, and gain new insights not only about the moon, but our watery home."
(Above: The announcement speech for Plymouth Rock, given by NASA at the first National Space Summit in 1970.)
Three months after America announced Plymouth Rock, the USSR revealed their counterpart, dubbed Zvezda. Both outposts would initially be comprised of several modified lander modules. The Americans planned for a second phase of development to follow, in which they would land larger modules that could be joined together. The Soviet construction plan involved habitats being buried under lunar regolith, as well as a heavy focus on fuel refinery systems on the surface.
In the UK, plans for the moon were not at the forefront of space proceedings, as they were still developing launch vehicles and trying to catch up to the two giants. UKSA took a major step forward when they announced that they had selected a vehicle candidate for heavy-lift missions. The Captain and Commodore launchers would bear a resemblance to the Saturn-V and the Saturn INT-17 (Proposed, not built), in the sense that the first and second stages for Captain would be the second and third stages for Commodore.
Above: The Captain 1 launch vehicle in flight. Below: Captain 1 production model as depicted by manufacturers.
UKSA reported that Captain 1 could carry large station modules and advanced manned spacecraft to orbit. It's 6 meter payload fairing offered ample space for large payloads, and it's high-performance kerosene/LOX engines could be reignited several times, laying the foundation for reusability in the future. Commodore would use both stages of Captain on top of a large kerosene/LOX first stage, which UKSA says will be recovered, refurbished, and re-flown several times, offering much lower price per kilogram than competitors.
The rest of Europe had yet to put forth any other rocket proposals, but rumor was spreading that Germany was planning a winged lifter, an audacious concept that had yet to be tried by any country.
Russia was left as one of the few spacefaring nations that had not announced any form of reusable space vehicle. After a long period of silence, pictures were leaked from the Chelomei design bureau of what appeared to be a spaceplane. Later revealed as LKS, this winged shuttle would offer a reusable cargo and crew transport to and from LEO. It brought with it national security concerns for the USA, but that is a story for another time.
Above: The LKS spaceplane prototype.
(Continued in next post.)
"A barren, lifeless companion to earth, the moon has gone round and round us humans for billions of years. For the entirety of our existence, it has remained devoid of life, nothing but a bright shape in the sky. In the 20th century however, mankind has made a bold step of off it's home world, and dared to go further than ever before. Ladies and gentlemen, It is with immense pride that I may announce to you, Plymouth Rock. Over the next decade it is the goal of the United States of America to establish a lasting settlement on the moon. This first outpost will be home to up to ten astronauts, with crew rotations of three astronauts slated to begin in 1975. With the development of new reusable launch vehicles underway, the United States will be capable of constantly supplying the moon base, with an end goal of Plymouth Rock becoming self-sufficient. It will take many years, but along the way we will make countless breakthroughs in science, and gain new insights not only about the moon, but our watery home."
(Above: The announcement speech for Plymouth Rock, given by NASA at the first National Space Summit in 1970.)
Three months after America announced Plymouth Rock, the USSR revealed their counterpart, dubbed Zvezda. Both outposts would initially be comprised of several modified lander modules. The Americans planned for a second phase of development to follow, in which they would land larger modules that could be joined together. The Soviet construction plan involved habitats being buried under lunar regolith, as well as a heavy focus on fuel refinery systems on the surface.
In the UK, plans for the moon were not at the forefront of space proceedings, as they were still developing launch vehicles and trying to catch up to the two giants. UKSA took a major step forward when they announced that they had selected a vehicle candidate for heavy-lift missions. The Captain and Commodore launchers would bear a resemblance to the Saturn-V and the Saturn INT-17 (Proposed, not built), in the sense that the first and second stages for Captain would be the second and third stages for Commodore.
Above: The Captain 1 launch vehicle in flight. Below: Captain 1 production model as depicted by manufacturers.
UKSA reported that Captain 1 could carry large station modules and advanced manned spacecraft to orbit. It's 6 meter payload fairing offered ample space for large payloads, and it's high-performance kerosene/LOX engines could be reignited several times, laying the foundation for reusability in the future. Commodore would use both stages of Captain on top of a large kerosene/LOX first stage, which UKSA says will be recovered, refurbished, and re-flown several times, offering much lower price per kilogram than competitors.
The rest of Europe had yet to put forth any other rocket proposals, but rumor was spreading that Germany was planning a winged lifter, an audacious concept that had yet to be tried by any country.
Russia was left as one of the few spacefaring nations that had not announced any form of reusable space vehicle. After a long period of silence, pictures were leaked from the Chelomei design bureau of what appeared to be a spaceplane. Later revealed as LKS, this winged shuttle would offer a reusable cargo and crew transport to and from LEO. It brought with it national security concerns for the USA, but that is a story for another time.
Above: The LKS spaceplane prototype.
(Continued in next post.)
Dyla Rodina Status Update (Not a Chapter)
Hello everyone, this thread has obviously been inactive for a while. (Since January oof) I have been very occupied with real life things, and haven't had a lot of time for SFS. My busy IRL schedule has cleared a little bit, however, and I'll be able to continue the series, (Yay!) though I cant be sure if chapters will be coming on any kind of regular basis. Since i've now told you all that there is content coming soon, I'll provide a short list of things featuring in the next few chapters.
-Early moon base infrastructure
-Reusable launch vehicle development
-SSTO development challenges
-Booster flyback considered
-Higher launch rates guaranteed
-Launches from new nations
-UAN
-China
-Germany
-Mystery Surpise Nation :O (Still working on the world-building)
-Geopolitical tensions (small conflicts, rebellions)
-Mars/Venus missions
If you guys have any suggestions, now is a good time to pose them. Please consolidate any recommendations you have to just one reply, as I don't want this thread to get cluttered.
Thank you
Hello everyone, this thread has obviously been inactive for a while. (Since January oof) I have been very occupied with real life things, and haven't had a lot of time for SFS. My busy IRL schedule has cleared a little bit, however, and I'll be able to continue the series, (Yay!) though I cant be sure if chapters will be coming on any kind of regular basis. Since i've now told you all that there is content coming soon, I'll provide a short list of things featuring in the next few chapters.
-Early moon base infrastructure
-Reusable launch vehicle development
-SSTO development challenges
-Booster flyback considered
-Higher launch rates guaranteed
-Launches from new nations
-UAN
-China
-Germany
-Mystery Surpise Nation :O (Still working on the world-building)
-Geopolitical tensions (small conflicts, rebellions)
-Mars/Venus missions
If you guys have any suggestions, now is a good time to pose them. Please consolidate any recommendations you have to just one reply, as I don't want this thread to get cluttered.
Thank you
Sure, you can believe that but history begs to differ. For example, the cold war, in part, was fuelled by ego. So was the Iraq war. So was Brexit, so was the Third Reich, so was Galtieri's invasion of the Falklands, so was Napoleon's imperialism. I can go on and on, but I'm sad for you if you genuinely believe that.
Chapter 6: Out With The Old
As the importance of spaceflight skyrocketed in the eyes of the public, governments around the world were scrambling to get in on the impending revolution. In a surprising turn of events, the Korolev bureau won a contract from the Soviet government to replace the aging R-7 family. The Chelomei bureau appeared to be leading the race, but Sergei Korolev's experience in crew-rated launch systems was evidently the deciding factor. The rumored replacement for the Soyuz spacecraft had not been announced, and speculation was rampant. The new launch system would be christened the R-13, and feature a reusable first stage, and an advanced hydrogen upper stage.
Above: The R-13 in flight, approaching booster seperation.
With a predicted jump in Soviet launch rate, American launch companies were already putting together concepts for vehicles capable of at least 25 launches per year, with an emphasis on lowering launch costs significantly. Among those vying for future contacts were Lockheed, McDonnel Douglas, Boeing, and Rockwell. Their efforts were not in vain, and NASA issued a call for a new generation of launch vehicles. McDonnel Douglas had already submitted their proposal for a SSTO vehicle, but the other contenders did not share their line of thought. Lockheed put forth their 'Atlas 2', marketed as a medium lifter, and with the potential of being crew-rated. Northrop, who currently held the contacts for the S-IVB stage, proposed the 'Spartan' launch system, which would have reusable first and second stages. Boeing, who build the S-1C stage, drafted the Saturn 1R, which would utilize Saturn tooling and facilities. Finally, Rockwell proposed the L-1 launch system, utilizing cheap manufacturing, H-1 engines already in production for the Saturn 1B, and first stage recovery using parachutes. All the designs held merit, and it would take NASA months to announce the winners.
Above: An artist's rendition of the L-1 proposal from North American Rockwell.
Plans for the Plymouth Rock lunar outpost were in full swing by 1971. Grumman were awarded a contract for the LTM, Lunar Taxi Module. It would use the base LEM model but carry an additional Astronaut to the Surface, bringing the total to 3. It would coincide with an upgraded capacity of 4 crew in the CSM. A station in LLO would serve as the staging point for lunar sorties. It would be the harbor for ships carrying crew, as well as cargo landers that could resupply the station as a secondary payload to their main cargo.
Above: The Lunar Taxi Module. From BR-Apollo
In Africa, the UAN engineers were massively expanding manufacturing and testing facilities. To the Soviet Union's outrage, an engine design was revealed with a striking similarity to the NK-33. A staged combustion engine called the IR-10 ("Injini ya Roketi" in Swahili.) was nearing production. Unlike it's Russian sister, this engine would burn liquid oxygen and liguid methane, the first such engine in the world. The UAN Department of Space Affairs made a public statement saying "Methane was selected as the fuel for our rocket program going forward, as we intend to set a high standard for reliability and performance while sticking to a fast development timeline."
While most of the incentive for countries to build rockets was for unmanned payloads, crewed spaceflight was growing in relevance greatly. With higher launch rates world-wide, rotating large crews between orbiting laboratories became much more realistic. NASA flew a test article for a next generation crewed spacecraft in September of 1971, with the possibility of it replacing the Apollo CSM system.
Above: The new CSM design aboard a Saturn-1
So, as the superpowers laid the groundwork for future dominance, new players were getting their footing in the Space Race.
Thats all for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chapter will feature many European space milestones, and focus more on the smaller space powers. France, Germany, Italy, England, and the UAN will all launch next time, or at least attempt to. Thanks for reading!
As the importance of spaceflight skyrocketed in the eyes of the public, governments around the world were scrambling to get in on the impending revolution. In a surprising turn of events, the Korolev bureau won a contract from the Soviet government to replace the aging R-7 family. The Chelomei bureau appeared to be leading the race, but Sergei Korolev's experience in crew-rated launch systems was evidently the deciding factor. The rumored replacement for the Soyuz spacecraft had not been announced, and speculation was rampant. The new launch system would be christened the R-13, and feature a reusable first stage, and an advanced hydrogen upper stage.
Above: The R-13 in flight, approaching booster seperation.
With a predicted jump in Soviet launch rate, American launch companies were already putting together concepts for vehicles capable of at least 25 launches per year, with an emphasis on lowering launch costs significantly. Among those vying for future contacts were Lockheed, McDonnel Douglas, Boeing, and Rockwell. Their efforts were not in vain, and NASA issued a call for a new generation of launch vehicles. McDonnel Douglas had already submitted their proposal for a SSTO vehicle, but the other contenders did not share their line of thought. Lockheed put forth their 'Atlas 2', marketed as a medium lifter, and with the potential of being crew-rated. Northrop, who currently held the contacts for the S-IVB stage, proposed the 'Spartan' launch system, which would have reusable first and second stages. Boeing, who build the S-1C stage, drafted the Saturn 1R, which would utilize Saturn tooling and facilities. Finally, Rockwell proposed the L-1 launch system, utilizing cheap manufacturing, H-1 engines already in production for the Saturn 1B, and first stage recovery using parachutes. All the designs held merit, and it would take NASA months to announce the winners.
Above: An artist's rendition of the L-1 proposal from North American Rockwell.
Plans for the Plymouth Rock lunar outpost were in full swing by 1971. Grumman were awarded a contract for the LTM, Lunar Taxi Module. It would use the base LEM model but carry an additional Astronaut to the Surface, bringing the total to 3. It would coincide with an upgraded capacity of 4 crew in the CSM. A station in LLO would serve as the staging point for lunar sorties. It would be the harbor for ships carrying crew, as well as cargo landers that could resupply the station as a secondary payload to their main cargo.
Above: The Lunar Taxi Module. From BR-Apollo
In Africa, the UAN engineers were massively expanding manufacturing and testing facilities. To the Soviet Union's outrage, an engine design was revealed with a striking similarity to the NK-33. A staged combustion engine called the IR-10 ("Injini ya Roketi" in Swahili.) was nearing production. Unlike it's Russian sister, this engine would burn liquid oxygen and liguid methane, the first such engine in the world. The UAN Department of Space Affairs made a public statement saying "Methane was selected as the fuel for our rocket program going forward, as we intend to set a high standard for reliability and performance while sticking to a fast development timeline."
While most of the incentive for countries to build rockets was for unmanned payloads, crewed spaceflight was growing in relevance greatly. With higher launch rates world-wide, rotating large crews between orbiting laboratories became much more realistic. NASA flew a test article for a next generation crewed spacecraft in September of 1971, with the possibility of it replacing the Apollo CSM system.
Above: The new CSM design aboard a Saturn-1
So, as the superpowers laid the groundwork for future dominance, new players were getting their footing in the Space Race.
Thats all for this chapter, I hope you all enjoyed. The next chapter will feature many European space milestones, and focus more on the smaller space powers. France, Germany, Italy, England, and the UAN will all launch next time, or at least attempt to. Thanks for reading!
