Soviet-era hydroplane-launched space shuttle

[Supertom]

Hi everybody,

Saw this on the 'web and I thought it might be of interest to some of you guys. There are some neat videos here. I suppose a rocket sled is out of the question for cost or engineering reasons, and it was explained further down the article that this was abandoned due to the dangers of running a hydrofoil at high speeds. Anyway, enjoy.

https://newatlas.com/space/hydrofoil-space-shuttle-launch/

[PR19_Kit]

Hmmmm, and when the rocket exhausts washes all over the hydrofoiling barge, which is full of fuel to top up the carrier................................. 

[jcf]

I'd like to know the source of the information as that hydrofoil "barge" looks absolutely nothing like any hydrofoil designed by Alekseyev. He was a specialist in surface-piercing foil designs not fully-submerged foils. He also pretty much didn't bother with retractable foil designs, those that did come from his group were again of the surface-piercing type.
Alekseyev is also the father of the ekranoplan.

The thing in the renders looks like a clunky version of
the hull of the DHC Bras d'Or with four Grumman-esque struts, which is an extremely unlikely combination from the Alekseyev drafting boards.

I think the artist just googled hydrofoil and then
grabbed whatever they found.

[zenrat]

Launching from the top of an ekranoplan would make much more sense.
Lun class modified to twin tail configuration maybe.

[kerick]

I could see running that in the Baltic and hitting a random piece of ice!

[jcf]

One small note, it's a hydrofoil rather than a hydroplane. 

[jcf]

Launching from the top of an ekranoplan would make much more sense.
Lun class modified to twin tail configuration maybe.

You'd need a lot of very smooth water.

[zenrat]

Launching from the top of an ekranoplan would make much more sense.
Lun class modified to twin tail configuration maybe.

You'd need a lot of very smooth water.

Operate it over land.  The ground effect will work either way.

[Supertom]

Hmmmm, and when the rocket exhausts washes all over the hydrofoiling barge, which is full of fuel to top up the carrier................................. 

Look, I never said it was safe!

[jcf]

Launching from the top of an ekranoplan would make much more sense.
Lun class modified to twin tail configuration maybe.

You'd need a lot of very smooth water.

Operate it over land.  The ground effect will work either way.

None of the big ekranoplans were capable of operating over land. If you built one to operate over land you'd need a really long runway to get it off the ground and a very large expanse of smooth ground to reach the necessary speed for the shuttle launch.
A big enough dry lake or salt flats could possibly be found, but the majority are not conveniently located for the logistics end. Also the fact is that a WIG of the Alexseyev ekranoplan type would not do well over ground. It would be a self-generated dust storm. 

[zenrat]

You take off from water and then fly from there over the land.  If you are going fast enough then you'll outrun your dust cloud.