Animation of Soviet An-225 launched OOS (Buran replacement)

[FutureSpaceTourist]

Hazegrayart
Before the Stratolaunch was ever conceived, the Tupolev Bureau proposed a fully reusable replacement for the Buran Space Shuttle
The "OOS" Which stood for Odnostupenchati Orbitalni Samolyot, (one-stage orbital plane)

Like the Stratolaunch system The shuttle would ride under the  Aerospace Transport System (AKS) A Dual fuselage version of the Antonov An-225 with between 24 and 40 Jet Engines
The OSS would have a weight of 675 tons and the AKS would have a weight of 1000 tons for a total of around 1600 tons.

Primarary source
False Steps: The Space Race as It Might Have Been
By Paul Drye

cloud image By Alvesgaspar - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33253454
cloud image By Bharatahs - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62898925

[Oersted]

Needs more engines.

[Rocket Science]

Fun to watch but a couple of rocket engine in the tail as was proposed for the 747 air launch platform make more sense...

[the_other_Doug]

I just keep wondering, with the portrayed large payload bay shown taking up most of the fuselage, where in that orbiter were they going to hold the fuel those three engines?  That's always what I wonder in these cases.

[Lars-J]

I just keep wondering, with the portrayed large payload bay shown taking up most of the fuselage, where in that orbiter were they going to hold the fuel those three engines?  That's always what I wonder in these cases.

That was a complete fan invention, no relation to reality.

[libra]

Needs more engines.

I laughed like an idiot. Made my day.



Worse thing is, that project was not Internet fantasy but a "real" study from Tupolev - the OOS.

https://www.taringa.net/+ciencia_educacion/oos-la-bestia-de-tupolev-y-antonov_vsdk1