Baikal RLV & SLV

Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

In cooperation with KB Salyut, the developer Khrunichev designed a reusable flyback booster rocket, which would serve as an alternative first stage in the Angara family. Designated Baikal RLV, the reusable booster was developed in parallel with the work on more traditional "booster modules."
The Baikal stage would be equipped with a folding wing, which is stored along the fuselage of the vehicle during the booster stage of the flight. After separation from the second stage of the Angara launcher at the altitude of about 75 kilometers, the Baikal's wing rotates 90 degrees into deployed position.
The Baikal booster stage would be also equipped with an air-breathing jet engine fitted in the nose section of the rocket, which would provide a powered horizontal landing of the vehicle on the runway. Thanks to the air-breathing engine, the Baikal's return to Earth.