4 ms·
Many unmanned launch vehicles still are descended from re-purposes ICBMs. Atlas-V and Titan-IV are probably best viewed as "trademark compatible" -- they're so
by cstross 14y ago
Many unmanned launch vehicles still are descended from re-purposes ICBMs. Atlas-V and Titan-IV are probably best viewed as "trademark compatible" -- they're so far evolved from the originals that they bear little resemblance to them -- but others such as the Soyuz launcher (descended from the SS-7 ICBM), Dnepr (formerly SS-18 "Satan" ICBM) and Shtil' (formerly R-29RM SLBM -- still launched from nuclear submarines!) all carry civilian payloads into orbit to this day.
The Russians seem to be particularly hot on recycling Soviet era ICBMs for commercial purposes. And Soyuz is indeed a man-rated launcher and currently the only crew carrying vehicle ferrying personnel to the ISS! Atop a core stage and boosters descended directly from the USSR's first monster ICBM of the 1950s.
- InclinedPlane 14y agoYup. Also, the Proton rocket (Russia's other workhorse commercial launcher) has ICBM heritage. It was an offshoot of a "super ICBM" program that never became operational. It would have been capable of launching 100 Megaton (Tsar Bomba) warheads. It ended up being obsoleted by MIRV technology and generally just being too large to be effectively deployable as an ICBM.