Energia Vulkan Hercules (variant 2)

Vulkan-Hercules

Mission Profile

Energia Vulkan Hercules (variant 2) was a Soviet super-heavy-lift launch vehicle concept studied in the late 1980s, using eight Energia liquid-propellant strap-on cores clustered around a large central hydrogen stage for extreme payload capacity. With a 3,072-tonne launch mass and 49,329 kN of thrust, it would have surpassed the Saturn V and been capable of lifting well over 150 tonnes to LEO. The program was cancelled following the Soviet economic collapse, leaving Energia itself as the only member of this ambitious launch vehicle family to ever fly.