Energia Vulkan Hercules (variant 2b)

Vulkan-Hercules

Mission Profile

The Energia Vulkan Hercules (variant 2b) (Vulkan-Hercules) was a proposed Soviet super-heavy launch vehicle concept in the Energia family, a massive variant using eight Energia strap-on boosters around the core for extreme payload capacity. Standing approximately 82 m tall with a 7.8 m core diameter and a projected liftoff mass of 3,072 tonnes, it would have generated 49,329 kN of thrust. Conceived around 1989 under the Energia programme, the Vulkan-Hercules was the most powerful configuration studied but was never pursued due to the collapse of the Soviet Union.