The sad part is of course, if they are launched that means there won't be any Atlas Vs left to put in the rocket garden. Which is a shame, because an Atlas V absolute belongs there. Especially because no Delta IVs went. This being because Atlas is literally the end of the Atlas program. You know, that one ICBM which launched a shit ton of America's orbital shit? Including the first Americans into orbit?
Double posting, I know. But the purpose of this double post is purely space flight history Austism regarding Energia and everything that came about because of it.
The Atlas V is special because of the Russian engines it uses. Those being derived from the RD-170.
The RD-170 in question:
These were the engines used for the Energia rocket, the rocket used for Polyus and the Soviet Space Shuttle.
Now, the RD-170s never got the career they deserved because of the collapse of the Soviet Union. This being because the Soviet launch vehicles involved in the Energia program being from a multitude of different states. Maybe if we are to go full NAFO and go "well, Ruskies shouldn't have been as massive dicks as
@Ghostse would be eager to state, then it is entirely possible that Energia-Buran . Indeed, I am of the opinion . And that the current war is a post colonial conflict (at least over the territory that use to be held by the Crimean khanate, I do believe both sides of that conflict are glad it is no longer Turkic bc #AllMenAgainstErdogan or something like that) Now that I have clarified this point, we can continue hopefully outside of the scope of useless politisperging.
The Energia program is fascinating, because it was meant to revolutionize Soviet launch vehicles. It would have replaced the likes of the Proton with the Energia-M. A smaller version of the Energia rocket. Energia-M was to be the heavy lift rocket, which would have been used in say Space Station construction. This is a photo of a mock up of it undergoing launch pad integration:
And this is a photo of the sad mockup remaining in a launch bay in Kazakhstan. Not to be seen to the public, and is instead left to rot. People who took that pic snuck in. Which is pretty common with all things Buran and Energia.
There is actually quite a lot of the Energia Buran which has been left in a similar state. I could bring up the other Buran orbiters (the only orbiter to fly, that of the prototype orbiter having been destroyed when its hanger was collapsed in 2003 because of neglect from either Russia and/or Kazakhstan neglect, when it really should have been in a museum. Which as someone who was born in 2004 is quite saddening. 2003 saw the end of two shuttles.
Energia itself would have replaced all of the Soviet launch vehicles
Zenit did end up flying under Ukraine, where the booster were produced. A lot of the Soviet aerospace ambitions were integrated with Ukraine. Most of the major designers from Korolev to Glushko came from Ukraine. This is part of the reason why Ukraine had such a strong rocket industry following the end of the Soviet Union. They produced SRB stages for Zenit, they produced the rocket engines for Angara.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia chose to begin the Angara program. This was to be an inhouse program. Now, Anagara has flown, it is active as a launch system. But it has only begun to really fly. It had close to a 10 year gap between its first flights to test the launch system. Thankfully for all, Proton is about to be retired (though Protons definitely belong in museums. That launch vehicle was phenomenal and was on the verge of sending Soviet crews around the moon with the Zond program)
For us space autists, Energia is perhaps the biggest tragedy. It was to be the vehicle that would have ignited the next stage of Soviet space endeavours. Not just with the Energia launch vehicle that could launch 100 tons into orbit. - More than SLS block 1 (and maybe even the next stage of SLS with Centaur V)
Granted, if the Soviet Union remained in the current climate they would have used Energia to have landed on the Moon. Which, they would have had all the necessary rockets, infrastructure to have beaten America back to the moon with Constellation. All of this, would have been fascinating for the stuff that would have came after.
[But as a very strong supporter of European integration it would have been great if all of Europe, including Russia as an equal member would have been willing to collaborate with space stuff. Such normative, idealistic views cannot exist in the real world]
Atlas-V came about following the Soviet Union's collapse and the Soviets having the better engines. Hence, why the RD-170 was chosen as a blueprint and refined into the RD-180. Used for both the Atlas IIIs and Atlas-Vs.
There really should have been a version of the Antares put in a museum, with the Russian engines. Why? It's the legacy of the Taurus program, it is the legacy of the N-1. Ultimately, it would be the hallmark of the liberal hopes for the world order. It would be the coming together of multiple different perspectives.
And it is the Atlas-V which sees the end of all of these programs. It is not just the end of Atlas, but of Energia. It is the end of multiple different programs. Hell, one of the Starliner Crew vehicles should be included in such a museum piece. Why? Well, Starliner represents the last capsule to fly on Atlas - when the first American orbital capsule was to fly on Atlas. It would be perfect symmetry.
