Why This Enormous Plane Really Exists: The An-225 Mriya

Sign up for an annual CuriosityStream subscription and you’ll also get a free Nebula subscription here: The Energia-Buran was the most expensive and ambitious Soviet space project in history. As the Soviet Union’s answer to the US Space Shuttle, the rival reusable launch system was designed to match any potential strategic advantage offered by the Space Shuttle. But the Soviets had a unique challenge on their hands. Like all manned Soviet spacecraft, the Energia-Buran would be launched at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, but it would be assembled at production facilities in the west, which were thousands of kilometers away. Unlike earlier Soviet spacecraft - like the Soyuz family of rockets - Energia-Buran components would be too large to be transported using railways. The Soviets explored building new widened rail lines as well as building entirely new production facilities at Baikonur, but these solutions were considered too expensive and would take too long. The most practica