[1] Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia took over the project and pursued it until 1992, when it was suspended due to lack of funds.

The Tupolev Design Bureau began the development of an aerospace plane with a launch weight of about 300 tonnes (660,000 lb).

The core of the design was the power plant, which included: The large number of engines was required to optimize efficiency in different flight modes.

The middle and rear parts of the fuselage held the liquid hydrogen fuel tank.

The liquid oxygen tank supplying oxidizer for the rocket engines was located in the tail of the fuselage.

The front gear had twin small diameter wheels with high pressure tyres.

On September 1 of the same year, the Ministry of Defense was released technical task to single-stage reusable video conferencing, capable of solving problems in the atmosphere and near space and performing high-speed intercontinental transatmospheric transportation.

[1] For comparison, at the time the US X-30 project was stuck on an attempt to build a titanium alloy section of the fuselage.