The Antonov An-22Sh (Ан-22Ш) was a proposed outsized cargo variant of the An-22 strategic transport aircraft, developed in the late 1970s to carry components for the Soviet space program. The program needed a reliable means of transporting large and heavy hardware, particularly the core stages of the Energia rocket and components of the Buran space shuttle, from manufacturing facilities directly to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. Rather than carrying the payload externally, engineers considered enlarging the An-22’s rear fuselage to a diameter of between 8.3 and 9.6 metres, allowing the oversized components to be transported internally. However, wind tunnel tests and engineering assessments revealed that the enormous, bulbous fuselage would create serious aerodynamic and stability problems. These difficulties ultimately proved insurmountable, and the An-22Sh project never progressed beyond the design and model-testing stages.