One of the main criticisms about the design of the US Space Shuttle was its lack of an escape mechanism from the launch pad through the first two minutes of flight.
Unlike capsules, the Space Shuttle could not use an escape tower, similar to what Apollo and Soyuz use. If something happens during liftoff, the crew had to ride it out to Solid Rocket Booster separation, where an abort sequence would have been performed by the pilots involving flipping the shuttle 180 degrees around to head back to the launch site while under power.
But either way, the Space Shuttle crew had no chance of escape during the first two minutes of flight.
Our VentureStar RRV spaceliner will have an escape module loaded into the payload bay like any other ordinary cargo.
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