R-7 (rocket family)

The R-7 family of rockets (Russian: Р-7) is a series of rockets, derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, the world's first ICBM. More R-7 rockets have been launched than any other family of large rockets.

When Soviet nuclear warheads got lighter, the R-7 turned out to be impractical as a ballistic missile. It was not necessary to launch such heavy payloads in a military application. The rockets became useful in the Soviet, and later, Russian space programmes with long-term development. Their purpose shifted primarily to launching satellites, probes, manned and unmanned spacecraft, and other non-threatening payloads. The R-7 family consists of both missiles and orbital carrier rockets. Derivatives include the Vostok, Voskhod and Soyuz rockets, which as of 2017 have been used for all Soviet, and later Russian manned spaceflights. The type has a unique configuration where four break-away liquid-fueled engines surround a central core. The core acts as, in effect, a "second stage" after the other four engines are jettisoned.

These rockets are expendable.

Later modifications were standardised around the Soyuz design. The Soyuz-FG and Soyuz-2 are currently in use. The official Russian press announced that the Soyuz-FG is to be retired by 2019 or 2020 in favour of the Soyuz-2.1a.^[1] R-7 rockets are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Plesetsk Cosmodrome, Guiana Space Centre (since 2011, see Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre), and the Vostochny Cosmodrome (first launch 2016).

After the R-7/Soyuz-U and the Thor and Delta rocket families, the Kosmos launch vehicle , the best known of which is the Kosmos-3M, holds the 3rd place record for number of successful orbital launch attempts, that is, of placing a satellite in orbit.^[2]

Summary of variants

All the R-7 family rockets are listed here by date of introduction. Most of the early R-7 variants have been retired. Active versions are shown in green.

Name	GRAU index	Function	N° Core Stages^[a]	Maiden flight	Final flight	Launches^[b]			Remarks
Name	GRAU index	Function	N° Core Stages^[a]	Maiden flight	Final flight	Total	Success	Failure (+ partial)	Remarks
R-7 Semyorka	8K71	ICBM	1	15 May 1957	27 February 1961	27	18	9	World's first ICBM
Sputnik-PS	8K71PS	Carrier rocket	1	4 October 1957	3 November 1957	2	2	0	World's first carrier rocket Launched Sputnik 1 and Sputnik 2
Sputnik	8A91	Carrier rocket	1	27 April 1958	15 May 1958	2	1	1	Launched Sputnik 3
Luna	8K72	Carrier rocket	2	23 September 1958	16 April 1960	9	2	7	Launched first Lunar probes
R-7A Semyorka	8K74	ICBM	1	23 December 1959	25 July 1967	21	18	3
Vostok-L	8K72L	Carrier rocket	2	15 May 1960	1 December 1960	4	3	1
Molniya	8K78	Carrier rocket	3	20 January 1960	3 December 1965	26	12	14
Vostok-K	8K72K	Carrier rocket	2	22 December 1960	10 July 1964	13	11	2	Used for manned Vostok missions First rocket to launch a man into space
Molniya-L	8K78L	Carrier rocket	3	Unbuilt
Vostok-2	8A92	Carrier rocket	2	1 June 1962	12 May 1967	45	40	5
Polyot	11A59	Carrier rocket	1	1 November 1963	12 April 1964	2	2	0
Voskhod	11A57	Carrier rocket	2	16 November 1963	29 June 1976	300	277	23	Launched manned Voskhod 1 and Voskhod 2 missions
Molniya-M	8K78M	Carrier rocket	3	19 February 1964	30 September 2010^[3]	297	276	21
Vostok-2M	8A92M	Carrier rocket	2	28 August 1964	29 August 1991	94	92	2
Soyuz/Vostok	11A510	Carrier rocket	3	27 December 1965	20 July 1966	2	2	0
Soyuz	11A511	Carrier rocket	2	28 November 1966	24 May 1975	30	28	2	Launched several manned Soyuz missions
Soyuz-B	11K55	Carrier rocket	2	Unbuilt
Soyuz-V	11K56	Carrier rocket	2	Unbuilt
Soyuz-R	11A514	Carrier rocket	2	Unbuilt
Soyuz-L	11A511L	Carrier rocket	2	24 November 1970	12 August 1971	3	3	0
Soyuz-M	11A511M	Carrier rocket	2	27 December 1971	31 March 1976	8	8	0
Soyuz-U	11A511U	Carrier rocket	2 or 3	18 May 1973	22 February 2017	786	765	22^[4]	Single most launched carrier rocket ever built Used for a number of manned Soyuz launches
Soyuz-U2	11A511U2	Carrier rocket	2	23 December 1982	3 September 1995	72	72	0	Used for a number of manned Soyuz launches
Soyuz-FG	11A511U-FG	Carrier rocket	2 or 3	20 May 2001	Active^[when?]	60	60	0	Used for current manned Soyuz launches
Soyuz-2.1a / STA	14A14A	Carrier rocket	2 or 3	8 November 2004	Active^[when?]	31	29	1+1p
Soyuz-2.1b / STB	14A14B	Carrier rocket	2 or 3	27 December 2006	Active^[when?]	34	32	1+1p
Soyuz-2-1v	14A15	Carrier rocket	2	28 December 2013	Active^[when?]	3	2	1p
^ Not including boosters ^ As of 17 September 2016

Korolev Cross

The Korolev Cross is a visual phenomenon observed in the smoke plumes of the R-7 series rockets during separation of the four liquid-fueled booster rockets attached to the core stage.^[5] As the boosters fall away from the rocket, they pitch over symmetrically due to aerodynamic forces acting upon them, forming a cross-like shape behind the rocket. The effect is named after Sergey Korolev; the designer of the R-7 rocket. When the rocket is launched into clear skies, the effect can be seen from the ground at the launch site.

References

^ Zak, Anatoly. "Soyuz-FG's long road to retirement". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
^ Kosmos 3 ranks third among world space launchers with nearly 450 orbital attempts, trailing only R-7 and Thor/Delta.
^ Mu, Xuequan (1 October 2010). "Russia sends military satellite into space". Xinhua. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
^ In 1983, flight Soyuz T-10a took fire on the launch pad before the end of the countdown, so it is not counted in the list of launches; this is why adding successes and failures yields 787 launches instead of 786.
^ NASA TV coverage of Soyuz TMA-12 launch

McDowell, Jonathan. "Launch List - R-7 Family". Jonathan's Space Page. Retrieved 2008-12-21.
Wade, Mark. "Soyuz". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2010-01-17. Retrieved 2008-12-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

Rocket R-7 from S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, a Russian rocket and space contractor

[3] Not including boosters

[4] As of 17 September 2016

[1] Zak, Anatoly. "Soyuz-FG's long road to retirement". Russian Space Web. Retrieved 19 October 2017.

[2] Kosmos 3 ranks third among world space launchers with nearly 450 orbital attempts, trailing only R-7 and Thor/Delta.

[MM-retired-5] Mu, Xuequan (1 October 2010). "Russia sends military satellite into space". Xinhua. Retrieved 30 September 2010.

[explain-soyuz-u-launch-counts-6] In 1983, flight Soyuz T-10a took fire on the launch pad before the end of the countdown, so it is not counted in the list of launches; this is why adding successes and failures yields 787 launches instead of 786.

[7] NASA TV coverage of Soyuz TMA-12 launch

[1]

[2]

[a]

[b]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

v t e Soviet and Russian launch vehicles
Active	Angara 1.2 A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v UR Proton-M
In development	Amur Irtysh Yenisei
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon original 2 3 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F
Cancelled (no launch attempts)	Tsyklon-4 Proton Light Medium

Summary of variants

Korolev Cross

See also

References

External links