Molniya 8K78 | Luna-8
Launch Successful
L - -- : -- : -- : --
Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Dec. 3, 1965, 10:46 a.m. - Dec. 3, 1965, 10:46 a.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Dec. 3, 1965, 10:46 a.m. - Dec. 3, 1965, 10:46 a.m.
Ye-6 series probe designed to land on the Moon. Spun out of control during the final parts of the descent, resulting in the spacecraft impacting the lunar surface on December 6.
The Molniya was a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and had four stages. The 8K78 resulted from a crash program by the Korolev Bureau to develop a booster for launching planetary probes. A larger third stage was added along with a fourth stage (Blok L) that was designed to fire in-orbit to send the payload out of LEO. The basic R-7 core was also structurally strengthened and given more powerful engines. A rushed development produced multiple malfunctions of the upper stages, which led to its being replaced by the improved Molniya-M in 1964, but there were enough 8K78s left to continue flying them into 1967.
The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation are a separate-troops branch of the Russian Armed Forces that control Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
WIKIA batch of 27 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Ku- and Ka-band geostationary communication satellite for China Satcom at 92.2° East, replacing ChinaSat 9.
Unidentified payload for the Russian military.
A batch of 28 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Zhangheng 1-02, also known as CSES-02 (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite-02), is the follow-on mission to Zhangheng 1/CSES, a Chinese–Italian sp…
A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
A batch of 26 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Synthetic aperture radar Earth observation satellite for Japanese Earth imaging company iQPS.
A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.