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Vostok

In-active

Soviet Space Program (CCCP)

May 15, 1960

Description

The Vostok-K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were manned. The Vostok-K made its maiden flight on 22 December 1960, three weeks after the retirement of the Vostok-L. The third stage engine failed 425 seconds after launch, and the payload, a Korabl-Sputnik spacecraft, failed to reach orbit. The spacecraft was recovered after landing, and the two dogs aboard the spacecraft survived the flight. On 12 April 1961, a Vostok-K rocket was used to launch Vostok 1, the first manned spaceflight, which made Yuri Gagarin the first human to fly in space.

Specifications

Stages
3
Length
30.84 m
Diameter
2.99 m
Fairing Diameter
―
Launch Mass
280.0 T
Thrust
971.0 kN

Family

Name
Vostok
Family
―
Variant
K
Alias
―
Full Name
Vostok-K

Payload Capacity

Launch Cost
―
Low Earth Orbit
4725.0 kg
Geostationary Transfer Orbit
―
Direct Geostationary
―
Sun-Synchronous Capacity
―

Soviet Space Program

Government

None

CCCP 1931

The Soviet space program, was the national space program of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) actived from 1930s until disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Soviet Union's space program was mainly based on the cosmonautic exploration of space and the development of the expandable launch vehicles, which had been split between many design bureaus competing against each other. Over its 60-years of history, the Russian program was responsible for a number of pioneering feats and accomplishments in the human space flight, including the first intercontinental ballistic missile (R-7), first satellite (Sputnik 1), first animal in Earth orbit (the dog Laika on Sputnik 2), first human in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1), first woman in space and Earth orbit (cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova on Vostok 6), first spacewalk (cosmonaut Alexei Leonov on Voskhod 2), first Moon impact (Luna 2), first image of the far side of the Moon (Luna 3) and unmanned lunar soft landing (Luna 9), first space rover (Lunokhod 1), first sample of lunar soil automatically extracted and brought to Earth (Luna 16), and first space station (Salyut 1). Further notable records included the first interplanetary probes: Venera 1 and Mars 1 to fly by Venus and Mars, respectively, Venera 3 and Mars 2 to impact the respective planet surface, and Venera 7 and Mars 3 to make soft landings on these planets.

Previous Flights

flew on 13 previous launch(es).

Vostok | Elektron-3 &4

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
July 10, 1964, 9:51 p.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Elektron was one of the earliest Soviet scientific satellite missions to be authorized following the initial Sputnik (D-1) series.

Elliptical Orbit

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Vostok | Elektron-1 & 2

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Jan. 30, 1964, 9:45 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Elektron was one of the earliest Soviet scientific satellite missions to be authorized following the initial Sputnik (D-1) series.

Elliptical Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 6

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
June 16, 1963, 9:29 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Vostok was the last mission of the Vostok program. It was piloted by Valentina Tereshkova. The mission was launched two days after Vostok 5. The mission began on 16 June 1963, 09:29:52 UTC and ended on 19 June 1963, 08:20 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 5

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
June 14, 1963, 11:58 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Vostok 5 was a joint mission with Vostok 6 which launched two days after Vostok 5. The capsule was piloted by Cosmonaut Valery Bykovsky. The mission was intended to last 8 days, but the capsule returned to Earth just after 5 due to a lower then intended orbit and solar flare activity. The mission began on 14 June 1963, 11:58:58 UTC and ended on 19 June 1963, 11:06 UTC.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 4

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Aug. 12, 1962, 8:02 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Vostok 4 was launched a day after Vostok 3 and it carried cosmonaut Pavel Popovich to orbit. While the mission is considered a success it had several issues, a malfunction in the life-support systems caused the cabin temp drop to 10C but Popovich continued the mission, the big issue came when he mentioned seeing thunderstorms. He saw actual thunderstorms in the Gulf of Mexico but mission control thought Popovich had said a codeword for early mission ending and the mission was cut a day short. He completed 48 orbits and the mission lasted 2 days, 22 hours & 56 minutes.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 3

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Aug. 11, 1962, 8:30 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Vostok 3's mission goal was to test human body's ability to function in weightlessness and to test the Vostok 3KA spacecraft for longer flights. They also tested craft-to-craft communications by launching Vostok 4 a day after Vostok 3. Their trajectories brought them approximately 6.5 km from each other and cosmonauts were able to communicate via radio. This also marked the first time more than one crewed craft was orbiting earth at the same time. The spacecraft carried cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev to orbit where he orbited Earth 64 times before reentering. The mission lasted for 3 days 22 hours & 28 minutes.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok | Zenit-2 2

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
April 26, 1962, 10:02 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

Zenit-2 film-return and ELINT reconnaissance satellite.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Zenit-2 1

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Dec. 11, 1961, 9:39 a.m.

Status: Launch Failure

Mission:

Zenit-2 film-return and ELINT reconnaissance satellite.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 2

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Aug. 6, 1961, 6 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

The second crewed space launch carrying the Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov to orbit. The mission lasted 25 hours and 18 minutes and completed 17.5 orbits. He remains the youngest person to reach space, being a month short of 26 at the time of the launch.

Low Earth Orbit

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Vostok-K | Vostok 1

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
April 12, 1961, 6:07 a.m.

Status: Launch Successful

Mission:

The first crewed space launch & the first orbital launch. It carried the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin who completed 1 orbit before safely re-entering the atmosphere, he ejected from his capsule at an altitude of 7 km in order to parachute safely to the ground. The mission lasted 108 minutes.

Low Earth Orbit

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