The Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.
Soyuz 23 was meant to be the second crewed flight to the Salyut 5 military space station. The mission began on October 14, 1976, 17:39:18 UTC, launching Commander Vyacheslav Zudov and Flight Engineer Valery Rozhdestvensky into orbit. They arrived at the station, but equipment malfunction did not allow docking and the mission had to be aborted Soyuz 23 returned to Earth on October 16, 1976, 17:45:53 UTC, with an unintended splashdown in partially frozen Lake Tengiz. The capsule sunk, and due to fog and other adverse conditions it took nine hours for the rescue team to recover the capsule and crew.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 21 was the first crewed mission to the Salyut 5 military space station. The mission began on July 6, 1976, 12:08:45 UTC, launching Commander Boris Volynov and Flight Engineer Vitaly Zholobov into orbit. Spacecraft docked with the station on July 7. During their stay on the station, crew conducted scientific experiments, inculding the first use of Kristall furnace for crystal growth, solar observations and experiments of military nature. The mission was expected to last for 60 days, but emergincies occured on the 42nd day, which included shutdown of several onboard systems, oxygen regeneration system among those. Crew restored functionality of the spaceship, but both Volynov and Zholobov's health was deteriorated, and mission had to end early. The mission concluded after 49 days with a rough landing back on Earth on August 24, 1976, 18:32:17 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 18 was the second and final crew to man the Salyut 4 space station. The mission began on May 24th 1975 at 1458:10 UTC, launching Commander Pyotr Klimuk & Flight Engineer Vitali Sevastyanov into orbit docking with Salyut 4 2 days later. They stayed on the station for 63 days setting a new Soviet space endurance record at the time. Klimuk & Sevastyanov were the back-up crew for the failed Soyuz 18a mission so their mission goals included completing the goals of Soyuz 18a, continuing the work of Soyuz 17 & fixing or replacing equipment. They replaced a gas analyzer, switched a pumping condenser in the water regeneration system with a hand pump & fixed a spectrometer. Mostly the experiments were biological & medical but they also studied stars, planets, earth and its atmosphere with roughly 2000 photographs of Earth and 600 of the sun taken. The mission concluded with a safe landing on June 26th 1975 at 1418:18 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 7K-T No.39, also known as Soyuz 18a or Soyuz 18-1, was intended to be the next crewed mission to the Salyut-4 space station. The mission launched on April 5, 1975, 11:04:54 UTC, but due to a failure of the Soyuz launch vehicle during ascent it was aborted. Safety system initiated separation of the spacecraft, and the crew of commander Vasili Lazarev and flight engineer Oleg Makarov experienced overloads of up to 21.3 g. The capsule landed safely at 11:26:21 UTC, followed by a successful rescue of the crew members.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 17 was the first of two long-duration missions to the Salyut-4 space station. The mission began on January 10, 1975, 21:43:37 UTC, launching commander Aleksei Gubarev and flight engineer Georgi Grechko into orbit. Spacecraft was manually docked with the station on January 12. During their stay on the station, crew performed an array of astrophysical experiments, including studying the Sun, planets and the stars in a wide electromagnetic spectrum. The mission concluded after 29 days with a safe landing back on Earth on February 9, 1975, 11:03:22 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 15 was meant to be the second crewed mission to the Salyut 3 space station. The mission launched on August 26, 1974, 19:58:05 UTC, carrying commander Gennadi Sarafanov and flight engineer Lev Dyomin to orbit. Soyuz-15 failed to dock with the station and had to return to Earth early, landing on August 28, 1974, 20:10:16 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 14 was the first crewed mission to the Salyut 3 space station. The mission launched on July 3, 1974, 18:51:08 UTC, carrying commander Pavel Popovich and flight engineer Yuri Artykhin to orbit. During their 15-day stay on the station, crew performed experiments involving medical studies and military reconnaissance activities. Soyuz 14 returned to Earth, landing on July 19, 1974, 12:21:36 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 13 launched on 18 December 1973, 11:55:00 UTC. It carried commander Pyotr Klimuk and flight engineer Valentin Lebedev into orbit. This mission was the second test flight of the modified Soyuz spacecraft. Crew spent 7 deays in orbit and carried out various astrophysical studies. They also obtained ultraviolet spectrograms of stars with the help of an Orion 2 Space Observatory onboard the spacecraft. Crew returned to Earth, landing on 26 December 1973, 08:50:35 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 12 launched on 27 September 1973, 12:18:16 UTC. It carried commander Vasili Lazarev and flight engineer Oleg Makarov into orbit. This mission was the first test flight of the modified Soyuz spacecraft, following the tragedy of Soyuz-11. This mission also tested the use of pressurized "rescue space suits" Sokol, worn by crew during launch and re-entry. Crew returned to Earth, landing on 29 September 1973, 11:33:48 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 11 launched on 6 June 1971, 07:55:09 UTC. It carried commander Georgy Dobrovolsky, flight engineer Vladislav Volkov and test engineer Viktor Patsayev to orit. Crew arrived to Salyut-1 space station on 7 June 1971 and remained there until their departure on 30 June. It was the only mission to board the space station. Soyuz 11 returned to Earth on 30 June 1971, 02:16:52 UTC, with mission ending in disaster. During atmospheric re-entry crew capsule depressurised, killing all three crew members.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 10 launched on 22 April 1971, 23:54:06 UTC. It carried commander Vladimir Shatalov, flight engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev and test engineer Nikolai Rukavishnikov into orbit. Flight was intended to become the world's first mission to the world's first space station, Salyut-1. Docking was not successful, and crew didn't enter the station. Crew returned to Earth, landing on 24 April 1971, 23:40 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 9 carried cosmonauts Andrian Nikolayev & Vitali Sevastyanov to orbit. The mission lasted 17 days, 16 hours & 58 minutes completing 288 orbits around Earth. They broke the endurance record held by Gemini 7 for 5 years. This was the first crewed space launch that lifted off at night. As of 2016 it still holds the record for longest crewed flight by a solo spacecraft. The goal of the mission was to conduct various pysiological and biomedical experiments on themselves and invastigate possible social implications of extended duration spaceflight.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 8 was a joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 7 that saw three spacecraft in orbit together at the same time. It prime mission was to dock and transfer crew to Soyuz 7 but the mission failed due to docking system failure. Soyuz 8 was Commanded by Vladimir Shatalov and Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 7 was a joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three spacecraft in orbit together at the same time. The mission was to dock with Soyuz 8 and transfer crew. Docking to Soyuz 8 failed so the mission was aborted. The mission was Commanded by Anatoly Filipchenko, Flight Engineer Vladislav Volkov, and Research Engineer Viktor Gorbatko.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 6 was a joint mission with Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 that saw three spacecraft in orbit together at the same time. Soyuz 6 mission was to take high quality photographs of the Soyuz 7 and Soyuz 8 docking but on all three spacecraft the docking system failed. The mission was commanded by Georgi Shonin and Flight Engineer Valeri Kubasov.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 5 mission started with the launch on January 15, 1969, 07:04:57 UTC, carrying Commander Boris Volynov, Flight Engineer Vladislav Volkov and Research Engineer Pyotr Kolodin into orbit. Two days later mission achieved the first ever docking of two crewed spacecrafts, having Soyuz 5 docked with Soyuz 4 spacecraft. Since no connecting tunel had been developed yet, the two cosmonauts had to spacewalk from one vehicle to another. The mission concluded with a hard landing back on Earth on January 18, 1969, 07:59:12 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 4 mission started with the launch on January 14, 1969, 07:30:00 UTC, carrying Commander Vladimir Shatalov, Flight Engineer Aleksei Yeliseyev and Research Engineer Yevgeny Khrunov into orbit. Two days later mission achieved the first ever docking of two crewed spacecrafts, having Soyuz 4 docked with Soyuz 5 spacecraft. Since no connecting tunel had been developed yet, the two cosmonauts had to spacewalk from one vehicle to another. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on January 17, 1969, 06:50:47 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 3 was a spaceflight mission, which started with the launch on October 26, 1968, 08:34:18 UTC. Flown by Georgy Beregovoy, the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft completed 81 orbits over four days. The mission achieved the first Soviet space rendezvous with the uncrewed Soyuz 2, but Beregovoy failed to achieve a planned docking with the spacecraft. During the remaining time on orbit he performed topographical and meteorological observations. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on 30 October 1968, 07:25:03 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz 1 was the first crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, it carried the Soviet cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov to orbit. The mission goal was to rendezvous with Soyuz 2 and move crew members between the spacecrafts, the goal was not met due to Soyuz 2 launch being called off due to thunderstorms. Vladimir Komarov was killed when the parachutes of his Soyuz capsule failed during descent to earth becoming the first in-flight fatality of spaceflight.
Low Earth Orbit