Soyuz programme

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Soyuz spacecraft from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Soyuz spacecraft from the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project

The Soyuz human spaceflight programme was initiated in the early 1960s as part of the manned lunar programme that was intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. The Soyuz spacecraft and the Soyuz launch vehicle are both part of this programme. The name "Soyuz" means "Union" in Russian.

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[edit] Objectives

The Moon objective was abandoned when technological problems meant that the US would reach the Moon first. Soyuz survived the demise of the manned lunar programme in that it developed into a variety of projects (both military and civilian), mostly in conjunction with space stations.

[edit] Soyuz rocket

Main article: Soyuz rocket
Soyuz rocket on launch pad.
Soyuz rocket on launch pad.

The Soyuz launch vehicle (Western designation: A-2) is an expendable launch system designed and manufactured by the Korolev Design Bureau in Samara, Russia. As well as being used as the launcher for the manned Soyuz spacecraft, as part of the Soyuz programme, it is now used to launch unmanned Progress supply spacecraft to the International Space Station and commercial launches marketed and operated by TsSKB-Progress and the Starsem company. There were 11 Soyuz launches in 2001 and 9 in 2002. Currently Soyuz vehicles are launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest Russia. Starting 2008 Soyuz launch vehicles will also be launched from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. Soyuz-U rockets are fueled with kerosene, but the Soyuz-U2 rocket used a variant called Syntin.

[edit] Soyuz spacecraft

The basic Soyuz design was the basis for many projects, many of which never came to light. Its earliest form was intended to travel to the moon without employing a huge booster like the Saturn V or the Soviet N-1 by repeatedly docking with upper stages that had been put in orbit using the same rocket as the Soyuz. This and the initial civilian designs were done under the Soviet Chief Designer Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, who did not live to see the craft take flight. Several military derivatives actually took precedence in the Soviet design process, though they never came to pass.

A Soyuz spacecraft consists of three parts (from front to back):

a spheroid orbital module
a small aerodynamic reentry module
a cylindrical service module with solar panels attached

There are several variants of the Soyuz spacecraft:

Soyuz 7K-OK (1967-1971)
Soyuz 7K-L1 (1967-1970)
Soyuz 7K-T (1973-1981)
Soyuz 7K-OKS
Soyuz-T (1976-1986)
Soyuz-TM (1986-2003)
Soyuz-TMA (2003-.... )

[edit] Derivatives

The Zond spacecraft was another derivative, designed to take a crew traveling in a figure-eight orbit around the Earth and the moon but never achieving the degree of safety or political need to be used for such. Finally, the Progress series of unmanned cargo ships for the Salyut and Mir space laboratories used the automatic navigation and docking mechanism, but not the re-entry capsule, of Soyuz. As of 2006, Soyuz derivatives provide Russia's human spaceflight capability and are used to ferry personnel and supplies to and from the International Space Station.

[edit] Gallery

Soyuz TMA-3 launch (NASA)

Soyuz 19 as seen from the Apollo spacecraft during ASTP Mission July, 1975 (NASA)

Soyuz TMA-3 landing (NASA)

[edit] Soyuz manned flights

Flights 1 - 20 Flights 21 - 40 Flights 41 - 60 Flights 61 - 80 Flights 81 - 100
1. Soyuz 1 21.Soyuz 22 41.Soyuz 39 61.Soyuz TM-8 81.Soyuz TM-28
2. Soyuz 3 22.Soyuz 23 42.Soyuz 40 62.Soyuz TM-9 82.Soyuz TM-29
3. Soyuz 4 23.Soyuz 24 43.Soyuz T-5 63.Soyuz TM-10 83.Soyuz TM-30
4. Soyuz 5 24.Soyuz 25 44.Soyuz T-6 64.Soyuz TM-11 84.Soyuz TM-31
5. Soyuz 6 25.Soyuz 26 45.Soyuz T-7 65.Soyuz TM-12 85.Soyuz TM-32
6. Soyuz 7 26.Soyuz 27 46.Soyuz T-8 66.Soyuz TM-13 86.Soyuz TM-33
7. Soyuz 8 27.Soyuz 28 47.Soyuz T-9 67.Soyuz TM-14 87.Soyuz TM-34
8. Soyuz 9 28.Soyuz 29 48.Soyuz T-10-1 68.Soyuz TM-15 88.Soyuz TMA-1
9. Soyuz 10 29.Soyuz 30 49.Soyuz T-10 69.Soyuz TM-16 89.Soyuz TMA-2
10.Soyuz 11 30.Soyuz 31 50.Soyuz T-11 70.Soyuz TM-17 90.Soyuz TMA-3
11.Soyuz 12 31.Soyuz 32 51.Soyuz T-12 71.Soyuz TM-18 91.Soyuz TMA-4
12.Soyuz 13 32.Soyuz 33 52.Soyuz T-13 72.Soyuz TM-19 92.Soyuz TMA-5
13.Soyuz 14 33.Soyuz 34 53.Soyuz T-14 73.Soyuz TM-20 93.Soyuz TMA-6
14.Soyuz 15 34.Soyuz 35 54.Soyuz T-15 74.Soyuz TM-21 94.Soyuz TMA-7
15.Soyuz 16 35.Soyuz 36 55.Soyuz TM-2 75.Soyuz TM-22 95.Soyuz TMA-8
16.Soyuz 17 36.Soyuz T-2 56.Soyuz TM-3 76.Soyuz TM-23 96.Soyuz TMA-9 (in progress)
17.Soyuz 18a 37.Soyuz 37 57.Soyuz TM-4 77.Soyuz TM-24 97.Soyuz TMA-10 (in progress)
18.Soyuz 18 38.Soyuz 38 58.Soyuz TM-5 78.Soyuz TM-25 98.Soyuz TMA-11 (pending)
19.Soyuz 19 39.Soyuz T-3 59.Soyuz TM-6 79.Soyuz TM-26 99.Soyuz TMA-12 (pending)
20.Soyuz 21 40.Soyuz T-4 60.Soyuz TM-7 80.Soyuz TM-27 100.Soyuz TMA-13 (pending)


[edit] Soyuz unmanned flights

Flights 1 - 5 Flights 6 - 10 Flights 11 - 15 Flights 16 - 20 Flights 21 - 26
1. Cosmos 133 6. Cosmos 212 11.Cosmos 396 16.Cosmos 638 21.Soyuz 20
2. Launch failure 7. Cosmos 213 12.Cosmos 434 17.Cosmos 656 22.Cosmos 869
3. Cosmos 140 8. Cosmos 238 13.Cosmos 496 18.Cosmos 670 23.Cosmos 1001
4. Cosmos 186 9. Soyuz 2 14.Cosmos 573 19.Cosmos 672 24.Cosmos 1074
5. Cosmos 188 10. Cosmos 379 15. Cosmos 613 20. Cosmos 772 25. Soyuz T-1
26. Soyuz TM-1

[edit] See also


v • d • e
Soviet (to 1991) and Russian government manned space programs
Active: Soyuz - ISS (joint)
In Development: Kliper
Past Vostok, Voskhod, Salyut, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (joint), Mir, Shuttle-Mir Program (joint)
Cancelled Zond (lunar Soyuz 7K-L1) - N1-L3 (Moon landing program) - Spiral - Almaz (incorporated into Salyut program) / TKS spacecraft - Energia / Buran


v • d • e
N1-L3 Moon landing program
Soyuz missions Soyuz 1, Soyuz 2, Soyuz 3, Soyuz 4, Soyuz 5, Soyuz 6, Soyuz 7, Soyuz 8
Zond (Soyuz 7K-L1) Lunar missions Zond 5, Zond 6, Zond 1969A, Zond L1S-1, Zond L1S-2, Zond 7, Zond 8
LK Lander test missions Cosmos 379, Cosmos 398 and Cosmos 434
Hardware N1 rocket, L3, LOK Command Ship, LK Lander, Zond, Soyuz
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