Soyuz 15

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Soyuz 15
Mission statistics
Mission name Soyuz 15
Crew size 2
Call sign Дунай (Dunaj - "Danube")
Launch date August 26, 1974
19:58:05 UTC
Gagarin's Start
Landing August 28, 1974
20:10:16 UTC
Mission duration 2 days, 0 h, 12 min, 11 s
Number of orbits 32
Related missions
Previous mission Next mission
Soyuz 14 Soyuz 16

Soyuz 15 was a human spaceflight mission of the Soviet Union. It was to have been the second mission to the Salyut 3 space station with presumably military objectives.

Although the spacecraft arrived at the station successfully, cosmonauts Lev Demin and Gennadi Sarafanov were unable to dock because of a fault in the automated docking system. Without sufficient fuel for prolonged attempts at manual docking, the mission had to be abandoned.

It was later claimed by Soviet authorities that no docking had been intended and that the flight had only been undertaken to develop techniques for maneuvering near the space station.

The faulty equipment was redesigned before the next attempt was made.

[edit] Crew

[edit] Mission parameters

  • Mass: 6760 kg (14,900 lb)
  • Perigee: 173 km (107 mi)
  • Apogee: 236 km (147 mi)
  • Inclination: 51.6°
  • Period: 88.5 min


Preceded by
Soyuz 14
Soyuz programme Succeeded by
Soyuz 16