The Polyot (russian: Полёт, ''flight'') (Also known as Sputnik,
GRAU
The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...
index 11A59) was an interim
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such a ...
al
carrier rocket
A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pads, supported by a launch control center and system ...
, built to test
ASAT spacecraft. It was required as a stopgap after the cancellation of the
UR-200 programme, but before the
Tsyklon
The Tsyklon (Циклон, " Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), GRAU index 11K67, was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system, primarily used to put Cosmos satellites into low Earth orbit. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic mis ...
could enter service. Only two were ever launched, the first on 1 November 1963, and the last on 12 April 1964. Both of these flights were successful.
The rocket consisted of a core stage, and four boosters, which were taken from a
Voskhod 11A57 rocket. It was capable of delivering a 1,400
kg payload into a 300 km by 59°
Low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never m ...
.
It is a member of the
R-7 family.
See also
Comparable rockets
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Tsyklon
The Tsyklon (Циклон, " Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), GRAU index 11K67, was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system, primarily used to put Cosmos satellites into low Earth orbit. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic mis ...
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UR-200
Related developments
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R-7 Semyorka
The R-7 Semyorka (russian: link=no, Р-7 Семёрка), officially the GRAU index 8K71, was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and ...
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Vostok rocket
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Voskhod rocket
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Molniya rocket
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Soyuz rocket
The Soyuz (russian: Союз, meaning "union", GRAU index 11A511) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev, Soviet Union. It was commissioned to laun ...
Associated spacecraft
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ASAT
External links
Encyclopedia Astronautica entry
Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union
R-7 (rocket family)
Vehicles introduced in 1963
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