Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...

initially promoted the Soyuz A-B-V circumlunar complex (''7K-9K-11K'') concept (also known as L1) in which a two-man craft Soyuz 7K would rendezvous with other components (9K and 11K) in Earth orbit to assemble a lunar excursion vehicle, the components being delivered by the proven R-7 rocket. Besides the Soyuz 7K spacecraft, the complex would feature a

Soyuz 9K Soyuz-B ( meaning Union-B) or Soyuz 9K () was a proposed Soviet Union, Soviet spacecraft, which was designed for use as an orbital tug. A number of applications were proposed for it, including use as part of the Soyuz A-B-V complex for crewed circu ...

booster and a

Soyuz 11K Soyuz-V ( meaning Union-V) or Soyuz 11K (), sometimes known in the west as Soyuz-C, was a proposed Soviet spacecraft, which was designed for use as a fuel tanker. It would have been used to refuel other spacecraft, particularly the Soyuz 9K orbi ...

tanker with twin whip antennas. The 7K would have been equipped with cameras and sensors to study the lunar surface during the flyby, at a distance of 1,000 to 20,000 km from the Moon's surface. Total flight time would have been 7 to 8 days.

Relation with other Soyuz versions

Soyuz A is the base concept for the entire Soyuz spacecraft family. The 7K series is a direct descendant of this original proposal. The list below shows proposed, flown (in bold) and ''military'' (in italic) Soyuz versions. *Soyuz-A (1963) **'' Soyuz P'' (1962) ***'' Soyuz PPK'' (1964) **'' Soyuz R'' (1962) ***'' Soyuz 7K-TK'' (1966) **'' Soyuz 7K-VI Zvezda'' (1964) **'' Soyuz OIS'' (1967) ***'' Soyuz OB-VI'' (1967) ***''

Soyuz 7K-S Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft with an active docking unit The Soviet Union planned several military Soyuz spacecraft models. These versions were named Soyuz P, Soyuz PPK, Soyuz R, Soyuz 7K-VI, and Soyuz OIS (Orbital Research Station). However, non ...

'' (1974) ***'' Soyuz 7K-ST'' (1974) **** Soyuz T (1976-86) ***** Soyuz TM (1986-02) ***** Soyuz TMA (2002-12) ***** Soyuz TMA-M (2010-16) *****

Soyuz MS The Soyuz MS (; GRAU: 11F732A48) is the latest version of the Russian Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spacecraft series, first launched in 2016. The "MS" stands for "modernized systems," reflecting upgrades primarily focused on the communications and ...

(2016-...) ****

Progress M Progress-M (, GRAU index, GRAU indices 11F615A55 and 11F615A60), also known as Progress 7K-TGM, is a Russian, previously Soviet Union, Soviet spacecraft which is used to resupply space stations. It is a variant of the Progress (spacecraft), Pro ...

(1989-09) ****

Progress M1 Progress-M1 (, GRAU indices 11F615A55 and 11F615A70), also known as Progress 7K-TGM1, is a Russian spacecraft which is used to resupply space stations. It is a variant of the Progress spacecraft, derived from the Progress-M, but modified to ca ...

(2000-14) ****

Progress MS The Progress MS (; GRAU: 11F615A61) is the latest version of the Russian Progress spacecraft series, first launched in 2015. The "MS" stands for "modernized systems," reflecting upgrades primarily focused on the communications and navigation su ...

(2015) **

Soyuz 7K-LOK The Soyuz 7K-LOK, or simply LOK ( meaning "Lunar Orbital Craft") was a Soviet crewed spacecraft designed to take humans from Earth to orbit the Moon, developed in parallel to the 7K-L1. The LOK would carry two cosmonauts, acting as a mother ship ...

(1967) ***

Soyuz 7K-L1 Soyuz 7K-L1 "Zond" spacecraft was designed to launch cosmonaut, cosmonauts from the Earth to circle the Moon without going into lunar orbit in the context of the Soviet crewed lunar programs, Soviet crewed Moon-flyby program in the Moon race. ...

(1967-70) **** Soyuz 7K-L1E (1970-71) **

Soyuz 7K-OK Soyuz 7K-OK was the first generation of Soyuz spacecraft and was flown between 1967 and 1971. The 7K-OK was used for the first ferry flights to the Salyut space station program, beginning a long history of space station service that continue ...

(1967-71) *** Soyuz 7K-OKS (1971) ****

Soyuz 7K-T The second generation of the Soyuz spacecraft, the ''Soyuz 7K-T'', comprised Soyuz 12 through Soyuz 40 (1973–1981). In the wake of the Soyuz 11 tragedy, the spacecraft was redesigned to accommodate two cosmonauts who would wear pressure ...

(1973-81) ***** Progress 7K-TG (1978-90) **** Soyuz 7K-TM (1975)

References

{{Crewed lunar spacecraft Crewed spacecraft Soyuz program Soviet lunar program

Relation with other Soyuz versions

See also

References