Launch Vehicles
R-7 Semyorka
Soviet Union
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The world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, developed by Sergei Korolev's design bureau, and the direct ancestor of every Soyuz rocket flown since. A modified R-7 launched Sputnik 1 in October 1957 and, as Vostok-K, carried Yuri Gagarin on the first human spaceflight in April 1961.
Facts
Vehicle ClassMedium-lift expendable launch vehicle (ICBM-derived) 1 ManufacturerOKB-1 (Korolev Design Bureau) 2 First Flight DateDate of the first successful R-7 missile test flight; the Sputnik-launching variant flew that October. StatusRetired as an operational missile, but its core design lineage remains in continuous use through the modern Soyuz-2 launch vehicle, the longest-serving rocket family in history. 2 Cross-Tradition Connections
Includes
Soyuz-2, Launch Vehicles The modern descendant of the R-7 design lineage, sharing its core airframe layout.
Operated By
Part Of
Soyuz, Spacecraft Not a literal part; the R-7's core design lineage continues directly through every Soyuz-family launch vehicle.
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