The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction of Roscosmos State Corporation responsible for space science and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astr ...

research. It was the developer of the famous Soyuz-FG rocket that was used for crewed space flight, as well as the Soyuz-U that was used for launching uncrewed probes.

Overview

Progress Centre was the developer and manufacturer of the

Soyuz FG The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara, Russia. Guidance, navigation, and control system was developed and manufactured by "Polis ...

series of launch vehicles that were used for

human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...

launches, and the Soyuz-U series that were used for robotic spacecraft launches. Commercial marketing of these launch vehicles was handled by the company Starsem. TsSKB-Progress' satellite products include the Foton and Foton-M science satellite series, the Yantar military satellites and the Resurs DK Earth resource satellite. The company's main production facilities are located in the city of Samara, Russia. They include a design bureau, a large R-7 factory called Progress and an affiliate design bureau KB Foton. Up to 25,000 people work in the Progress factory; of them, 5,000 work in rocket and satellite systems, and 360 work on the R-7 production line at any given time. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the factory has also diversified into machine tools, vodka and sweets.

History

In 1941, the State Aviation Plant No.1 was moved from Moscow to the city now known as

Samara, Russia Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara rivers, with a population of ...

, near the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

. The plant, named

Dooks Dux (russian: Завод «Дукс», Zavod "Duks") was a bicycle/automobile/aircraft factory in Moscow, Russia before and during World War I. The factory was founded in 1893. The name comes from the Latin word (leader). Julius Möller (also ...

, had been created in 1917, using facilities in Moscow which had previously been used for the manufacture of bicycles, motorcycles, and various other vehicles. Before World War II, the plant had manufactured several aeroplane models at the Moscow location, including the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3. During the war, the plant manufactured

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

and Ilyushin Il-10 aircraft. In 1946, it began production of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 and Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 jet fighters, and in 1954, it started to produce

Tupolev Tu-16 The Tupolev Tu-16 (NATO reporting name: Badger) is a twin-engined jet strategic heavy bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has been flown for almost 70 years, and the Chinese license-built Xian H-6 remains in service with the People's Liberatio ...

bombers. On 2 January 1958, the Soviet Union government ordered State Aviation Plant No.1 to begin production of R-7 Semyorka rockets. The Central Specialized Design Bureau (TsSKB) was established on 30 June 1974. Dmitri Kozlov, who had been the chief designer of the R-7 and a Deputy Chief Designer of ОКB-1, was appointed General Designer of TsSKB on 6 July 1983. On 12 April 1996, two Russian aerospace organizations, the Central Specialized Design Bureau (russian: Центральное специализированное конструкторское бюро), TsSKB, and the Samara Progress plant were merged to form TsSKB-Progress. In 2003, A.N. Kirilin was appointed as General Director of "TsSKB-Progress", and D.I. Kozlov became its Honorary General Designer.

Rockets and missiles

Molniya-M The Molniya-M (russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), designation 8K78M, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) launch vehicle derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The original 8K78 booster had been the ...

Rus-M Rus-M (russian: Русь-М) was a proposed launcher design which was intended to become Russia's main launch vehicle for crewed spaceflight after 2018, and an integral part of the Orel spacecraft being developed to replace the Soyuz. Rus-M was ...

* Soyuz-U *

Soyuz-U2 The Soyuz-U2 (GRAU index 11A511U2) was a Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It featured increased performance compared with the baseline Soyuz-U, due to the use of ...

* Soyuz-1 * Soyuz-2 * Volga

Satellites

* Bion * Zenit * Foton * Resurs * Yantar * Orlets * Persona * Pion-NKS * Lotos

References

External links