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 Space is the boundless three-dimensional extent in which objects and events have relative position and direction. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually conside ...

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 ast ...

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

Soyuz-U The Soyuz-U launch vehicle was an improved version of the original Soyuz rocket. Soyuz-U was part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and cons ...

that was used for launching uncrewed probes.

Overview

Progress Centre was the developer and manufacturer of the Soyuz FG series of

launch vehicle 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 sys ...

s 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

series that were used for

robotic spacecraft A robotic spacecraft is an uncrewed spacecraft, usually under telerobotic control. A robotic spacecraft designed to make scientific research measurements is often called a space probe. Many space missions are more suited to telerobotic rather ...

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 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 ...

, 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 ...

, 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 catch ...

. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the plant had manufactured several aeroplane models at the Moscow location, including the

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-3) was a Soviet fighter-interceptor used during World War II. It was a development of the MiG-1 by the OKO (opytno-konstruktorskij otdel — Experimental Design Departme ...

. 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 The Ilyushin Il-10 (Cyrillic Илью́шин Ил-10, NATO reporting name: "Beast"Gunston 1995, p.108.) was a Soviet ground attack aircraft developed at the end of World War II by the Ilyushin construction bureau. It was also license-built in C ...

aircraft. In 1946, it began production of

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-9 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-9, USAF/DoD designation: Type 1, NATO reporting name: Fargo) was the first turbojet fighter developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich in the years immediately after World War II. ...

and

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 (russian: Микоя́н и Гуре́вич МиГ-15; USAF/DoD designation: Type 14; NATO reporting name: Fagot) is a jet fighter aircraft developed by Mikoyan-Gurevich for the Soviet Union. The MiG-15 was one of ...

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 Liberation ...

bombers. On 2 January 1958, the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

government ordered State Aviation Plant No.1 to begin production of

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 1 ...

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 * Rus-M * Soyuz FG *

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 ...

* Soyuz-1 * Soyuz-2 *

Volga 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 catch ...

Satellites

* Bion * Zenit * Foton * Resurs * Yantar *

Orlets Orlets (russian: Орлец) was a series of Russians, Russian, and previously Soviet Union, Soviet photoreconnaissance satellite, photoreconnaissance satellites derived from and intended to augment the Yantar (satellite), Yantar series of spacecra ...

Persona A persona (plural personae or personas), depending on the context, is the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional character. The word derives from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatr ...

* Pion-NKS * Lotos

References

External links