Vostok (Russian: Восток, translated as "East") was a family of rockets derived from the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

R-7 Semyorka The R-7 Semyorka (, GRAU index: 8K71) was a Soviet Union, Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961. A derivative, the R-7A Semyorka, R ...

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range (aeronautics), range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more Thermonuclear weapon, thermonuclear warheads). Conven ...

and was designed for the

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 ...

programme. This family of rockets launched the first artificial satellite (

Sputnik 1 Sputnik 1 (, , ''Satellite 1''), sometimes referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program ...

) and the first crewed spacecraft ( Vostok) in human history. It was a subset of the R-7 family of rockets. On March 18, 1980, a Vostok-2M rocket exploded on its launch pad at Plesetsk during a fueling operation, killing 48 people. An investigation into a similarbut avoidedaccident revealed that the substitution of lead-based for tin-based solder in

hydrogen peroxide Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical compound with the formula . In its pure form, it is a very pale blue liquid that is slightly more viscosity, viscous than Properties of water, water. It is used as an oxidizer, bleaching agent, and antiseptic, usua ...

filters allowed the breakdown of the H₂O₂, thus causing the resultant explosion.

Variants

The major versions of the rocket were: *

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages * Luna (goddess) In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...

8K72 – used to launch the early

spacecraft * Vostok-L 8K72 – Variant of the Luna, used to launch prototype

Vostok spacecraft Vostok (, translated as "East") was a class of single-pilot crewed spacecraft built by the Soviet Union. The first human spaceflight was accomplished with Vostok 1 on April 12, 1961, by Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. The Vostok programme ma ...

Vostok-K The Vostok-K ( meaning ''"East"''), GRAU index 8K72K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were crewed. It incorporated several modifications to the core and strap-on ...

8K72K – a refined version of the above. This was the version actually used for human spaceflight * Vostok-2 8A92 – used for launching Zenit

reconnaissance satellite A reconnaissance satellite or intelligence satellite (commonly, although unofficially, referred to as a spy satellite) is an Earth observation satellite or communications satellite deployed for military or intelligence applications. The ...

s throughout the 1960s * Vostok-2M 8A92M – modified version for launching

Meteor A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

weather satellite A weather satellite or meteorological satellite is a type of Earth observation satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites are mainly of two types: polar orbiting (covering the entire Earth asyn ...

s into higher orbits. * Soyuz/Vostok 11A110 – hybrid of

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз (Russian language, Russian and Ukrainian language, Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Soviet Union, Union of Soviet Socialist Republi ...

and Vostok rockets used as an interim for two launches

Vostok 8K72K

*First Stage — Block B, V, G, D (four strap-on boosters) **Gross mass: 43,300 kg **Empty mass: 3,710 kg **Thrust (vac): 4 x 99,000 kgf (971 kN) = 3.88 MN ** Isp: **Burn time: 118 s **Isp(sl): **Diameter: 2.68 m **Span: 8.35 m **Length: 19.00 m **Propellants: Lox/Kerosene **Engines: 1 x RD-107-8D74-1959 per booster = 4 *Second Stage — Block A (core stage) **Gross mass: 100,400 kg **Empty mass: 6,800 kg **Thrust (vac): 912 kN **Isp: **Burn time: 301 s **Isp(sl): **Diameter: 2.99 m **Length: 28.00 m **Propellants: Lox/Kerosene **Engine: 1 x RD-108-8D75-1959 *Third Stage — Block E **Gross mass: 7,775 kg **Empty mass: 1,440 kg **Thrust (vac): 54.5 kN **Isp: **Burn time: 365 s **Diameter: 2.56 m **Span: 2.56 m **Length: 2.84 m **Propellants: Lox/Kerosene **Engine: 1 x RD-0109

Gallery

File:Vostok rocket drawing.png, Vostok rocket File:The Soviet Union 1969 CPA 3732 stamp (Vostok on Launching Pad).jpg, Vostok rocket File:030523-Moscow-IMG 9595-2.jpg, Vostok Rocket, VDNKh,

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

File:030523-Moscow-IMG 9586-2.jpg, Vostok Rocket, VDNKh,

References

{{commons category, Vostok (rocket) 1958 in spaceflight 1991 in spaceflight Vostok program Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union R-7 (rocket family) Vehicles introduced in 1960

Variants

Vostok 8K72K

Gallery

See also

References