Voskhod (Rocket)

Voskhod, GRAU index 11A57, was a Soviet medium-lift launch vehicle derived from the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile. It was designed for the human spaceflight programme but was later used almost entirely to launch Zenit reconnaissance satellites. Essentially it was an 8K78 or 8K78M Molniya without the Blok L fourth stage, and in specification sat halfway between the two boosters, with the older lower-spec engines of the former and the improved Blok I stage of the latter. Boosters used for the Voskhod crewed flights carried a man-rated version of the RD-0107 engine, known as the RD-0108. The first flight took place on 16 November 1963, when it launched a Zenit satellite from LC-1/5 at Baikonur. From 1966 the 11A57 adopted the standardized 11A511 core with more powerful 8D74M first stage engines, and around 300 were flown from Baikonur and Plesetsk through 1976. It achieved a streak of 86 consecutive successful launches between 11 September 1967 and 9 July 1970.