THE SOYUZ PROGRAMME

SOYUZ PROGRAMME

• Soyuz is a series of spacecraft designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s that remains in service today
• The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Soviet manned lunar programs.

THE SOYUZ LAUNCH VEHICLE

• The Soyuz spacecraft is launched on a Soyuz rocket, the most frequently used and most reliable launch vehicle in the world to date.
• The Soyuz rocket design is based on the Vostok launcher, which in turn was based on a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile.

CARERR & SAFTEY

• The first Soyuz mission with a crew, Soyuz 1, launched in April 1967 but ended with a crashed killing cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov. The only other flight to suffer a fatal accident was Soyuz 11.
• Despite these early incidents, the Soyuz is widely considered the world's safest, most cost-effective spacecraft, established by its unparalleled length of operational history.
• The soyuz's career consists of 146 successful missions and only 3 failed with 87 planned

SOYUZ AND THE ISS

• Soyuz spacecraft are currently used for transport to and from the International Space Station. At least one Soyuz spacecraft is docked to ISS at all times for use as an escape craft in the event of an emergency.
• The Soyuz spacecraft is currently the only spacecraft in service able to ferry humans to and from the ISS

QUESTION

• Should the Soyuz programme were to be suspended what spacecraft would replace it?
• Answer: the Federation Spacecraft is planned to replace the Soyuz project in late 2022