Vostok Kaluga Museum Credit - © Mark Wade

By the year 2000 over 1,628 had been launched with an unmatched success rate of 97.5% for production models. Improved models providing commercial launch services for international customers are even now entering service. It appears the R-7 will easily be in service past the 50th anniversary of its first launch.

Development of the R-7 began under research project N-3 "Development requirements for a liquid rocket with a range of 5,000 to 10,000 km and a warhead of 1 to 10 tonnes". The research project was authorised in a decree of 4 December 1950. The study was headed by Korolev's NII-88 but involved a wide range of other Soviet research institutes:

• OKB-456 - Glushko - Engines
• NII-885 - Ryazanskiy, Pilyugin - Guidance
• NII-3 - Shebanin / GSKB Spetsmash - Launch facility
• KB-11 - Nuclear warhead
• NII-4 - Sokolov - Launch pad development
• TSIAM - Svishchev
• TsAGI - Dorognitsin, Struminskiy - aerodynamics
• NII-6 - Sukhikh
• NII-125 - Zhukov
• NII-137 - Kostrov
• NII-504 - Karpov
• NII-10 - Kuznetsov - gyro platform
• NII-49 - Charin
• Mathematics Institute - Steklov and Keldysh

• Engines of 200 to 300 tonnes thrust, burning Lox/Kerosene propellant in place of the Lox/Alcohol used in rockets derived from German work, with a vacuum specific impulse of 325 seconds
• Nuclear payload reduction to the 3 to 5 tonne range
• Autonomous inertial and radio guidance systems
• Heat shield and re-entry vehicle development to enable the warhead to survive re-entry into the atmosphere at 6 to 7 km/sec
• Parametric studies to determine the optimum rocket configuration

Work was well underway when the requirements were suddenly altered on 3 October 1953. The total warhead mass was increased to 5,500 kg, with the net mass of only the nuclear device itself being 3,000 kg. The rocket designed to that point would have a range of only 5,500 km with such a warhead. A meeting was called of the Chief Designers in January 1954 to discuss how to handle the problem. Several weight saving measures were used. The single engines per module were replaced by small diameter engines of reduced length; the propellant tanks were laid out to minimise mass; a unique launch pad design was accepted that suspended the rocket above the flame pit and shielded it from cross winds, which allowed a lighter structure.

Another technical challenge were the small vernier rockets used to pitch the rocket. These had to have a high specific impulse, gimbal 45 degrees, and deliver a thrust of 2.5 tonnes. Glushko could not deliver an engine with these characteristics, so Melnikov of OKB-1 was assigned the task of designing the engines in-house. The engine that resulted met the requirements and was the technological basis for later rocket engines developed within OKB-1 (the Lox/Kerosene upper stage engines for the Molniya, N1, and Proton boosters).

By February 1954 the stage was reached where a final design was possible. A government declaration of 20 May 1954 authorised development of the two stage R-7 / 8K71 intercontinental ballistic missile. This was followed by a decree of 28 June 1954 'On plans N/R for space research'. Implementation came via a Ministry of Defence decree of 6 July 1954 calling on all industry organisations to work together and assigning the project the highest national priority. The draft project, using much material generated for the T-1 project, was completed in July 1954.

The vehicle in the draft project used the 'packet' layout with a hammerhead core stage surrounded by four shorter booster stages. At ignition, the four booster stages ignited. If full thrust was achieved, the core was then ignited and the booster rose on the thrust of all five stages. The rocket could boost the 5500 kg warhead to 7.9 km/s and 8,000 km range, with a maximum miss distance of plus or minus 10 km. The warhead was the German 'sharp point': a 16 degree cone, 7.27 m long, mounted atop a cylindrical interstage section. The rocket had a gross lift-off mass of 280 tonnes, and an empty mass of 27 tonnes. The first stage burned out at 2,170 m/s and the second stage at 6,385 m/s. Thrust at lift-off was 403.4 tonnes. The R-7 incorporated ingenious solutions in ground handling of the large rocket. The rocket would be assembled horizontally, rolled out to the pad, then raised to the vertical position and quickly fuelled.

The expert commission deemed the decree requirements to be fulfilled and recommended construction of the rocket with minor changes in the development plan. The government authorised the construction phase in a decree of 20 November 1954. The design was frozen by Korolev on 11 March 1955 and drawing release and parts fabrication began. By 20 March 1956 a decree set forth the impending three stage development test plan:

• Two lots of prototype rockets for stand tests and one lot for flight tests
• Following completion of the prototype test series, incorporate necessary changes into next lot of rockets
• Final lot of rockets representing production configuration flight tested to verify changes

In the first half of 1956 work began in earnest at 36 factories with the objective of making the first test flight by the end of the year. The first article completed was a full scale mock-up consisting of the core and one booster stage. Two Block A and B stages were delivered for stand tests, but incomplete factory test equipment held up the start. At that point it seemed impossible that a flight would be made within the year.

By the second half of 1956 solutions had been found to the outstanding problems. Serial production of rockets had begun. The Progress Aviation Factory in Samara, V Ya Litvinov manager, had been selected to fabricate detailed parts but final assembly of the prototype rockets was carried out at Factory 88 in Kaliningrad. Over time the factory at Samara would be organised as the Third Filial of OKB-1 and take over first production, and then engineering, of future R-7 derivatives. In 1974 it became the TsKB, a separate entity.

R-7 systems were developed in the following research program:

• The radio guidance system was flight tested on R-5R modifications of the R-5 IRBM. Launches on 31 May and 15 June 1956 proved the system.
• The R-7's propellant utilisation system, velocity integrator, stabilisation system, Tral telemetry system, and Fakel control system were tested in two phases of 5 flights each of the M5RD modification of the R-5. Five Phase 1 flights took place from 16 February to 23 March 1956, followed by five Phase 2 flights from 20 July to 18 August 1956.
• The unique Tyulpan launch concept - suspension of the rocket from its 'shoulders' over the flame pit - was tested at a huge mock-up, 19 m in diameter, at the LMZ Leningrad Metal Foundry Factory. The rig also allowed hydraulics test of a mock-up booster with water in the tanks (protected by an anti-corrosion agent). The increasingly elaborated mock-up allowed the interface between the suspension arms and the rocket to be worked out in detail. Simulated launches allowed the separation of the vehicles and the umbilicals to be worked out, as well as the zero-shock launch concept (there were no hold-down clamps - once thrust built up, the rocket rose, and the suspension arms rotate away on counter-weights). LMZ also used the mock-up to develop ground handling, horizontal assembly, and installation protocols for the launch vehicle. The methods worked out in that summer remained in continuous use until well into the 21st Century.
• Rocket engine stand test were conducted at Filial 2 of NII-88 from July 1956 to March 1957. These included determining the best arrangement of engines and their components to minimise thermal and vibration effects. Also conducted were liquid oxygen / liquid nitrogen loading, control systems and vernier tests.
• Five test stand firings using three complete booster stages, were conducted on 15 August, 1 September, 24 September, 11 October, and 3 December 1956
• Three test stand firing using two core stages were conducted on 27 December 1956 and 10 and 26 January 1957.
• Two test stand firing were conducted using the complete rocket with four booster stages and the core stage. Ground test article s/n 2S was fired on 20 February 1957 and flight article s/n 4SL was fired on 30 March 1957.
• Ground test article s/n 5N was delivered to Baikonur in December 1956 for facilities verification tests, including ground handling, transport, assembly, erection, and propellant loading.
• The first flight article M1-5 was delivered to Baikonur in March 1957. The launch commission met on 10 April and certain questions were raised regarding the flight readiness due to test stand and ground test adequacy. Once these were resolved M1-5 was cleared for flight, and the first launch took place on 15 May 1957.

In its intended military mission, the R-7 was quickly overtaken by technological improvements. These allowed the Soviet Union to build missiles using 'zero warning launch' storable propellants and smaller nuclear warheads (Yangel's R-16 and R-36, Chelomei's UR-100). Deployment of the R-7 was very limited, and its service life extended only from 1960 to 1966. Only one dedicated ICBM pad was built at Baikonur, and six to eight in the Angara complex at Plesetsk. By 1966 they were all converted to space launch use and the military service life of the rocket was over.

But as a space launcher, the R-7, with upper stages, became the most successful in history. By the year 2000 over 1,628 had been launched with a success rate of 97.5% for production models.

	G-5	Some sources indicate the G-5 / R-15 designation was assigned to an ICBM designed by the Groettrup team. If so, it may have been the 'packet of G-4's' that was...more.
	T-1	Original conceptual design for ICBM. Final design was R-7 due to unachievability of mass ratio for this single stage design. Data from chart at Russian Space Agency HQ....more.
	R-7	The world's first ICBM and first orbital launch vehicle. The 8K71 version was never actually put into military service, being succeeded by the R-7A 8K74....more.
	Luna 8K72	R-7 ICBM with single-engine upper stage used for early Soviet unmanned lunar shots....more.
	R-7A	The R-7A was an improved version of the R-7 first ICBM, and the one actually deployed to pads in Baikonur and Plesetsk. The missile saw service from 1960 to 1968....more.
	Vostok 8K72	8K72 Luna launch vehicle, third stage modified with larger forward cylindrical section to accomodate Vostok-sized spacecraft. Used only for launch of first few prototype Vostoks....more.
	8K79	Korolev 1961 design for a single stage military rocket. A competing missile was selected for the requirement....more.
	Molniya 8K78	Four stage derivative of the R-7 ICBM developed on a crash-program basis in 1960 for Soviet lunar and planetary deep space probe missions. The third stage found...more.
	Vostok 8K72K	R-7 ICBM with single-engine third stage, uprated from Luna launch vehicle and with forward fairing to accomodate Vostok/Zenit sized spacecraft. 8K72K, used for...more.
	MR	Korolev studied this Multimodular Rocket (MR), based on stages already designed for the 8K74 and 8K77 (R-7 and R-9) missiles. The concept seems to have been promoted...more.
	Molniya 8K78L	The Molniya 8K78L was designed by Korolev's design bureau for launching a manned spacecraft on a flyby of the Moon and return to earth. To achieve this it would...more.
	Vostok 8A92	The 8A92 was a modernized version of the Vostok booster used for launch of Zenit-2 reconnaisance satellites....more.
	Polyot 11A59	Two stage version of Vostok 11A57. Used for flight test of prototype Chelomei ASAT after cancellation of UR-200 booster and before availability of Tsiklon....more.
	Soyuz 11K55	Version of the Soyuz launcher envisioned for the cancelled Soyuz B translunar rocket stage....more.
	Soyuz 11K56	Version of the Soyuz launcher envisioned for the cancelled Soyuz V tanker spacecraft....more.
	Voskhod 11A57	The 11A57 took the large third stage originally developed for the 8K78 interplanetary probe projects and applied it to increasing R-7 low earth orbit performance....more.
	Molniya 8K78M	Improved Molniya, in variants with Blocks ML, 2BL, or SO-L third stages according to payload....more.
	R-9	ICBM developed by Korolev OKB using liquid oxygen/kerosene propellants. The Soviet military favoured storable propellants as advocated by Glushko and implemented...more.
	Vostok 8A92M	Second generation space systems required injection of lighter but higher-altitude Meteor and other satellite payloads into sun-synchronous orbits. The 8A92M version...more.
	Vostok 11A510	Version of R-7 launch vehicle with Vostok second stage and unknown third stage used only twice to launch prototype RORSATs. These satellites were originally to...more.
	Soyuz 11A511	Standardized launch vehicle designed to replace a proliferation of earlier models (8K72, 8A91, 8K74, 8K78, 11A57). Designed initially to support launch of the Soyuz...more.
	Soyuz 11A514	Version of Soyuz launcher with increased payload, designed to launch Soyuz R military reconnaisance satellite. Cancelled along with the Soyuz R project in 1966....more.
	Soyuz 11A511L	11A511 with reinforced second stage, large fairing for earth orbit test of LK lunar lander....more.
	Soyuz 11A511M	Development of the Soyuz-M began in 1967 to launch the 6.6 metric ton Soyuz 7K-VI manned military spacecraft into a 65-degree inclination earth orbit. The spacecraft...more.
	Soyuz 11A511U	A standardised orbital launch vehicle derived from the original R-7 ICBM that was launched in the greatest numbers in history. Not coincidentally, the most reliable...more.
	Soyuz 11A511U2	Soyuz 11A511U2 used synthetic kerosene ('Sintin') in first stage for launch of premium reconnaisance satellite and manned payloads requiring just a bit more payload...more.
	Yamal	Version of the Soyuz proposed with an Ariane 4 or Russian Lox/LH2 upper stage....more.
	Soyuz 11A511U / Ikar	Standard Soyuz universal booster with the Ikar upper stage, derived from the propulsion system for the Kozlov Yantar series of spy satellites....more.
	Soyuz 11A511U / Fregat	Standard Soyuz universal booster with the Fregat upper stage, derived from the propulsion system for Lavochkin interplanetary probes....more.
	Soyuz M	Rus project was to result in first major propulsion upgrade to R-7 family in forty years, using first stage engines derived from those developed for Zenit second...more.
	Soyuz FG	Uprated Soyuz booster designed for high performance Russian government missions - delivery of Soyuz and Progress spacecraft to the International Space Station....more.
	Soyuz ST	Uprated Soyuz booster designed for commercial customers. Upgraded engines, modern digital avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Can be used with either Ikar or...more.
	Soyuz ST / Fregat ST	Uprated Soyuz booster designed for commercial customers. Upgraded engines, modern avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Uses Fregat upper stage....more.
	Onega	Launch vehicle proposed for the 'Kliper' manned spaceplane in 2004. The 'Onega' was a hitherto-unrevealed massive improvement of the reliable Soyuz. It would deliver...more.