Manufacturer OKB-1 Height 30.84 m (101.18 ft) | Country of origin Soviet Union Diameter 2.99 m (9.8 ft) | |
Function Man-rated LEO carrier rocket Mass 298,400 kg (657,800 lb) | ||
The Voskhod rocket (Russian: Восход, "ascent", "dawn") was a derivative of the Soviet R-7 ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme but later used for launching Zenit reconnaissance satellites. It consisted of the Molniya 8K78M third stage minus the Blok L. In 1966, all R-7 variants were equipped with the uprated core stage and strap-ons of the Soyuz 11A511. The Blok I stage in the Voskhod booster used the RD-107 engine rather than the RD-110 in the Soyuz, which was more powerful and also man-rated. The sole exception to this were the two manned Voskhod launches, which had RD-108 engines, a man-rated RD-107 but with the same performance.
All 11A57s launched after 1965 were functionally an 11A511 without the Soyuz's payload shroud and launch escape system (with the exception of the third stage propulsion system as noted above). Around 300 were flown from Baikonur and Plesetsk through 1976 (various payloads, but Zenith PHOTINT satellites were the most common). The newer 11A511U core had been introduced in 1973, but the existing stock of 11A57s took another three years to use up.