Soyuz (rocket family)
A Soyuz-FG rocket carrying the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan on 18 September 2006. | |
| Function | Medium-lift launch vehicle |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | RKT Progress |
| Country of origin | Soviet Union · Russia |
| Size | |
| Stages | 3 |
| Associated rockets | |
| Family | R-7 |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | |
| First flight | 28 November 1966 |
| Carries passengers or cargo | Soyuz Progress |
Soyuz (Russian: Союз, lit. 'union', as in Soviet Union, GRAU index: 11A511) is a family of Soviet and later Russian expendable, medium-lift launch vehicles initially developed by the OKB-1 design bureau and has been manufactured by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. The Soyuz family holds the record for the most launches in the history of spaceflight. All Soyuz rockets are part of the R-7 rocket family, which evolved from the R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.
As with several Soviet launch vehicles, the names of recurring payloads became closely associated with the rocket itself. The Soyuz rocket became widely recognized as the launcher of crewed Soyuz spacecraft under the Soyuz programme, and of the derivative uncrewed Progress cargo spacecraft. Despite this recognition, the majority of Soyuz launches have been dedicated to deploying satellites for both governmental and commercial purposes.
All Soyuz variants use RP-1 (kerosene) and liquid oxygen (LOX) as propellants, with the exception of the Soyuz-U2, which used Syntin (a refined kerosene variant) with LOX.
Between the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011 and the first crewed flight of SpaceX's Crew Dragon in 2020, Soyuz rockets were the only certified launch vehicles capable of transporting astronauts to and from the ISS.