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Soyuz 7K-S
Part of Soyuz
Soyuz VI / OIS
Soyuz VI / OIS
Mishin's version of Soyuz VI with OIS light space station (conceptual drawing based on description).
Credit: © Mark Wade
Russian manned spacecraft. The Soyuz 7K-S had its genesis in military Soyuz designs of the 1960's. Launched 1974 - 1976.

AKA: 11F732;7K-S. Status: Operational 1974. First Launch: 1974-08-06. Last Launch: 1976-11-29. Number: 3 . Thrust: 3.92 kN (881 lbf). Gross mass: 6,800 kg (14,900 lb). Specific impulse: 305 s. Height: 7.48 m (24.54 ft). Span: 10.00 m (32.00 ft).

These were cancelled, but the 7K-S continued in development as an improved version of Soyuz for solo and space station ferry missions. Unmanned tests were made of the 7K-S, but the solo version was cancelled. The design, after further extended development, evolved into the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry vehicles flown to the Salyut 7, Mir, and ISS space stations.

The Soyuz 7K-S had its genesis in military Soyuz designs of the 1960's. These were cancelled in February 1970. The Soyuz 7K-S, however continued in two parallel designs - the base variant, which was for special-purpose military solo missions; and a space station transport variant 7K-ST. The revised designs for the 7K-S were completed on 11 August 1972. The initial Soyuz 7K-S program was to consist of four unmanned, followed by two manned test flights, then two operational launches. The draft design for 7K-ST space station transport version was completed in August 1974.

Following the fourth N1 launch failure, a major reorganization of Soviet space enterprises was undertaken. The 7K-S was cancelled; experiments planned for the solo flights were transferred to the Salyut program. However the first three test vehicles had been completed and were launched unmanned as technology tests. The Soyuz 7K-ST transport project continued, except now being redesigned for a crew of three. The 7K-ST, following extended development, would eventually fly as the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry to the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations.

In December 1962 Sergei Korolev released his draft project for a versatile manned spacecraft to follow his 3K Vostok. The 7K Soyuz-A was primarily designed for manned circumlunar flight. However in order to obtain military support for the project he proposed two additional modifications: the Soyuz-P (Perekhvatchik, Interceptor) space interceptor and the Soyuz-R (Razvedki, intelligence) command-reconnaissance spacecraft. The VVS and the Strategic Rocket Forces supported these variants of the Soyuz. But Korolev had no time to work on what were to him Soyuz 'side-lines'. Therefore he decided that while OKB-1 Kaliningrad would concentrate on development of the Soyuz-A circumlunar spacecraft, the military projects would be 'subcontracted' to OKB-1 Filial Number 3 in Samara, headed by Chief Designer Dmitri Ilyich Kozlov. Both spacecraft would ultimately be cancelled and replaced by projects of Korolev's competitor, Chelomei. However Kozlov was entrusted with development of yet another military Soyuz, the 7K-VI 'Zvezda', in October 1965.

Initially Kozlov followed his instructions and the 7K-VI was not very different from the OKB-1 Soyuz 7K-OK. But in the beginning of 1967, in reaction to a huge number of failures on the first flights of the Soyuz, Kozlov decreed a complete revision of the design. The new version switched the positions of the Soyuz descent module and the orbital module. The descent module was now at the top of the spacecraft. Behind the seats a hatch went through the heat shield to the cylindrical orbital section. Nuclear radioisotope thermal generators (RTG's) replaced the solar panels.

Design was completed, construction was underway, and cosmonauts in training for 50 planned flights between 1968 and 1975. By August 1967 Kozlov was predicting first flight of the VI in 1968, with the first all-up operational flight in 1970. But the Chief Designer of OKB-1, Vasiliy Pavlovich Mishin, strongly disagreed with the Zvezda design. The USSR Defense Ministry issued a requirement for an "Orbital Research Station" (OIS) in March 1967. Using this as the basis, on 13 October 1967 Mishin began his efforts to take over Kozlov's VI program. His staff in Kaliningrad felt that Kozlov had insulted them by redesigning the VI to rectify the 'defects' of their Soyuz 7K-OK design. They were also fundamentally opposed to the use of radio-isotope power sources, and raised interminable objections about the hatch cut into the heat shield.

In the place of Kozlov's 7K-VI Mishin proposed an OIS consisting of a separately-launched orbital block and a transport Soyuz. This was the exact same concept as Kozlov's cancelled Soyuz-R system, but using Kaliningrad spacecraft in the place of Samara spacecraft. In a November 1967 meeting with Kozlov, Mishin demanded the abandonment of Kozlov's 7K-VI project. Kozlov rejected this and subsequently attempted to recruit Kamanin to his cause. It was all for naught; through various complex machinations Mishin seized control of the project on 8 December 1967. Mishin's revised project was reaffirmed in May 1968.

Mishin's 11F730 Soyuz VI consisted of on orbital block 11F731 OB-VI and a transport spacecraft 11F732 7K-S. The Soyuz would have a crew of two, a probe-drogue docking system and an internal transfer tunnel. It was proposed that two versions of the 7K-S could conduct autonomous flights for military projects. These versions were the 11F733 7K-S-I for short-term research and the 11F734 7K-S-II for longer flights. For resupply of the orbital stations a payload transport craft 7K-SG 11F735 was proposed (This was an ancestor of the Progress spacecraft used to resupply Salyut and Mir space stations).

Mishin's Soyuz VI would be launched for a 30 day mission into a 51.6 degree orbit at 250 x 270 km, and would use solar panels in the place of the nuclear power sources. The orbital block of the OB-VI would have 700 to 1,000 kg of specialized and scientific instruments. Chief Designer for the 11F730 was K D Bushuyev, with veteran spaceplane designer P V Tsybin assisting.

Using Kozlov's groundwork, the draft project OIS 11F730, was issued by TsKBEM and Filial 3 jointly on 21 June 1968. Design materials for the 11F732 7K-S spacecraft were issued on 14 October 1968. In 1969 complete drawings were released for the OIS project including those for the spacecraft 7K-S, 7K-S-I, and 7K-S-II.

It was singularly noticeable that relatively little effort was expended on the OIS by Mishin. Despite his desire to take the project from Kozlov, his bureau was too preoccupied with the L1 and N1-L3 lunar programs and improvement of the 7K-OK after the Soyuz 1 disaster. Nevertheless by 1968 the cosmonaut group in training for the OIS included Aleksei Gubarev, Yuri Glazkov, Vyacheslav Zudov, Eduard Stepanov, Gennadiy Sarafanov, Aleksandr Kramarenko, Leonid Kizim, Aleksandr Petrushenko, and Mikhail Lisun.

At the time of the cancellation of Kovlov's 7K-VI project Mishin promised that the first OIS would be launched in 1969. This was based solely on convincing the military that he could beat Kozlov's 1970 date. Yet by May 1969 Kamanin's diary indicates there was no chance of launching an Almaz or Soyuz VI until 1972. At best no more than seven solo military flights of the Soyuz 7K-S could be expected before 1972.

In December 1969 it was decided that Chelomei would hand over unfinished spaceframes of Almaz stations to Mishin for completion as Salyut DOS-7K space stations. The OIS was cancelled in February 1970 in recognition that it would be available no earlier than the more-capable Salyut or Almaz stations. The Soyuz-VI cosmonaut group was incorporated into the Almaz training group.

The Soyuz 7K-S, however continued in two parallel designs - the base variant, which was for special-purpose military solo missions; and a space station transport variant 7K-ST. The revised designs for the 7K-S were completed on 11 August 1972. The initial Soyuz 7K-S program was to consist of four unmanned, followed by two manned test flights, then two operational launches. Cosmonauts (among them Lyakhov and Voronov ) were assigned to the project in 1973. A State Commission was formed on 21 June 1974 to oversee the flight tests. Meanwhile the draft design for 7K-ST space station transport version was completed in August 1974.

Immediately thereafter, following the fourth N1 launch failure, a major reorganization of Soviet space enterprises was undertaken. Mishin was fired as head of the former OKB-1. After Kozlov turned down the job, Glushko was made head of a newly formed NPO Energia, combining OKB-1 and Glushko's Energomash engine OKB. The 7K-S was cancelled; experiments planned for the solo flights were transferred to the Salyut program. The launch escape system for 7K-S had completed development in 1968 - 1972 and was first used for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flights.

At the time the Soyuz 7K-S was cancelled, the first test vehicle was already at Baikonur being prepared for launch. The first three were launched unmanned as technology tests - Cosmos 670 (7K-S No.1), Cosmos 772 (7K-S No.2), and Cosmos 869 (7K-S No.3). These were the first Soviet manned spacecraft designs to fly with a digital computer.

The Soyuz 7K-ST transport project continued, except now being redesigned for a crew of three. The 7K-ST would eventually fly as the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry to the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations.

Crew Size: 2. Habitable Volume: 9.00 m3.


More at: Soyuz 7K-S.

Family: Manned spacecraft, Space station orbit. Country: Russia. Spacecraft: Soyuz OB-VI, Salyut 6. Launch Vehicles: R-7, Soyuz-U. Propellants: N2O4/UDMH. Projects: Salyut. Launch Sites: Baikonur, Baikonur LC1. Agency: Korolev bureau, MOM. Bibliography: 102, 121, 2, 21, 367, 376, 6, 76, 6900, 13129.
Photo Gallery

Kosmos 186/188Kosmos 186/188
Kosmos 186/188 docking. Soyuz-R and OIS would have had a similar appearance.
Credit: © Mark Wade


Soyuz-T TestsSoyuz-T Tests
Credit: Manufacturer Image



1966 March 12 - .
1967 March - .
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1968 June 21 - .
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1970 January 19 - .
1970 February 1 - . LV Family: Proton. Launch Vehicle: Proton-K.
1970 July 16 - .
1971 August 2 - . LV Family: N1.
1971 September 21 - . LV Family: N1.
1971 October 10 - . LV Family: N1.
1972 January 1 - .
1972 June 16 - .
1972 August 2 - . LV Family: N1.
1972 August 11 - .
1973 October 5 - . LV Family: N1, Proton, R-7.
1974 January 2 - . LV Family: N1, R-7, N11, Molniya 8K78L.
1974 June 21 - .
1974 July - .
1974 August 6 - . 00:02 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U.
1975 September 29 - . 04:15 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U.
1976 November 29 - . 16:00 GMT - . Launch Site: Baikonur. Launch Complex: Baikonur LC1. LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz-U.

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