Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
Vostok-Zh
Part of Vostok
L1 Complex 1961
L1 Complex 1961
The earliest Sever project tackled such problems as manoeuvring in orbit, rendezvous and docking, use of manipulators to move station modules, and testing of lifting re-entry vehicles. Sever (left) was 50% larger than Soyuz, which replaced it by late 1961 in OKB-1 studies. The Vostok-Zh manoeuvrable Vostok spacecraft (right) would be used as a manned tug to assemble the stages in low earth orbit.
Russian manned spacecraft. Study 1961. The Vostok-Zh (or Vostok-7) maneuverable manned satellite was piloted by a single 'cosmonaut assemblyman'.

AKA: 3KZh;Vostok-2. Status: Study 1961. Gross mass: 4,700 kg (10,300 lb). Height: 4.50 m (14.70 ft).

The pilot would rendezvous and dock with components of a space station or translunar spacecraft as they reached orbit, then maneuver the component to a docking with the in-assembly spacecraft. Abandoned in favor of the Soyuz.

During the course of 1961 Korolev's OKB-1 worked on design of a reliable manned spacecraft to succeed Vostok. The Soyuz or Sever designs would utilize body lift to reduce G forces and allow the crew to make re-entries at hyperbolic speeds - when returning from the moon, or Mars. On 10 March 1962 Korolev approved the technical project "Complex docking of spacecraft in earth orbit - Soyuz". This draft report envisioned use of an manned orbital tug version of the Vostok capsule to assemble spacecraft in low earth orbit. In one concept a large spacecraft was assembled in earth orbit by a Vostok-Zh (or Vostok-7) maneuverable manned satellite, piloted by a 'cosmonaut assemblyman'. The pilot would rendezvous and dock with each component as it reached orbit, then maneuver the component to the in-assembly spacecraft. Following completion of assembly, the Vostok would retrofire and the assemblyman would return to earth.

The Vostok-Zh could be used on another mission to assemble a 15 metric ton orbital station with the mission of observing the earth. It would consist of three separately-launched blocks: a ZhO living section, BAA scientific apparatus block, and the Soyuz spacecraft itself.

By the end of 1962 the Vostok-Zh approach had been discarded in favor of automatic docking in orbit of the L1 spacecraft and a succession of tankers to fuel a single rocket block.

Crew Size: 1.



Family: Manned spacecraft, Soviet Space Stations. Country: Russia. Launch Vehicles: R-7, Soyuz 11A511. Agency: Korolev bureau. Bibliography: 191, 26, 376.

1961 During the Year - .
1961 March 11 - .
1962 During the Year - . LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511.
1962 January 18 - . LV Family: R-7. Launch Vehicle: Voskhod 11A57.
1962 March 10 - .

Back to top of page
Home - Search - Browse - Alphabetic Index: 0- 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9
A- B- C- D- E- F- G- H- I- J- K- L- M- N- O- P- Q- R- S- T- U- V- W- X- Y- Z
© 1997-2019 Mark Wade - Contact
© / Conditions for Use