Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Chronology 31 events 1960 October 24
15:45 GMT - .
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16 .
FAILURE : Exploded on pad, killing nearly 100 people..
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 0 km (0 mi). First attempted launch of R-16 ICBM results in explosion on pad, killing over 100 military, engineers, and technicians, including Strategic Rocket Forces Marshal Nedelin. The first R-16 prototype was fuelled and on the pad, awaiting launch. An electrical problem developed, leading to a hold. Marshal Nedelin, commander of the Strategic Rocket Forces, ordered the engineers and technicians to fix the problem without the long delay of defuelling and refurbishing the missile. He personally had a deck chair brought out to the pad so he could watch the work first-hand. At 18:45 local time a spurious radio signal ordered the second stage of the rocket to fire while workers swarmed around the missile in its gantry. The missile exploded, killing a good part of the Soviet Union's rocket engineering and management talent. Among the dead were Nedelin, Konoptev, Grishin, Nosov, Kontsevsky, and Lev Berlin. 74 people were killed immediately, and 48 died in the ensuing weeks from burns or contact with the toxic and corrosive propellants. The total included 38 civilian engineers and 84 officers and enlisted rocket technicians. Yangel, the rocket's designer, was spared only because he had slipped into a bunker for a cigarette when the explosion occurred.
1963 August 30
06:30 GMT - .
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
T - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 754 km (468 mi). 1963 September 4
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
T - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 September 10
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 September 26
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 October 1
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 October 23
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 November 22
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 December 12
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1963 December 20
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 February 6
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 September 10
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 December 18
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
K OT? operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1964 December 26
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 February 26
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
PBG - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 May 22
06:29 GMT - .
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch to Kamchatka - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 920 km (570 mi). 1965 September 18
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
PBG - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 September 25
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 November 4
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational test launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 December 25
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1965 December 26
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 May 21
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
FAILURE : Failure.
PBG - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 0 km (0 mi). 1966 June 4
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 June 8
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 August 25
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Military training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 4
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Combat training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 17
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Combat training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1966 November 24
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Combat training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 March 4
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
Launch Pad : LC41/3?.
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Operational missile test - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 May 24
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Combat training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi). 1967 December 22
Launch Site :
Baikonur .
Launch Complex :
Baikonur LC41/3 .
LV Family :
R-16 .
Launch Vehicle :
R-16U .
Combat training launch - .
Nation : Russia .
Agency : RVSN .
Apogee : 1,210 km (750 mi).