Soyuz Programme
The Soyuz programme — the longest-serving crewed spacecraft in history (since 1967): the workhorse ferry to Salyut, Mir and the ISS, and the only crewed link to the ISS from 2011 to 2020.
Key facts
Mission & specifications
Mission
- Operator
- OKB-1 / RKK Energia (USSR/Russia)
- Launched
- April 23, 1967
- Status
- Active
Trajectory
- Distance from the Sun
- 1.01 AU
- Distance from Earth
- 387,570 km
- Distance from Venus
- 0.646 AU
Mission
The Soyuz is the most enduring crewed spacecraft ever built. First flown in 1967, it has carried people to orbit for longer than any other vehicle in history, and it is still flying today. Born of the Soviet Moon programme, it survived the cancellation of that goal to become the workhorse of human spaceflight: the ferry that carried cosmonauts to the Salyut stations, to Mir across its fifteen years, and — still — to the International Space Station. The basic design has proven remarkably adaptable. The same three-part shape — a spherical orbital module, a bell-shaped descent module and a service module with solar wings — has been upgraded again and again, from the original Soyuz through the T, TM, TMA and modern MS variants, each adding better electronics and safety systems while keeping the rugged simplicity that makes it reliable. That reliability has made Soyuz indispensable far beyond Russia. After the loss of Columbia, and again after the Space Shuttle retired in 2011, the Soyuz became the only way for anyone — Russian, American, European or Japanese — to reach the International Space Station. For nine years, from 2011 until SpaceX's Crew Dragon flew in 2020, every astronaut who lived on the ISS rode there and home in a Soyuz, launched from the same Baikonur cosmodrome that had sent up Sputnik and Gagarin. Even with new commercial spacecraft now flying, Soyuz continues to carry crews to the station — a living link from the dawn of the Space Age to the present. Few machines have served so long, so steadily, or carried so many people safely to orbit and back.
- 1967The first Soyuz fliesLaunch
Soyuz 1 inaugurates the spacecraft that will outlast every rival.
- 1986Ferrying to MirMilestone
Soyuz becomes the lifeline to the Mir station across its 15-year life.
- 2011The only way upMilestone
With the Shuttle retired, Soyuz becomes the sole crewed access to the ISS for nine years.
- 2020Still flyingMilestone
Even after Crew Dragon restores US launches, Soyuz keeps carrying crews to the station.
Images
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