Vostok-K

Vostok-K (8K72K)
	Vostok-K rocket
Function	Small-lift launch vehicle
Manufacturer	OKB-1
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Size
Height	30.84 m (101.2 ft)
Diameter	2.99 m (9 ft 10 in)
Mass	281,375 kg (620,326 lb)
Stages	3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	4,730 kg (10,430 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	R-7
Derivative work	Vostok-2
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Baikonur, Site 1/5
Total launches	13
Success(es)	11
Failure	2
First flight	22 December 1960
Last flight	10 July 1964
Carries passengers or cargo	Vostok
Boosters (First stage) – Block B, V, G & D
No. boosters	4
Powered by	1 × RD-107-8D74-1959
Maximum thrust	970.86 kN (218,260 lbf)
Total thrust	3,883.44 kN (873,030 lbf)
Burn time	118 seconds
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
Second stage (core) – Block A
Powered by	1 × RD-108-8D75-1959
Maximum thrust	912 kN (205,000 lbf)
Burn time	301 seconds
Propellant	LOX / RP-1
Third stage
Powered by	1 × RD-0109
Maximum thrust	54.5 kN (12,300 lbf)
Burn time	365 seconds
Propellant	LOX / RP-1

The Vostok-K (Russian: Восток meaning "East"), GRAU index 8K72K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were crewed.^[1] It incorporated several modifications to the core and strap-ons to man-rate them and the Blok E stage also had the improved RD-0109 engine to correct some deficiences in the RD-0105 used on earlier 8K78s.^[2] It was a member of the Vostok family of rockets.

The Vostok-K made its maiden flight on 22 December 1960, three weeks after the retirement of the Vostok-L. The third stage engine failed 425 seconds after launch, and the payload, a Korabl-Sputnik spacecraft, failed to reach orbit. The spacecraft was recovered after landing, and the two dogs aboard the spacecraft survived the flight.

On 12 April 1961, a Vostok-K rocket was used to launch Vostok 1, the first human spaceflight, making Yuri Gagarin the first human to fly in space. All six crewed missions of the Vostok programme were launched using Vostok-K rockets.^[1] The first two Zenit reconnaissance satellites were also launched with the Vostok-K, but it was soon replaced in that capacity with the uprated Vostok-2 booster. After the conclusion of the Vostok program, there were two remaining 8K72Ks left; these were used to launch four Elektron scientific satellites on 30 January and 10 July 1964. There had been plans for additional Vostok missions after Vostok 6; had these flown, they would have used a booster based on the newer 8K74 core.^[3]^[1]

Launches

Vostok-K was used for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, from Baikonur LC-1/5.^[1]

Vostok-K (8K72K) launches
Date	Serial No.	Payload	Result
22 December 1960	L1-13A	Korabl-Sputnik	Failure
9 March 1961	E103-14	Korabl-Sputnik 4	Success
25 March 1961	E103-15	Korabl-Sputnik 5	Success
12 April 1961	E103-16	Vostok 1	Success
6 August 1961	E103-17	Vostok 2	Success
11 December 1961	E103-21	Kosmos	Failure
26 April 1962	E103-20	Kosmos 4	Success
11 August 1962	E103-23	Vostok 3	Success
12 August 1962	E103-22	Vostok 4	Success
14 June 1963	E103-24	Vostok 5	Success
16 June 1963	E103-25	Vostok 6	Success
30 January 1964	G103-18	Elektron 1 / Elektron 2	Success
10 July 1964	G103-19	Elektron 3 / Elektron 4	Success

Notes

^ This is a transliteration of the second through fifth letters of the Cyrillic alphabet (Б, В, Г, Д). A sense-for-sense translation would correspond to the second through fifth letters of the Latin alphabet, 'Block B, C, D & E'.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Vostok-K (8K72K)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
^ Wade, Mark. "Soyuz". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
^ McDowell, Jonathan. "R-7". Orbital and Suborbital Launch Database. Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2009.

[1] This is a transliteration of the second through fifth letters of the Cyrillic alphabet (Б, В, Г, Д). A sense-for-sense translation would correspond to the second through fifth letters of the Latin alphabet, 'Block B, C, D & E'.

[:0-2] "Vostok-K (8K72K)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 22 October 2023.

[EA-3] Wade, Mark. "Soyuz". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 7 January 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2009.

[JSR-4] McDowell, Jonathan. "R-7". Orbital and Suborbital Launch Database. Jonathan's Space Page. Archived from the original on 22 June 2008. Retrieved 15 April 2009.

[a]

[1]

[2]

[3]

Soviet and Russian launch vehicles
Active	Angara 1.2 A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b UR Proton-M
In development	Amur Irtysh Yenisei
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG 2.1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon original 2 3 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F
Cancelled (no launch attempts)	Tsyklon-4 Proton Light Medium

Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Eris^† Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 6C 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C New Glenn Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB Spectrum^† SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2E 3
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Blue Whale 1 Ceres-2 Cyclone-4M Deca Eclipse Epsilon S Gravity-2 HANBIT-NANO Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kinetica 2 2H 3 KSLV-III Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 Neutron New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf RFA One SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIA H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 2-1v Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^† 2
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)