Editing Soyuz programme (section)

==Soyuz rocket==
[[File:Soyuz TMA-13 Edit.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Soyuz TMA-13]] lifting off from [[Gagarin's Start]] at Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2008]]
[[File:Soyuz rocket ASTP.jpg|thumb|upright|Soyuz rocket on launch pad]]{{Needs expansion|date=November 2024}}
The launch vehicles used in the Soyuz [[expendable launch system]] are manufactured at the [[Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center]] (TsSKB-Progress) in [[Samara, Russia]]. As well as being used in the Soyuz programme as the launcher for the crewed Soyuz spacecraft, Soyuz launch vehicles are now also used to launch robotic [[Progress spacecraft|Progress supply spacecraft]] to the [[International Space Station]] and commercial launches marketed and operated by TsSKB-Progress and the [[Starsem]] company. Currently Soyuz vehicles are launched from the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]] in Kazakhstan and the [[Plesetsk Cosmodrome]] in northwest Russia and, since 2011, Soyuz launch vehicles are also being launched from the [[Guiana Space Centre]] in French Guiana.<ref name=sitehw>{{cite web |url=http://www.arianespace.com/news-soyuz-vega/2008/2008-10-03-Vega-Soyuz.asp |title=Soyuz & Vega at the Spaceport |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415214124/http://www.arianespace.com/news-soyuz-vega/2008/2008-10-03-Vega-Soyuz.asp |archive-date=15 April 2009 }}</ref> The Spaceport's [[Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz|new Soyuz launch site]] has been handling Soyuz launches since 21 October 2011, the date of the first launch.<ref name="arianespace-2011-05-23">{{cite web|title=Galileo: Europe readies itself for October launch|url=http://www.arianespace.com/news-press-release/2011/5-23-2011-galileo-soyuz.asp|access-date=5 June 2011|archive-date=23 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175058/http://www.arianespace.com/news-press-release/2011/5-23-2011-galileo-soyuz.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> As of December 2019, 19 [[Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre|Guiana Soyuz launches]] had been made from [[Guiana Space Centre|French Guiana Space Centre]], all successful.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/CNES_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |title=CNES at Europe's Spaceport |work=European Space Agency |publisher=ESA |access-date=26 December 2019 |archive-date=7 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007135418/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/CNES_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/ESA_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |title=ESA at Europe's Spaceport |work=European Space Agency |publisher=ESA |access-date=26 December 2019 |archive-date=7 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007135422/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/ESA_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/Arianespace_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |title=Arianespace at Europe's Spaceport |work=European Space Agency |publisher=ESA |access-date=26 December 2019 |archive-date=6 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106041647/http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Launchers/Europe_s_Spaceport/Arianespace_at_Europe_s_Spaceport |url-status=live }}</ref> 

The [[Soyuz (rocket)|Soyuz rocket]] family is one of the most dependable and widely utilized launch vehicles in the history of space travel. It has been in operation for nearly six decades, having been developed by the [[Soviet Union]] and presently run by [[Russia]]. The Soyuz rockets have played an important role in both crewed and uncrewed space missions, launching people to the [[International Space Station]] (ISS) and delivering satellites and scientific payloads.<ref>{{Cite book |last=NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |url=https://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_20100014848 |title=NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) 20100014848: Estimating the Reliability of a Soyuz Spacecraft Mission |date=2010-01-01 |language=english}}</ref>