Editing Soviet Union (section)

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Gdp per capita 1965.png|thumb|upright=1.15|The Soviet Union in comparison to other countries by GDP (nominal) per capita in 1965 based on a West-German school book (1971)
{|width=100%
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{{legend|#400082|&gt; 5,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#00BFFF|2,500–5,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#3CB371|1,000–2,500 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
|valign=top |
{{legend|#9ACD32|500–1,000 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#FFFF00|250–500 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
{{legend|#FFFACD|&lt; 250 [[Deutsche Mark|DM]]}}
|}]]
The Soviet Union adopted a [[command economy]], whereby production and distribution of goods were centralized and directed by the government. For the overwhelming majority of its existence, the USSR did not use GDP or GNP to measure its economy, instead relying on the [[Material Product System]]. The first Bolshevik experience with a command economy was the policy of [[war communism]], which involved the nationalization of industry, centralized distribution of output, coercive or forced requisition of agricultural production, and attempts to eliminate money circulation, private enterprises and [[free trade]]. The [[barrier troops]] were also used to enforce Bolshevik control over food supplies in areas controlled by the Red Army, a role which soon earned them the hatred of the Russian civilian population.<ref>Lih, Lars T., ''Bread and Authority in Russia, 1914–1921'', University of California Press (1990), p. 131</ref> After the severe economic collapse, Lenin replaced war [[communism]] by the [[New Economic Policy]] (NEP) in 1921, legalizing free trade and private ownership of small businesses. The economy steadily recovered as a result.<ref name="Gregory-2004">{{cite book |last=Gregory |first=Paul R. |title=The Political Economy of Stalinism: Evidence from the Soviet Secret Archives |pages=218–220 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFHU5kaXhu8C |isbn=978-0-521-53367-6 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512042222/http://books.google.com/books?id=hFHU5kaXhu8C&dq |archive-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After a long debate among the members of the Politburo about the course of economic development, by 1928–1929, upon gaining control of the country, Stalin abandoned the NEP and pushed for full central planning, starting [[Collectivization in the Soviet Union|forced collectivization of agriculture]] and enacting draconian labour legislation. Resources were mobilized for [[History of the Soviet Union (1927–53)#Industrialization in practice|rapid industrialization]], which significantly expanded Soviet capacity in heavy industry and capital goods during the 1930s.<ref name="Gregory-2004" /> The primary motivation for industrialization was preparation for war, mostly due to distrust of the outside capitalist world.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mawdsley |first=Evan |page=30 |title=The Stalin Years: The Soviet Union, 1929–1953 |publisher=[[Manchester University Press]] |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-7190-4600-1 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> As a result, the USSR was transformed from a largely agrarian economy into a great industrial power, leading the way for its emergence as a superpower after [[World War II]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wheatcroft |first1=S. G. |author1-link=Stephen G. Wheatcroft |last2=Davies |first2=R. W. |author2-link=R. W. Davies |last3=Cooper |first3=J. M. |pages=30–32 |title=Soviet Industrialization Reconsidered: Some Preliminary Conclusions about Economic Development between 1926 and 1941 |publisher=[[Economic History Review]] |year=1986 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |isbn=978-0-7190-4600-1 |volume=39 |issue=2 |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=21 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321215327/https://books.google.com/books?id=m-voAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> The war caused extensive devastation of the Soviet economy and infrastructure, which required massive reconstruction.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reconstruction and Cold War |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |url=http://countrystudies.us/russia/12.htm |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927170555/http://countrystudies.us/russia/12.htm |archive-date=27 September 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:DneproGES 1947.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Dnieper Hydroelectric Station|DneproGES]], one of many [[hydroelectric]] power stations in the Soviet Union]]
By the early 1940s, the Soviet economy had become relatively [[Autarky|self-sufficient]]; for most of the period until the creation of [[Comecon]], only a tiny share of domestic products was traded internationally.<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies-2">{{cite web |title=Reconstruction and Cold War |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0391%29 |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309155830/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0391%29 |archive-date=9 March 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> After the creation of the Eastern Bloc, external trade rose rapidly. However, the influence of the [[world economy]] on the USSR was limited by fixed domestic prices and a state monopoly on [[Foreign trade of the Soviet Union|foreign trade]].<ref>{{cite book |author1=IMF |author2=OECD |name-list-style=amp |title=A Study of the Soviet Economy |volume=1 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AQFk8R18f0C |page=9 |isbn=978-0-14-103797-4}}</ref> Grain and sophisticated consumer manufactures became major import articles from around the 1960s.<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies-2" /> During the [[arms race]] of the Cold War, the Soviet economy was burdened by military expenditures, heavily lobbied for by a powerful bureaucracy dependent on the arms industry. At the same time, the USSR became the largest arms exporter to the [[Third World]]. A portion of Soviet resources during the Cold War were [[International relations within the Comecon|allocated in aid]] to the Soviet-aligned states.<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies-2" /> The Soviet Union's [[military budget]] in the 1970s was gigantic, forming 40–60% of the entire federal budget and accounting to 15% of the USSR's GDP (13% in the 1980s).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://su90.ru/defence.html |script-title=ru:Расходы на оборону и численность вооруженных сил СССР |title=Raskhody na oboronu i chislennost' vooruzhennykh sil SSSR |language=ru |trans-title=Defense spending and size of the Armed Forces of the USSR}}</ref>

[[File:Armenian cotton.jpg|thumb|Picking cotton in [[Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic|Armenia]] in the 1930s]]
From the 1930s until its dissolution in late 1991, the way the Soviet economy operated remained essentially unchanged. The economy was formally directed by [[economic planning|central planning]], carried out by [[Gosplan]] and organized in [[Five-year plans for the national economy of the Soviet Union|five-year plans]]. However, in practice, the plans were highly aggregated and provisional, subject to ''ad hoc'' intervention by superiors. All critical economic decisions were taken by the political leadership. Allocated resources and plan targets were usually denominated in [[Soviet ruble|rubles]] rather than in physical goods. [[Credit]] was discouraged, but widespread. The final allocation of output was achieved through relatively decentralized, unplanned contracting. Although in theory prices were legally set from above, in practice they were often negotiated, and informal horizontal links (e.g. between producer factories) were widespread.<ref name="Gregory-2004" />

A number of basic [[Service (economics)|services]] were state-funded, such as [[education in the Soviet Union|education]] and health care. In the manufacturing sector, heavy industry and defence were prioritized over [[Consumer goods in the Soviet Union|consumer goods]].<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies" /> Consumer goods, particularly outside large cities, were often scarce, of poor quality and limited variety. Under the command economy, consumers had almost no influence on production, and the changing demands of a population with growing incomes could not be satisfied by supplies at rigidly fixed prices.<ref name="Hanson">Hanson, Philip. ''The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Economy: An Economic History of the USSR from 1945''. London: Longman, 2003.</ref> A massive unplanned second economy grew up at low levels alongside the planned one, providing some of the goods and services that the planners could not. The legalization of some elements of the decentralized economy was attempted with the [[1965 Soviet economic reform|reform of 1965]].<ref name="Gregory-2004" />

[[File:RIAN archive 633872 Workers of Soligorsk potash plant.jpg|thumb|Workers of the [[Salihorsk]] potash plant, [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic|Belarus]], 1968]]
Although statistics of the Soviet economy are notoriously unreliable and its economic growth difficult to estimate precisely,<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1057/ces.1997.1 |author=Bergson, Abram |year=1997 |title=How Big was the Soviet GDP? |journal=Comparative Economic Studies |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=1–14 |s2cid=155781882}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1080/09668139308412080 |author=Harrison, Mark |year=1993 |title=Soviet Economic Growth Since 1928: The Alternative Statistics of G. I. Khanin |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=141–167}}</ref> by most accounts, the economy continued to expand until the mid-1980s. During the 1950s and 1960s, it had comparatively high growth and was catching up to the West.<ref>{{cite book |author=Gvosdev, Nikolas |title=The Strange Death of Soviet communism: A Postscript |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |year=2008 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_xTyZUEqkYC |isbn=978-1-4128-0698-5 |author-link=Nikolas Gvosdev |access-date=25 May 2020 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819204015/https://books.google.com/books?id=Q_xTyZUEqkYC |url-status=live}}</ref> However, after 1970, the growth, while still positive, [[Era of Stagnation|steadily declined]] much more quickly and consistently than in other countries, despite a rapid increase in the capital [[stock]] (the rate of capital increase was only surpassed by Japan).<ref name="Gregory-2004" />
[[File:RIAN archive 878967 AvtoVAZ- Volga automaking plant in Togliatti, the Samara Region.jpg|thumb|left|[[AvtoVAZ|Volzhsky Avtomobilny Zavod]] (VAZ) in 1969]]
Overall, the growth rate of per capita income in the Soviet Union between 1960 and 1989 was slightly above the world average (based on 102 countries).{{sfn|Fischer|Easterly|1994|p=4}} A 1986 study published in the ''[[American Journal of Public Health]]'' claimed that, citing [[World Bank]] data, the Soviet model provided a better [[quality of life]] and [[Human development (economics)|human development]] than market economies at the same level of economic development in most cases.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cereseto |first=Shirley |date=June 1986 |title=Economic Development, Political-Economic System, and the Physical Quality of Life |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=76 |issue=6 |pages=661–666 |pmc=1646771 |pmid=3706593 |doi=10.2105/ajph.76.6.661}}</ref> According to [[Stanley Fischer]] and [[William Easterly]], growth could have been faster. By their calculation, per capita income in 1989 should have been twice higher than it was, considering the amount of investment, education and population. The authors attribute this poor performance to the low productivity of capital.{{sfn|Fischer|Easterly|1994|p=5}} Steven Rosefielde states that the [[standard of living]] declined due to Stalin's despotism. While there was a brief improvement after his death, it lapsed into stagnation.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rosefielde |first=Steven |year=1996 |title=Stalinism in Post-Communist Perspective: New Evidence on Killings, Forced Labour and Economic Growth in the 1930s |pages=956–987 |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=48 |issue=6 |jstor=152635 |quote=The new evidence shows that administrative command planning and Stalin's forced industrialization strategies failed in the 1930s and beyond. The economic miracle chronicled in official hagiographies and until recently faithfully recounted in Western textbooks has no basis in fact. It is the statistical artefact not of index number relativity (the Gerschenkron effect) but of misapplying to the calculation of growth cost prices that do not accurately measure competitive value. The standard of living declined during the 1930s in response to Stalin's despotism, and after a brief improvement following his death, lapsed into stagnation. Glasnost and post-communist revelations interpreted as a whole thus provide no basis for Getty, Rittersporn & Zemskov's relatively favorable characterization of the methods, economic achievements and human costs of Stalinism. The evidence demonstrates that the suppression of markets and the oppression of vast segments of the population were economically counterproductive and humanly calamitous, just as anyone conversant with classical economic theory should have expected. |doi=10.1080/09668139608412393}}</ref>

In 1987, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] attempted to reform and revitalize the economy with his program of ''[[perestroika]]''. His policies relaxed state control over enterprises but did not replace it by market incentives, resulting in a sharp decline in output. The economy, already suffering from [[1980s oil glut|reduced petroleum export revenues]], started to collapse. Prices were still fixed, and the property was still largely state-owned until after the country's dissolution.<ref name="Gregory-2004" /><ref name="Hanson" /> For most of the period after World War II until its collapse, Soviet GDP ([[Purchasing power parity|PPP]]) was [[List of regions by past GDP (PPP)|the second-largest in the world]], and third during the second half of the 1980s,<ref>{{cite web |author=Central Intelligence Agency |title=GDP – Million 1990 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1991 |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html |access-date=12 June 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151109124727/http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1990/rankings/gdp_million_1.html |archive-date=9 November 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> although on a [[List of countries by GDP (nominal) per capita|per-capita]] basis, it was behind that of [[First World]] countries.<ref>{{cite web |author=Central Intelligence Agency |title=GDP Per Capita – 1991 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1992 |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1991/rankings/gdp_per_capita_0.html |access-date=12 June 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819051611/http://www.theodora.com/wfb/1991/rankings/gdp_per_capita_0.html |archive-date=19 August 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> Compared to countries with similar per-capita GDP in 1928, the Soviet Union experienced significant growth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Robert |author-link=Robert C. Allen |date=26 July 2009 |title=Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=6-10 |isbn=978-0691144313}}</ref>

In 1990, the country had a [[Human Development Index]] of 0.920, placing it in the 'high' category of human development. It was the third-highest in the Eastern Bloc, behind [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic|Czechoslovakia]] and [[East Germany]], and the 25th in the world of 130 countries.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990 |title=Human Development Report 1990 {{!}} Human Development Reports |website=hdr.undp.org |year=1990 |access-date=18 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019062220/http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1990 |archive-date=19 October 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Energy ===
{{Main|Energy policy of the Soviet Union}}
[[File:1987 CPA 5858.jpg|thumb|A Soviet stamp depicting the 30th anniversary of the [[International Atomic Energy Agency]], published in 1987, a year following the [[Chernobyl nuclear disaster]]]]
The need for fuel declined in the Soviet Union from the 1970s to the 1980s,{{sfn|Wilson|1983|pp=105–108}} both per ruble of gross social product and per ruble of industrial product. At the start, this decline grew very rapidly but gradually slowed down between 1970 and 1975. From 1975 and 1980, it grew even slower,{{Clarify|date=March 2011<!--it grew or the decline grew? !-->}} only 2.6%.{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=295}} David Wilson, a historian, believed that the gas industry would account for 40% of Soviet fuel production by the end of the century. His theory did not come to fruition because of the USSR's collapse.{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=297}} The USSR, in theory, would have continued to have an economic growth rate of 2–2.5% during the 1990s because of Soviet energy fields.{{Clarify|date=March 2011}}{{sfn|Wilson|1983|pp=297–299}} However, the energy sector faced many difficulties, among them the country's high military expenditure and hostile relations with the [[First World]].{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=299}}

In 1991, the Soviet Union had a [[pipeline]] network of {{convert|82000|km|mi}} for [[crude oil]] and another {{convert|206500|km|mi}} for natural gas.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency-1991" /> Petroleum and petroleum-based products, natural gas, metals, wood, agricultural products, and a variety of manufactured goods, primarily machinery, arms and military equipment, were exported.<ref>{{cite web |title=Soviet Union – Economy |author=Central Intelligence Agency |year=1992 |website=[[The World Factbook]] |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html |access-date=23 October 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005005804/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_economy.html |archive-date=5 October 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s, the USSR heavily relied on fossil fuel exports to earn [[hard currency]].<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies-2" /> At its peak in 1988, it was the largest producer and second-largest exporter of crude oil, surpassed only by [[Saudi Arabia]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hardt |first1=John Pearce |title=Russia's Uncertain Economic Future: With a Comprehensive Subject Index |page=233 |publisher=[[M.E. Sharpe]] |year=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IvKF3PKGYAcC |isbn=978-0-7656-1208-3 |access-date=20 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150512044209/http://books.google.com/books?id=IvKF3PKGYAcC&dq |archive-date=12 May 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Science and technology ===
{{Main|Science and technology in the Soviet Union}}
{{See also|Cybernetics in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Sputnik-stamp-ussr.jpg|thumb|upright|Soviet stamp showing the orbit of [[Sputnik 1]]]]
The Soviet Union placed great emphasis on [[Science and technology in the Soviet Union|science and technology]].<!--delete this sentence if you can park the citations elsewhere---><ref>{{cite web |title=Science and Technology |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0413%29 |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0413%29 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=15 June 1992 |title=The Soviet Union and the United States – Revelations from the Russian Archives {{!}} Exhibitions – Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170915012329/http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/sovi.html |archive-date=15 September 2017 |access-date=12 November 2017 |website=www.loc.gov}}</ref> Lenin believed the USSR would never overtake the developed world if it remained as technologically backward as it was upon its founding. Soviet authorities proved their commitment to Lenin's belief by developing massive networks and research and development organizations. In the early 1960s, 40% of chemistry PhDs in the Soviet Union were attained by women, compared with only 5% in the United States.<ref>[[Rose Eveleth]] (12 December 2013). [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist Soviet Russia Had a Better Record of Training Women in STEM Than America Does Today] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006112126/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/soviet-russia-had-a-better-record-of-training-women-in-stem-than-america-does-today-180948141/?no-ist |date=6 October 2014 }}. ''[[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian.com]].'' Retrieved 26 June 2014.</ref> By 1989, Soviet scientists were among the world's best-trained specialists in several areas, such as energy physics, selected areas of medicine, mathematics, welding, space technology, and military technologies. However, due to rigid state planning and [[Nomenklatura|bureaucracy]], the Soviets remained far behind the [[First World]] in chemistry, biology, and computer science. Under Stalin, the Soviet government persecuted [[geneticists]] in favour of [[Lysenkoism]], a [[pseudoscience]] rejected by the scientific community in the Soviet Union and abroad but supported by Stalin's inner circles.<!--after Stalin?---> Implemented in the USSR and China, it resulted in reduced crop yields and is widely believed to have contributed to the [[Great Chinese Famine]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Offord |first1=Catherine |title=Stamping Out Science, 1948 |journal=[[The Scientist (magazine)|The Scientist]] |url=https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |access-date=20 September 2021 |archive-date=28 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528184521/https://www.the-scientist.com/foundations/stamping-out-science-1948-68665 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1980s, the Soviet Union had more [[scientists]] and [[engineers]] relative to the world's population than any other major country, owing to strong levels of state support.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Chi Ling |title=Fallen Behind: Science, Technology and Soviet Statism |journal=Intersect: The Stanford Journal of Science, Technology, and Society |date=11 June 2015 |volume=8 |issue=3 |url=https://ojs.stanford.edu/ojs/index.php/intersect/article/view/691#:~:text=This%20essay%20argues%20that%20the,demands%20of%2021st%20century%20informationalization. |language=en}}</ref> Some of its most remarkable technological achievements, such as launching the [[Sputnik 1|world's first space satellite]], were achieved through military research.<ref name="Library of Congress Country Studies">{{cite web |title=Economy |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |url=http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field%28DOCID+su0009%29 |access-date=23 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904015129/http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd%2Fcstdy%3A%40field%28DOCID+su0009%29 |archive-date=4 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Under the [[Reagan administration]], [[Project Socrates]] determined that the Soviet Union addressed the acquisition of science and technology in a manner radically different to the United States. The US prioritized indigenous [[research and development]] in both the public and private sectors. In contrast, the USSR placed greater emphasis on acquiring foreign technology, which it did through both [[Industrial espionage|covert]] and overt means. However, centralized state planning kept Soviet technological development greatly inflexible. This was exploited by the US to undermine the strength of the Soviet Union and thus foster its reform.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Global Tech Strategies Brought to U.S |journal=Washington Technology |date=3 May 1990 |first=Margo |last=MacFarland}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=R. A. |last=Deckert |title=The science of uncovering industrial information |date=10 October 1990 |work=Business Journal of the Treasure Coast}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=U.S. Firms Must Trade Short-Term Gains for Long-Term Technology Planning |date=7 March 1991 |work=Inside the Pentagon}}</ref>

=== Space program ===
{{Main|Soviet space program|Nedelin catastrophe}}
[[File:RIAN archive 159271 Nikita Khrushchev, Valentina Tereshkova, Pavel Popovich and Yury Gagarin at Lenin Mausoleum.jpg|thumb|left|From left to right: [[Yuri Gagarin]], [[Pavel Popovich]], [[Valentina Tereshkova]] and [[Nikita Khrushchev]] at the [[Lenin's Mausoleum]] in 1963]]
[[File:Soyuz rocket ASTP.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz]] rocket at the [[Baikonur Cosmodrome]]]]
At the end of the 1950s, the USSR constructed the first [[satellite]]—[[Sputnik 1]], which marked the beginning of the [[Space Race]]—a competition to achieve superior spaceflight capability with the United States.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 November 2021 |title=Sputnik |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/astronomy-and-space-exploration/space-exploration/sputnik |url-status=live |website=Encyclopedia |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121715/https://www.encyclopedia.com/science-and-technology/astronomy-and-space-exploration/space-exploration/sputnik}}</ref> This was followed by other successful satellites, most notably [[Sputnik 5]], where test dogs were sent to space. On 12 April 1961, the USSR launched [[Vostok 1]], which carried [[Yuri Gagarin]], making him the first human to ever be launched into space and complete a space journey.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 November 2021 |title=Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first man in space |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space |url-status=live |website=History.com |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=23 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123163507/https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-man-in-space}}</ref> The first plans for [[spaceplane|space shuttle]]s and orbital stations were drawn up in Soviet design offices, but personal disputes between designers and management prevented their development.

In terms of the [[Luna program]], the USSR only had automated spacecraft launches with no crewed spacecraft, passing on the 'Moon' part of [[Space Race]], which was [[Apollo 11|won by the Americans]]. The Soviet public's reaction to the American moon-landing was mixed. The Soviet government limited the release of information about it, which affected the reaction. A portion of the populace did not give it attention, and another portion was angered.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/ |title=The Moon Landing through Soviet Eyes: A Q&A with Sergei Khrushchev, son of former premier Nikita Khrushchev |magazine=Scientific American |date=16 July 2009 |access-date=7 January 2019 |last1=Das |first1=Saswato R. |archive-date=25 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225085952/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=27 November 2021 |title=The Soviet Manned Lunar Program |url=https://spp.fas.org/eprint/lindroos_moon1.htm |url-status=live |website=e-Prints |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=23 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211223163134/https://spp.fas.org/eprint/lindroos_moon1.htm}}</ref>

In the 1970s, specific proposals for the design of a space shuttle emerged, but shortcomings, especially in the electronics industry (rapid overheating of electronics), postponed it till the end of the 1980s. The first shuttle, the [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]], flew in 1988, but without a human crew. Another, ''[[Ptichka]]'', endured prolonged construction and was canceled in 1991. For their launch into space, there is today an unused superpower rocket, [[Energia (rocket)|Energia]], which is the most powerful in the world.<ref>{{cite web |date=27 November 2021 |title=Energia, Soviet Launch Vehicle |url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/Energia-Soviet-launch-vehicle |url-status=live |website=Britannica |access-date=27 November 2021 |archive-date=27 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211127121714/https://www.britannica.com/technology/Energia-Soviet-launch-vehicle}}</ref>

In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union built the ''[[Mir]]'' orbital station. It was built on the construction of [[Salyut programme|''Salyut'' stations]] and its only role was civilian-grade research tasks.<ref name="Harland-2020" /><ref>{{cite wikisource |title=NASA FACTS/Russian Space Stations |publisher=NASA |date=January 1997 |id=IS-1997-06-004JSC}}</ref> Mir was the only orbital station in operation from 1986 to 1998. Gradually, other modules were added to it, including American modules. However, the station deteriorated rapidly after a fire on board, so in 2001 it was decided to bring it into the atmosphere where it burned down.<ref name="Harland-2020">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Mir |last=Harland |first=David M. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica |date=28 January 2020 |access-date=22 January 2021 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mir-Soviet-Russian-space-station |archive-date=1 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201090705/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mir-Soviet-Russian-space-station |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Transport ===
{{Main|Transport in the Soviet Union}}
[[File:Flag of the Aeroflot.svg|thumb|[[Aeroflot]]'s flag during the Soviet era]]
[[File:RUS-2016-Murmansk-Icebreaker Lenin 01.jpg|thumb|Nuclear Icebreaker ''[[Lenin (1957 icebreaker)|Lenin]]'']]
Transport was a vital component of the country's economy. The [[First five-year plan (Soviet Union)|economic centralization]] of the late 1920s and 1930s led to the development of infrastructure on a massive scale, most notably the establishment of [[Aeroflot]], an aviation enterprise.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Highman, Robert D.S. |author2=Greenwood, John T. |author3=Hardesty, Von |title=Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cpynoFM-Jf4C |isbn=978-0-7146-4784-5 |page=134 |access-date=14 September 2017 |archive-date=16 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201116193139/https://books.google.com/books?id=cpynoFM-Jf4C |url-status=live}}</ref> The country had a wide variety of modes of transport by land, water and air.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency-1991" /> However, due to inadequate maintenance, much of the road, water and Soviet civil aviation transport were outdated and technologically backward compared to the First World.{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=205}}

Soviet rail transport was the largest and most intensively used in the world;{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=205}} it was also better developed than most of its Western counterparts.{{sfn|Wilson|1983|p=201}} By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Soviet economists were calling for the construction of more roads to alleviate some of the burdens from the railways and to improve the Soviet [[government budget]].{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|pp=166–167}} The [[street network]] and [[Automotive industry in the Soviet Union|automotive industry]]{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|p=168}} remained underdeveloped,{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|p=165}} and [[dirt road]]s were common outside major cities.{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|p=167}} Soviet maintenance projects proved unable to take care of even the few roads the country had. By the early-to-mid-1980s, the Soviet authorities tried to solve the road problem by ordering the construction of new ones.{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|p=167}} Meanwhile, the automobile industry was growing at a faster rate than road construction.{{sfn|Ambler|Shaw|Symons|1985|p=169}} The underdeveloped road network led to a growing demand for public transport.<ref>{{cite book |author1=IMF |author2=OECD |name-list-style=amp |title=A Study of the Soviet Economy |volume=3 |publisher=[[International Monetary Fund]] and [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]] |year=1991 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AQFk8R18f0C |page=56 |isbn=978-92-64-13468-3}}</ref>

Despite improvements, several aspects of the transport sector were still{{when|date=February 2016}} riddled with problems due to outdated infrastructure, lack of investment, corruption and bad decision-making. Soviet authorities were unable to meet the growing demand for transport infrastructure and services.<ref>{{citation |title=ДОРОГИ И ДВИЖЕНИЕ В СССР И ЦАРСКОЙ РОССИИ: ЧТО БЫ ПЕРЕНЯТЬ? |translator-last=Roads and transportation in the USSR and Tsarist Russia |date=1 August 2016}}</ref>

The Soviet [[merchant navy]] was one of the largest in the world.<ref name="Central Intelligence Agency-1991">{{cite web |url=http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_communications.html |title=Soviet Union – Communications |author=Central Intelligence Agency |website=[[The World Factbook]] |year=1991 |access-date=20 October 2010 |author-link=Central Intelligence Agency |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101005005759/http://www.theodora.com/wfb1991/soviet_union/soviet_union_communications.html |archive-date=5 October 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>