Editing Space Race (section)

=== Soviet rocket development ===
{{Further|Soviet rocketry|Soviet space program}}

[[File:Roket Launcher R-7.svg|thumb|The Soviet stable of Sputnik, Vostok, Voskhod, and Soyuz [[launch vehicle]]s were all derivatives of the [[R-7 (rocket family)|R-7 Semyorka]] [[intercontinental ballistic missile|ICBM]].]]

The first Soviet development of artillery rockets was in 1921 when the Soviet military sanctioned the [[Gas Dynamics Laboratory]], a small research laboratory to explore solid-fuel rockets, led by [[Nikolai Tikhomirov (chemical engineer)|Nikolai Tikhomirov]], who had begun studying solid and liquid-fueled rockets in 1894, and obtained a patent in 1915 for "self-propelled aerial and water-surface mines.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=6}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=164-5 Vol 1}} The first test-firing of a solid fuel rocket was carried out in 1928.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=165 Vol 1}}

Further development was carried out in the 1930s by the [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]] (GIRD), where Soviet rocket pioneers [[Sergey Korolev]], [[Friedrich Zander]], [[Mikhail Tikhonravov]] and [[Leonid Dushkin]]{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=4-5}} launched [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion#GIRD-X rocket|GIRD-X]], the first Soviet liquid-fueled rocket in 1933.<ref>{{cite web |title=GIRD (Gruppa Isutcheniya Reaktivnovo Dvisheniya) |url=http://weebau.com/rock_rus/gird.htm |website=WEEBAU |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref> In 1933 the two [[OKB|design bureaus]] were combined into the [[Reactive Scientific Research Institute]]<ref name="RSW_GDL">{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=Gas Dynamics Laboratory |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/gdl.html |access-date=9 June 2022}}</ref> and produced the RP-318, the USSR's first [[Korolyov RP-318|rocket-powered aircraft]] and the [[RS-82 (rocket family)|RS-82 and RS-132 missiles]],{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167 vol 1}} which became the basis for the [[Katyusha rocket launcher|Katyusha]] [[multiple rocket launcher]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Greatest World War II Weapons: The Fearsome Katyusha Rocket Launcher |url=https://defencyclopedia.com/2016/02/20/greatest-world-war-ii-weapons-the-fearsome-katyusha-rocket-launcher/ |website=Defencyclopidea |date=February 20, 2016 |access-date=20 May 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=9}} During the 1930s Soviet rocket technology was comparable to Germany's,{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=167-8 Vol 1}} but [[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] from 1936 to 1938 severely damaged its progress.

In 1945 the Soviets captured several key [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] A-4 ([[V-2]]) rocket production facilities, and also gained the services of some [[German influence on the Soviet space program|German scientists and engineers]] related to the project. A-4s were assembled and studied and the experience derived from assembling and launching A4 rockets was directly applied to the Soviet copy, called the [[R-1 (missile)|R-1]],{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=24-39}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=41 Vol 2}} with NII-88 chief designer [[Sergei Korolev]] overseeing the R-1's development.,{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=49}} The R-1 entered into service in the [[Soviet Army]] on 28 November 1950.<ref name="Zaloga20132">{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gS8VDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA41|title=V-2 Ballistic Missile 1942–52|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0299-6|page=41}}</ref><ref name="Zaloga2013">{{cite book|last=Zaloga|first=Steven J.|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8X-HCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT6|title=Scud Ballistic Missile and Launch Systems 1955–2005|date=20 March 2013|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-0306-1|pages=6–15|chapter=R-11: the Scud A}}</ref> By the latter half of 1946, Korolev and rocket engineer [[Valentin Glushko]] had, with extensive input from German engineers, outlined a successor to the R-1, the [[R-2 (missile)|R-2]] with an extended frame and a new engine designed by Glushko,{{Sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=42}} which entered service in November, 1951, with a range of {{convert|600|km}}, twice that of the R-1.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=48-49 Vol 2}} This was followed in 1951 with the development of the [[R-5 Pobeda]], the Soviet Union's first real strategic missile, with a range of {{cvt|1200|km}} and capable of carrying a 1 megaton (mt) [[Thermonuclear weapon|thermonuclear]] warhead. The R-5 entered service in 1955.{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=242-285 Vol 2}} Scientific versions of the R-1, R-2 and R-5 undertook various experiments between 1949 and 1958, including flights with [[Russian space dogs|space dogs]].<ref name=rsp>{{cite book|title=Russian Space Probes: Scientific Discoveries and Future Missions|author1=Brian Harvey|author2=Olga Zakutnyaya|date=2011|publisher=Springer Praxis Books|location=Chichester, UK|oclc=1316077842}}</ref>{{rp|21–23}}

Design work began in 1953 on the [[R-7 Semyorka]] with the requirement for a missile with a launch mass of 170 to 200 tons, range of 8,500&nbsp;km and carrying a {{convert|3000|kg|abbr=on}} nuclear warhead, powerful enough to launch a nuclear warhead against the United States. In late 1953 the warhead's mass was increased to 5.5 to 6 tons to accommodate the then planned [[Thermonuclear weapon|theromonuclear bomb]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=128-132}}<ref name="NASM" /> The R-7 was designed in a two-stage configuration, with four boosters that would jettison when empty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=R-7 History |url=https://www.worldspaceflight.com/addendum/r7/r7_history.php |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=www.worldspaceflight.com}}</ref> On the 21 August 1957 the R-7 flew {{convert|6000|km|abbr=on}}, and became the worlds's first intercontinental ballistic missile.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=160-161}}<ref name="NASM">{{cite web |title=The Military Rockets that Launched the Space Age |url=https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/military-rockets-launched-space-age |website=National Air and Space Museum |date=August 9, 2023 |access-date=24 December 2023}}</ref> Two months later the R-7 launched [[Sputnik 1]], the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the [[R-7 (rocket family)|R-7 family]] which includes [[Sputnik (rocket)|Sputnik]], [[Luna (rocket)|Luna]], [[Molniya (rocket)|Molniya]], [[Vostok (rocket family)|Vostok]], and [[Voskhod (rocket)|Voskhod]] [[Expendable launch system|space launchers]], as well as later [[Soyuz (rocket family)|Soyuz]] variants. Several versions are still in use and it has become the world's most reliable space launcher.<ref name="HSC">{{cite web |title=Russian Rockets and Space Launchers |url=https://historicspacecraft.com/Rockets_Russian.html |website=Historic Spacecraft |access-date=26 December 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=The R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile |url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/r7.html |website=Russian Space Web |access-date=29 December 2023}}</ref>