Vostok programme
The
Vostok programme (Восток, translated as
"East") was a
Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth orbit for the first time. The programme developed the
Vostok spacecraft and adapted the
Vostok rocket from an existing
ICBM design.
A series of prototype Vostoks, including at least five with animals and some with a test dummy aboard were used to qualfy the spacecraft for human flight.
- Sputnik 4 (Korabl-Sputnik 1)
- Sputnik 5 (Korabl-Sputnik 2)
- Sputnik 6 (Korabl-Sputnik 3)
- Sputnik 9 (Korabl-Sputnik 4)
- Sputnik 10 (Korabl-Sputnik 5)
Vostok 1 was the first human spaceflight, and was followed by
Another seven Vostok flights were originally planned, going through to the April of
1966, but these were cancelled as the race to the moon intensified.
Vostok was followed by the Voskhod program.