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Soyuz 2.1a (R7) - Soyuz MS Spacecraft

Please do not re-post this item without my permission.

Today I present to you the oldest orbital rocket that still flies to this day!


The Soyuz Rocket (or R7 as it was originally called) is a launch system that was first used on 15th May 1957 and was the rocket that launched the first satellite into orbit (Sputnik 1). The R7 Rocket would later go on to launch the Vostok spacecraft into orbit which carried Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space (glorious Sovit Engineering!).

After the Vokshod spacecraft program came to an end the first version of the Soyuz Spacecraft (7K-OK) was developed and was first launched on November 28th 1966. The Soyuz spacecraft can carry 3 astronauts (or cosmonauts) made from three components, the Orbit Module (which burns up after being detach prior to reentry) the Decent Module (the centre bit that allowed the cosmonauts to enter the atmosphere) and the Service Module (the propulsion stage).

Sadly the first flight with a human onboard tragically ended in disaster, killing Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov when the crew capsules parachute failed to open. The original Soyuz spacecraft did not have a crew hatch on the front of the orbit module which meant that once the 7K-OK docked one of the cosmonauts had to do a space walk to enter the other Soyuz / Space station. It was only the second generation called the 7K-OKS that allowed the cosmonauts to transfer within the craft.

The Soyuz Rocket and Soyuz Spacecraft would continue to fly throughout the rest of the 20th century even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soyuz Spacecraft would also visit many space stations including the Salyut Series, The Mir Space Station and the International Space Station which it still flies to this very day. In Fact the Soyuz became critical to delivering crew to the ISS after the US Space Shuttle was retired in 2011 as it was the only crewed spacecraft flying (except of course China’s Crewed Shenzhou Spacecraft which was not allowed to visit the ISS. The Shenzhou is partially based off of the Soyuz TM after the technology was sold by the Soviet Union to China in the 1980s, hence why the Soyuz and the Shenzhou look so similar).

On October the 11th 2018 Soyuz MS-10 had to abort after a side booster failed to detach properly. Thankfully the crew were unharmed by this occurrence and soon the Soyuz Rocket continued to fly on its normal schedule.

The reliance on the Soyuz is coming to an end as American companies like SpaceX and Boeing have developed new spacecraft to replace the Shuttle. The Soyuz Spacecraft will probably continue to fly into the next decade until Russia finally develops its replacement Orel crewed spacecraft.

As for the Soyuz R7 rocket it will also continue to fly for many more years to come.


1- To enter the Soyuz Rocket and Spacecraft press the button on the abort fairing (The Abort System does not function)
2 - Enter the right seat which is the primary control seat. Press the > key to close the abort fairing (and of course press to < key to get back to the main controls) or just get in the left seat to close it.
3 - Once the fairing is closed and you are sitting in the right seat press 6 to activate the control block labeled LAUNCH START to begin launch. The rest of the launch is automatic and will take you into space.
4 - Once in orbit do whatever, you are in control. If you have subscribed to my Mir Space Station you can dock to it by pressing 5 to dock and 4 to undock.
5 - Once you are finished in separate the Soyuz Orbit Module by pressing 8 and to separate service module press 9.


For more rocket replicas like the SpaceX Falcon 9 or Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo check out Star Core’s Rocket Replicas.

Mir Space Station - https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2157912715