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| Soyuz VI / OIS Mishin's version of Soyuz VI with OIS light space station (conceptual drawing based on description). Credit: © Mark Wade. 15,036 bytes. 584 x 168 pixels. |
| astronautix.com | Soyuz 7K-S |
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| Soyuz VI / OIS Mishin's version of Soyuz VI with OIS light space station (conceptual drawing based on description). Credit: © Mark Wade. 15,036 bytes. 584 x 168 pixels. |
The Soyuz 7K-S had its genesis in military Soyuz designs of the 1960's. These were cancelled in February 1970. The Soyuz 7K-S, however continued in two parallel designs - the base variant, which was for special-purpose military solo missions; and a space station transport variant 7K-ST. The revised designs for the 7K-S were completed on 11 August 1972. The initial Soyuz 7K-S program was to consist of four unmanned, followed by two manned test flights, then two operational launches. The draft design for 7K-ST space station transport version was completed in August 1974.
Following the fourth N1 launch failure, a major reorganisation of Soviet space enterprises was undertaken. The 7K-S was cancelled; experiments planned for the solo flights were transferred to the Salyut program. However the first three test vehicles had been completed and were launched unmanned as technology tests. The Soyuz 7K-ST transport project continued, except now being redesigned for a crew of three. The 7K-ST, following extended development, would eventually fly as the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry to the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations.
In December 1962 Sergei Korolev released his draft project for a versatile manned spacecraft to follow his 3K Vostok. The 7K Soyuz-A was primarily designed for manned circumlunar flight. However in order to obtain military support for the project he proposed two additional modifications: the Soyuz-P (Perekhvatchik, Interceptor) space interceptor and the Soyuz-R (Razvedki, intelligence) command-reconnaissance spacecraft. The VVS and the Strategic Rocket Forces supported these variants of the Soyuz. But Korolev had no time to work on what were to him Soyuz �side-lines�. Therefore he decided that while OKB-1 Kaliningrad would concentrate on development of the Soyuz-A circumlunar spacecraft, the military projects would be �subcontracted� to OKB-1 Filial Number 3 in Samara, headed by Chief Designer Dmitri Ilyich Kozlov. Both spacecraft would ultimately be cancelled and replaced by projects of Korolev�s competitor, Chelomei. However Kozlov was entrusted with development of yet another military Soyuz, the 7K-VI �Zvezda�, in October 1965.
Initially Kozlov followed his instructions and the 7K-VI was not very different from the OKB-1 Soyuz 7K-OK. But in the beginning of 1967, in reaction to a huge number of failures on the first flights of the Soyuz, Kozlov decreed a complete revision of the design. The new version switched the positions of the Soyuz descent module and the orbital module. The descent module was now at the top of the spacecraft. Behind the seats a hatch went through the heat shield to the cylindrical orbital section. Nuclear radioisotope thermal generators (RTG�s) replaced the solar panels.
Design was completed, construction was underway, and cosmonauts in training for 50 planned flights between 1968 and 1975. By August 1967 Kozlov was predicting first flight of the VI in 1968, with the first all-up operational flight in 1970. But the Chief Designer of OKB-1, Vasiliy Pavlovich Mishin, strongly disagreed with the Zvezda design. The USSR Defence Ministry issued a requirement for an "Orbital Research Station" (OIS) in March 1967. Using this as the basis, on 13 October 1967 Mishin began his efforts to take over Kozlov�s VI program. His staff in Kaliningrad felt that Kozlov had insulted them by redesigning the VI to rectify the �defects� of their Soyuz 7K-OK design. They were also fundamentally opposed to the use of radio-isotope power sources, and raised interminable objections about the hatch cut into the heat shield.
In the place of Kozlov�s 7K-VI Mishin proposed an OIS consisting of a separately-launched orbital block and a transport Soyuz. This was the exact same concept as Kozlov�s cancelled Soyuz-R system, but using Kaliningrad spacecraft in the place of Samara spacecraft. In a November 1967 meeting with Kozlov, Mishin demanded the abandonment of Kozlov�s 7K-VI project. Kozlov rejected this and subsequently attempted to recruit Kamanin to his cause. It was all for nought; through various complex machinations Mishin seized control of the project on 8 December 1967. Mishin�s revised project was reaffirmed in May 1968.
Mishin�s 11F730 Soyuz VI consisted of on orbital block 11F731 OB-VI and a transport spacecraft 11F732 7K-S. The Soyuz would have a crew of two, a probe-drogue docking system and an internal transfer tunnel. It was proposed that two versions of the 7K-S could conduct autonomous flights for military projects. These versions were the 11F733 7K-S-I for short-term research and the 11F734 7K-S-II for longer flights. For resupply of the orbital stations a payload transport craft 7K-SG 11F735 was proposed (This was an ancestor of the Progress spacecraft used to resupply Salyut and Mir space stations).
Mishin�s Soyuz VI would be launched for a 30 day mission into a 51.6 degree orbit at 250 x 270 km, and would use solar panels in the place of the nuclear power sources. The orbital block of the OB-VI would have 700 to 1,000 kg of specialised and scientific instruments. Chief Designer for the 11F730 was K D Bushuyev, with veteran spaceplane designer P V Tsybin assisting.
 | Kosmos 186/188 - Kosmos 186/188 docking. Soyuz-R and OIS would have had a similar appearance. Credit: © Mark Wade. 29,841 bytes. 485 x 366 pixels. |
It is singularly noticeable that relatively little effort was expended on the OIS by Mishin. Despite his desire to take the project from Kozlov, his bureau was too preoccupied with the L1 and N1-L3 lunar programs and improvement of the 7K-OK after the Soyuz 1 disaster. Nevertheless by 1968 the cosmonaut group in training for the OIS included Aleksei Gubarev, Yuri Glazkov, Vyacheslav Zudov, Eduard Stepanov, Gennadiy Sarafanov, Aleksandr Kramarenko, Leonid Kizim, Aleksandr Petrushenko, and Mikhail Lisun.
At the time of the cancellation of Kovlov�s 7K-VI project Mishin promised that the first OIS would be launched in 1969. This was based solely on convincing the military that he could beat Kozlov�s 1970 date. Yet by May 1969 Kamanin�s diary indicates there was no chance of launching an Almaz or Soyuz VI until 1972. At best no more than seven solo military flights of the Soyuz 7K-S could be expected before 1972.
In December 1969 it was decided that Chelomei would hand over unfinished spaceframes of Almaz stations to Mishin for completion as Salyut DOS-7K space stations. The OIS was cancelled in February 1970 in recognition that it would be available no earlier than the more-capable Salyut or Almaz stations. The Soyuz-VI cosmonaut group was incorporated into the Almaz training group.
The Soyuz 7K-S, however continued in two parallel designs - the base variant, which was for special-purpose military solo missions; and a space station transport variant 7K-ST. The revised designs for the 7K-S were completed on 11 August 1972. The initial Soyuz 7K-S program was to consist of four unmanned, followed by two manned test flights, then two operational launches. Cosmonauts (among them Lyakhov and Voronov ) were assigned to the project in 1973. A State Commission was formed on 21 June 1974 to oversee the flight tests. Meanwhile the draft design for 7K-ST space station transport version was completed in August 1974.
Immediately thereafter, following the fourth N1 launch failure, a major reorganisation of Soviet space enterprises was undertaken. Mishin was fired as head of the former OKB-1. After Kozlov turned down the job, Glushko was made head of a newly formed NPO Energia, combining OKB-1 and Glushko�s Energomash engine OKB. The 7K-S was cancelled; experiments planned for the solo flights were transferred to the Salyut program. The launch escape system for 7K-S had completed development in 1968 - 1972 and was first used for Apollo-Soyuz Test Project flights.
At the time the Soyuz 7K-S was cancelled, the first test vehicle was already at Baikonur being prepared for launch. The first three were launched unmanned as technology tests - Cosmos 670 (7K-S No.1), Cosmos 772 (7K-S No.2), and Cosmos 869 (7K-S No.3).
The Soyuz 7K-ST transport project continued, except now being redesigned for a crew of three. The 7K-ST would eventually fly as the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry to the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations.
Craft.Crew Size: 2. Total Length: 7.5 m. Maximum Diameter: 2.7 m. Total Habitable Volume: 9.00 m3. Total Mass: 6,800 kg. Primary Engine Thrust: 400 kgf. Main Engine Propellants: N2O4/UDMH. Main Engine Isp: 305 sec. Electrical System: Solar panels.
The Chief Designer of OKB-1, Vasiliy Pavlovich Mishin, strongly disagreed with the Zvezda design. In the place of Kozlov�s 7K-VI Mishin proposed an OIS consisting of a separately-launched orbital block and a transport Soyuz. This was the exact same concept as Kozlov�s cancelled Soyuz-R system, but using Kaliningrad spacecraft in the place of Samara spacecraft.
On 13 October 1967 Mishin began his efforts to kill the VI program. From the point of view of the 'Podpliki Mafia', Kozlov had insulted them by redesigning the Soyuz VI in light of the defects of their 7K-OK design. They were also fundamentally opposed to the use of radio-isotope power sources, and raised doubts about the 800 mm hatch cut into the heat shield (as they did in the case of Chelomei�s VA). Mishin wrote a letter to Afanasyev and Smirnov, urging them to cancel the 7K-VI program. In the place of Kozlov's VI Mishin proposed his own project for an Soyuz-derived OIS orbital station. In a November 1967 meeting between Mishin and Kozlov Mishin demanded the abandonment of Kozlov�s 7K-VI project. Kozlov rejected this and subsequently appealed to Kamanin. Through various complex machinations Mishin seized control of the project on 8 December 1967 and promised that the first OIS would be launched in 1969. Mishin�s revised project was reaffirmed in May 1968. Having won the battle, Mishin lost interest. OKB-1 would pursue it at a desultory pace until it was finally cancelled in 1969. In the place of Kozlov's VI Mishin proposed his own project for an orbital station 11F730 Soyuz VI. This would consist of on orbital block 11F731 OB-VI and a transport spacecraft 11F732 7K-S. Through various complex machinations Mishin seized control of the project on 8 December 1967. The new Soyuz VI was designated the OIS 11F730. It would be launched into a lower-inclination 51.6 degree orbit at 250 x 270 km, and would use solar panels in the place of the nuclear power sources.
The draft project OIS 11F730 was issued jointly by TsKBEM and Filial 3 on 21 June 1968.
Design materials for the 11F732 7K-S spacecraft were issued. In 1969 complete drawings were released for the OIS project including those for the spacecraft 7K-S, 7K-S-I, and 7K-S-II.
Draft project OIS 11F730, was issued by TsKBEM and filial 3 jointly. In the course of 1969 complete drawings were released for the OIS project including modules for the spacecraft 7K-S, 7K-S-I, and 7K-S-II.
Brezhnev orders a cooperative crash program to build a civilian space station to beat Skylab into orbit. The civilian station (later named Salyut) will use the Almaz spaceframe fitted out with Soyuz functional equipment. Mishin's OIS military station was cancelled and Chelomei's Almaz would continue, but as second priority to the civilian station. The Soyuz 7K-S station ferry, the 7K-ST, would be revised to be a more conservative modification of the Soyuz 7K-OK. The OIS cosmonaut group was incorporated into the Almaz group.
The Soyuz 7K-S had two parallel designs - the base variant, which was for special-purpose military solo missions; and a space station transport variant 7K-ST. The Soyuz 7K-S program was to consist of four unmanned, followed by two manned test flights, then two operational launches.
Military-Industrial Commission (VPK) Decree 'On establishment of the State Commission for testing the Soyuz-T' was issued. A State Commission was formed to oversee the flight tests of the solo mission 7K-S. The draft design for 7K-ST space station transport version was completed in August 1974.
The 7K-S was cancelled at the same time as the N1 and the reorganisation of the space industry. Experiments planned for the solo flights were transferred to the Salyut program. The first test vehicle was already at Baikonur being prepared for launch. It was decided to launch the first three unmanned as technology tests - Cosmos 670 (7K-S No.1), Cosmos 772 (7K-S No.2), and Cosmos 869 (7K-S No.3). The Soyuz 7K-ST transport project continued, except now being redesigned for a crew of three. The 7K-ST would eventually fly as the Soyuz T and Soyuz TM ferry to the Salyut 7 and Mir space stations.
Unmanned Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Recovered August 8, 1974 23:59 GMT.
Unmanned military Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Recovered October 3, 1975 4:10 GMT. Unsuccessful mission. Transmitted only on 166 MHz frequency, at none of the other usual Soyuz wavelengths.
Maneuver Summary:
193 km X 270 km orbit to 195 km X 300 km orbit. Delta V: 8 m/s
196 km X 300 km orbit to 196 km X 328 km orbit. Delta V: 8 m/s
Total Delta V: 16 m/s
Unmanned military Soyuz 7K-S test flight. Recovered December 17, 1976 10:31 GMT. Transmitted only on 20.008 MHz and 166 MHz frequencies, at none of the other usual Soyuz wavelengths.
Maneuver Summary:
196 km X 290 km orbit to 187 km X 335 km orbit. Delta V: 15 m/s
187 km X 335 km orbit to 259 km X 335 km orbit. Delta V: 21 m/s
259 km X 335 km orbit to 260 km X 345 km orbit. Delta V: 2 m/s
260 km X 345 km orbit to 265 km X 368 km orbit. Delta V: 7 m/s
265 km X 368 km orbit to 267 km X 391 km orbit. Delta V: 6 m/s
267 km X 391 km orbit to 300 km X 310 km orbit. Delta V: 32 m/s
Total Delta V: 83 m/s