The UR-100 lightweight ICBM was deployed in larger numbers than any other in history. It was the smallest of the 10,000 km range ICBM's. It was the first Soviet ICBM with a 3 minute reaction time - from key turn to lift-off - a huge accomplishment for a liquid propellant launch vehicle. To make this reaction time possible the vehicle stayed fuelled throughout its service lifetime of 10 years. This was achieved by encapsulation of the missile in a container in which this missile stayed from production until launch. The missile, with a basic diameter of 1.6 meters and a length of 16.689 meters, was stored inside a sealed container with a diameter of 2 meters and a length of 20 meters. The missile was mounted on rails within the container and internal plumbing necessary for start-up of the missile was sealed within the container.

Terminal velocity at the end of second stage burn was only 7.12 km/sec so it was never adapted for space launches. The missile was produced in three optional configurations (not modifications - only the payload was changed to convert from one configuration to another):

• ICBM with range up to 11,000 km with a light (770 kg) payload
• MRBM (up to 4000 km) with a heavy (1750 kg) payload
• ABM vehicle with range not less than 2000 km

The guidance system was designed to work with any of these configurations and the vehicle could be converted from one configuration to another within 24 hours. However for use as an ABM the launch complex need some additional equipment. The rocket was normally painted white, and the light warhead version had a strict conic shape. The heavy warhead was longer, but with the same base diameter. First units of the type had radio-inertial guidance with a radio-command correction system. Later, when the military had confidence that the pure inertial guidance was precise enough, the radio was removed.

During UR-500 design studies, two variants of the first stage were considered: polyblock and monoblock. The monoblock approach was that the first stage be assembled from two separate modules with the same diameter: an upper oxidiser module and a lower fuel and engine block. In assembly trials of this design it proved difficult, because of the height of the first stage, to obtain access to the upper stages and payload atop the rocket. Although there was a payload advantage compared to the more compact polyblock design, this was relatively small and outweighed by the operational difficulties. This variant was studied by Chelomei�s Filial Number 1, Chief Designer V N Bugayskiy, under the lead engineer M S Mishetyan.

UR-500 design studies considered two variants of the first stage: polyblock and monoblock. The polyblock variant consisted of a centre large diameter oxidiser tank surrounded by several smaller diameter fuel tanks. This version could be assembled in a special rig with the lateral blocks being sequentially mounted on the centre. This had the advantage of easier installation of the upper stages and payload due to the smaller length of the first stage. This variant was studied in Filial 1 under the lead engineer E. T. Radchenko. In January 1962 this design was chosen as most advantageous, following studies that indicated improved wind loads and bending moment characteristics compared to the monoblock design. The polyblock design received patent number 36616 in 26 July 1966. Named on the patent were V N Chelomei, V N Bugayckiy, V A Birodov, G D Dermichev, N I Yegorov, V K Karrask, Yu P Kolesnikov, Ya B Nodelman, and E T Radchenko.

On 16 March and 1 August 1961 the Central Committee and Politburo approved development of the UR-200 (8K81) universal rocket. The UR-200 was designed not only to send a thermonuclear warhead over a range of 12,000 km, but also to orbit the IS (Istrebitel Sputnik) ASAT; the US (Upravlenniye Sputnik) nuclear-powered naval intelligence satellite; and the Raketoplan combat re-entry vehicle, which would use aerodynamic horizontal and vertical manoeuvring to penetrate enemy space defences and be practically invulnerable. The UR-200 draft project was completed in July 1962. It technical characteristics would be similar to those of Korolev�s R-9 and Yangel�s R-16. Trial flights of the ICBM version ran from 4 November 1963 to 20 October 1964.

On October 13, 1964, Khrushchev was ousted from power. The new leadership, under Brezhnev, was adverse to all projects Khrushchev had supported. These included those of Chelomei and his OKB-52. An expert commission under M V Keldysh was directed to examine all of Chelomei�s projects and make recommendations as to which should be cancelled. Keldysh found that Yangel�s R-36 universal rocket was superior to Chelomei�s UR-200. The UR-200 and Raketoplan were accordingly cancelled, while the IS and US satellites were redesigned for launch by the R-36.

The Proton launch vehicle has been the workhorse of the Soviet and Russian space programs, and will continue in use into the next century. Although constantly criticised within the Soviet Union for its use of toxic and ecologically-damaging storable liquid propellants, it has out-lasted all challengers and replacements, and will continue in use into the next century, launching Russian elements of the International Space Station.

The Proton had its origin in the early 1960�s, as a heavy two-stage rocket that could be used to launch large military payloads into space as well as act as a ballistic missile for nuclear warheads up to 100 MT in yield. Approval to proceed with the UR-500 8K82 was provided on 24 April 1962. The selected design solution was a conventional tandem vehicle. The upper stages would be modified versions of the UR-200 first and second stages. The first stage consisted of a centre large diameter oxidiser tank surrounded by several smaller diameter fuel tanks. The 4.15 diameter of the stages and their lengths were dictated by the requirement for rail transport of the completed stages from the factory to the launch site.

The UR-700 was the member of Vladimir Chelomei's Universal Rocket family designed to allow direct manned flight by the LK-700 spacecraft to the surface of the moon. The basic configuration of the UR-700 was established in January 1962 as part of the UR-500 Proton draft project. However Korolev�s N1 was the selected Soviet super-booster design. Only when the N1 ran into schedule problems in 1967 was work on the UR-700 resumed. The draft project foresaw first launch in May 1972. But no financing for full scale development was forthcoming; it was apparent that the moon race was lost.

By the middle of 1969, NASA was pressing for funding for a manned expedition to Mars. On 30 June 1969 he Soviet Ministry of Defence authorised preparation of Soviet draft projects for a manned Mars expedition. Code named Aelita, the TTZ specification called for a launch vehicle with a low earth orbit payload of 200 to 250 tonnes to be available by 1976. Chelomei�s response used a modular approach to the launch vehicle design in order to achieve payloads of 300 to 800 tonnes. This would allow an expedition to Mars using a single docking in low earth orbit.

The proposed UR-700M launch vehicle had a gross lift-off mass of 16,000 tonnes and could deliver 750 tonnes to a 250 km, 51.6 degree orbit. It consisted of three stages: Stage 1 and 2 used Lox/Kerosene propellants, and stage 3 Lox/LH2. As in the UR-700, all the engines of Stage 1 and Stage 2 operated at lift-off, but the engines of the second stage were fed from propellant tanks in the first stage. The vehicle consisted of five 9 m diameter first stage blocks with a dry mass of 750 tonnes, three second stage blocks (two of 9 m diameter flanking a 12.5 m diameter core block) with a dry mass of 500 tonnes, and a 12.5 m diameter, 200 tonne empty mass third stage. Each of the outer blocks had 4 x 600 tf engines by KBEM (two 300 tf chambers per engine), while the 12.5 m diameter core block had a total of 6 x 600 tf engines. The third stage had 6 x NK-35 engines of 200 tf each.

In response to the Ministry of Defence's guidelines for third generation launch vehicles, the Ministry of General Machine Building issued on 29 April 1975 instructions for Chelomei to study boosters meeting the military's requirements. These included Lox/Kerosene propellants in place of the toxic N2O4/UDMH favoured previously. Chelomei's competitor in the design, Glushko, was then head of NPO Energia which included Glushko's former OKB-456 engine design bureau. Therefore Chelomei was forced to propose using Kuznetsov Lox/Kerosene engines from the cancelled N1 moon program.

The UR-500MK was proposed in two configurations, the 11K98 and 11K99. In keeping with the mandated modular approach, the UR-500MK consisted of a core stage with a single modified NK-43 engine with a vacuum thrust of 190 tonnes. This was boosted by three (11K98) or six (11K99) lateral stages, each with a single modified NK-33 engine of 150 tonnes thrust. All engines ignited at lift-off, throttled to over 100% of their rated thrust. The core engine was apparently fed from the lateral stages or throttled back early in the ascent to conserve propellant for the second stage burn. The use of existing Proton tankage tooling for the stages and the Kuznetsov engines would allow a high-performance vehicle to be developed at minimum cost. However Chelomei was out of favour, Kuznetsov was discredited after the N1 fiasco, and Glushko was ascendant. The proposal stood no chance. Glushko's Zenit launch vehicle became the accepted solution.

The two variants had the following characteristics:

• 11K99 (six lateral stages) :
  • Launch mass : 1000 t
  • Dry mass : 68 t
  • Propellant mass : 915 t (Kerosene : 250 t - Lox : 665 t)
  • Payload to 200 km, 51.6 deg orbit : 30 - 31.5 tonnes
  • Payload to 200 km, 97deg sun-synchronous orbit: 25.5 - 26.8 tonnes
  • Payload to geostationary orbit :
    • with Lox/Kerosene upper stage : 3.5 tonnes
    • with Lox/LH2 upper stage : 5.2 tonnes
• 11K98 (three lateral stages) :
  • Launch mass : 590 t
  • Payload to 200 km, 51.6 deg orbit : up to 15 tonnes
  • Payload to 200 km, 97deg sun-synchronous orbit: 11 - 12.5 tonnes

The UR-100N was designed as a replacement for the UR-100 at the end of its 10 year storage life. Although it could be installed in the same silos, it was 50% heavier. The competing design of Yangel, the MR-UR-100, was also put into production when the Soviet hierarchy deadlocked and could not pick one design over the other. The missile, 18.8 m in length and 2.5 m in diameter, was encapsulated in a 24.3 m long, 2.9 m diameter canister. The UR-100N could deliver six 375 kg / 750 kt MIRV's to a range of 9075 km with a CEP of 550 m. Missile system reliability was estimated to be 85%, and with a warhead reliability of 95% and force readiness of 90%, total system reliability was estimated as 75%.