Soyuz programme
Artist's impression of the Soyuz 19 spacecraft from the Apollo–Soyuz mission | |
| Program overview | |
|---|---|
| Country | Soviet Union Russia |
| Organization | Roscosmos (1991–present) |
| Status | Ongoing |
| Programme history | |
| First crewed flight | Soyuz 1 |
| Launch site(s) | Baikonur |
| Vehicle information | |
| Uncrewed vehicle(s) | Progress |
| Crewed vehicle(s) | Soyuz |
| Crew capacity | 1–3 |
| Launch vehicle(s) | |
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| Soviet space program |
|---|
The Soyuz programme (/ˈsɔɪjuːz/ SOY-yooz, /ˈsɔː-/ SAW-; Russian: Союз [sɐˈjus], meaning "Union") is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok (1961–1963) and Voskhod (1964–1965) programmes.
The programme consists of the Soyuz capsule and the Soyuz rocket and is now the responsibility of Roscosmos. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the Soyuz was the only way for humans to get to the International Space Station (ISS) until 30 May 2020 when Crew Dragon flew to the ISS for the first time with astronauts.