Vostok Programme - Missions

Missions

The first manned spaceflight, Vostok 1 in April 1961, was preceded by several preparatory flights. In the summer of 1960, the Soviets learned that the Americans could launch a sub-orbital manned spaceflight as early as January 1961. Korolev saw this as an important deadline, and was determined to launch a manned orbital mission before the Americans launched their manned suborbital mission. By April 1960, designers at Sergei Korolev's design bureau, then known as OKB-1, had completed a draft plan for the first Vostok spacecraft, called Vostok 1K. This design would be used for testing purposes; also in their plan was Vostok 2K, a spy satellite that would later become known as Zenit 2, and Vostok 3K, which would be used for all six manned Vostok missions.

Despite the very large geographical size of the Soviet Union, there were obvious limitations to monitoring orbital spaceflights from ground stations within the country. To remedy this, the Soviets stationed about 7 naval vessels, or tracking ships, around the world. For each ground station or tracking ship, the duration of communications with an orbiting spacecraft was limited to five to ten minutes.