Vostok (rocket Family)

Vostok (rocket Family)

Vostok (Russian Восток, translated as "East") was a family of rockets derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka ICBM designed for the human spaceflight programme. This family of rockets launched the first artificial satellite ("sputnik") and the first manned spacecraft in human history. It was a subset of the R-7 family of rockets.

On March 18, 1980 a Vostok-2M rocket exploded on its launch pad at Plesetsk during a fueling operation, killing 48. An investigation into a similar – but avoided – accident revealed that the substitution of lead-based for tin-based solder in hydrogen peroxide filters had resulted in the breakdown of the H₂O₂ and the resulting explosion.