Soyuz (spacecraft)

Soyuz

Soyuz MS, the latest version of the spacecraft
Manufacturer	Energia
Country of origin	Soviet Union, Russia
Operator	Soviet space program (1967–1991) Roscosmos (1992–present)
Applications	Carry cosmonauts to orbit and back (originally for Soviet Moonshot and Salyut and Mir space station transportation)
Specifications
Crew capacity	3
Regime	Low Earth orbit, Medium Earth orbit (circumlunar spaceflight during early program)
Design life	Up to 6 months (docked to International Space Station)
Production
Status	In service
Maiden launch	Kosmos 133: 28 November 1966 (uncrewed) Soyuz 1: 23 April 1967 (crewed)
Last launch	Latest launch: Soyuz MS-25 23 March 2024 (crewed)
Related spacecraft
Derivatives	Shenzhou, Progress

Soyuz (Russian: Союз, IPA: [sɐˈjus], lit. 'Union') is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraft and was originally built as part of the Soviet crewed lunar programs. It is launched on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Between the 2011 retirement of the Space Shuttle and the 2020 demo flight of SpaceX Crew Dragon, the Soyuz served as the only means to ferry crew to or from the International Space Station, for which it remains heavily used. Although China did launch crewed Shenzhou flights during this time, none of them docked with the ISS.