Polyot (Russian: Полёт, lit. 'flight', GRAU index: 11A59) was an interim orbital carrier rocket developed by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. It was built to test anti-satellite (ASAT) spacecraft and served as a stopgap after the cancellation of the UR-200 programme, before the Tsyklon rocket could enter service.
Design
The Polyot was a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It consisted of a core stage (Block A) and four strap-on boosters (Blocks B, V, G, and D), which were taken from a Voskhod 11A57 rocket. The vehicle stood approximately 30 meters (98 ft) tall with a diameter of 2.99 m (9 ft 10 in) and had a launch mass of 277,000 kg (611,000 lb). It was a single-stage orbital vehicle.
The four boosters were each powered by one RD-107-8D74K engine, producing 995.3 kN of thrust (total 3,981.2 kN), burning LOX/RP-1 propellant with a burn time of 119 seconds. The core stage was powered by one RD-108 engine producing 294 kN of thrust, with a burn time of 240 seconds.
Performance
The Polyot was capable of delivering a 1,400 kg (3,100 lb) payload into a 300 km (190 mi) low Earth orbit at 59° inclination.
Launch History
Only two Polyot rockets were ever launched, both from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 31/6:
| Flight | Date | Payload | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Polyot 1 | 1 November 1963 | ASAT test spacecraft | Success |
| Polyot 2 | 12 April 1964 | ASAT test spacecraft | Success |
Both flights were successful. The Polyot 1 mission tested systems for extensive maneuvering of spacecraft in orbit, and its telemetry signals on 19.945 MHz were tracked by Western observers.
Status
The Polyot was retired after only two launches. It was succeeded by the Tsyklon rocket, which fulfilled the role that the Polyot had temporarily filled. The rocket was manufactured by OKB-1 (Sergei Korolev's design bureau).
