“The Soyuz Launch Vehicle” tells the story, for the
first time in a single English-language book, of the
extremely successful Soyuz launch vehicle. Built as the
world’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM),
Soyuz was adapted to launch not only Sputnik but also
the first man to orbit Earth, and has been in service
for over fifty years in a variety of forms. It has
launched all Soviet manned spacecraft and is now the
only means of reaching the International Space Station.
It was also the workhorse for launching satellites and
space probes and has recently been given a second life
in French Guiana, fulfilling a commercial role in a
joint venture with France. No other launch vehicle has
had such a long and illustrious history. This
remarkable book gives a complete and accurate
description of the two lives of Soyuz, chronicling the
recent cooperative space endeavors of Europe and Russia.
The book is presented in two parts: Christian Lardier
chronicles the “first life” in Russia while Stefan
Barensky explores its “second life,” covering Starsem,
the Franco-Russian company and implementation of
technology for the French Guiana Space Agency by ESA.
Part One has been developed from Russian sources,
providing a descriptive approach to very technical
issues. The second part of the book tells the
contemporary story of the second life of Soyuz, gathered
from Western sources and interviews with key
protagonists. “The Soyuz Launch Vehicle” is a
detailed description of a formidable human adventure,
with its political, technical, and commercial
ramifications. At a time when a new order was taking
shape in the space sector, the players being the United
States, Russia, Europe and Asia, and when economic
difficulties sometimes made it tempting to give up, this
book reminds us that in the global sector, nothing is
impossible.
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