Molniya (rocket)

Molniya (R-7 8K78)
	Molniya-M carrier rocket
Function	Medium launch vehicle
Manufacturer	Energia
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Size
Height	43.44 m
Diameter	10.3 m
Mass	305,000 kg
Stages	4
Associated rockets
Family	R-7
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Baikonur, Plesetsk
Total launches	40
Success(es)	20
Failure(s)	9
Partial failure(s)	11
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Molniya (Russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), GRAU Index 8K78, was a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and had four stages.^[1]^[2] The rocket was given the name Molniya due to the large number of Molniya communication satellites the rockets launched.^[3]

The 8K78 resulted from a crash program by the Korolev Bureau to develop a booster for launching planetary probes. A larger third stage was added along with a fourth stage (Blok L) that was designed to fire in-orbit to send the payload out of LEO (replacing the inaccurate direct ascent of the first generation Luna probes launched on the 8K72) and the core and strap-ons had the new uprated 8D74K first stage engines. The first couple of 8K78s flown used an 8K74 core however vehicles flown in 1962-63 used the older 8K71 core. The 8K74 core returned for vehicles flown in 1964 and later.

The initial 8K78s had a faulty Blok I design that was prone to vibration issues and pump cavitation. The Blok I was redesigned afterward and the improved version was first flown on 11 November 1963. The uprated 8K78M booster was introduced in 1965 but 8K78s continued to fly into 1967.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] The Molniya also carried early Venera probes to Venus.^[2]

Molniya (E6) was a minor revision adapted for Luna E-6 series space probes where the guidance system for the entire launch vehicle was moved to the probe itself.^[2]

Characteristics

Length: 43.440 m
Diameter: 10.300 m
Launch mass: 305,000 kg
Strap-On Boosters: Blok-B,V,G,D / 4 × RD-107^[2]
Stage 1: Blok-A / RD-108K^[2]
Stage 2: Blok-I / RD-0108^[2]
Stage 3: Blok-L / S1.5400^[2]

Launches

Molniya rockets were launched 40 times:^[2]

Molniya launches^[2]
Date	Version	Serial No.	LS	Payload	Result
10.10.1960	Molniya	L1-4M	Baikonur LC-1/5	Mars (1a) (1M #1)	Failure
14.10.1960	Molniya	L1-5M	Baikonur LC-1/5	Mars (1b) (1M #2)	Failure
04.02.1961	Molniya	L1-7V	Baikonur LC-1/5	Venera (1a) (1VA #1, Sputnik 7)	Partial failure
12.02.1961	Molniya	L1-6V	Baikonur LC-1/5	Venera 1 (1VA #2, Sputnik 8)	Success
25.08.1962	Molniya	T103-12	Baikonur LC-1/5	Venera (2a) (2MV-1 #1, Sputnik 19)	Partial failure
01.09.1962	Molniya	T103-13	Baikonur LC-1/5	Venera (2b) (2MV-1 #2, Sputnik 20)	Partial failure
12.09.1962	Molniya	T103-14	Baikonur LC-1/5	Venera (2c) (2MV-2 #1, Sputnik 21)	Partial failure
24.10.1962	Molniya	T103-15	Baikonur LC-1/5	Mars (1c) (2MV-4 #1, Sputnik 22)	Partial failure
01.11.1962	Molniya	T103-16	Baikonur LC-1/5	Mars 1 (2MV-4 #2, Sputnik 23)	Success
04.11.1962	Molniya	T103-17	Baikonur LC-1/5	Mars (2a) (2MV-3 #1, Sputnik 24)	Partial failure
04.01.1963	Molniya (E6)	T103-09	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna E-6 No.2 Luna (4c) (Ye-6 No.2, Sputnik 25)	Partial failure
03.02.1963	Molniya (E6)	G103-10	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna E-6 No.3 Luna (4d) (Ye-6 No.3)	Failure
02.04.1963	Molniya (E6)	G103-11	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna 4 (Ye-6 No.4)	Success
11.11.1963	Molniya	G15000-017	Baikonur LC-1/5	Kosmos 21 (Zond (1a)) (3MV-1A #1)	Partial failure
19.02.1964	Molniya (M)	T15000-019	Baikonur LC-1/5	Zond (1b) (3MV-1A #2)	Failure
21.03.1964	Molniya (E6)	T15000-020	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna (5a) (Ye-6 No.6)	Failure
27.03.1964	Molniya (M)	T15000-022	Baikonur LC-1/5	Kosmos 27 (Zond (1c)) (3MV-1 #1)	Partial failure
02.04.1964	Molniya (M)	G15000-028 ?	Baikonur LC-1/5	Zond 1 (3MV-1 #2)	Success
20.04.1964	Molniya (E6)	T15000-021	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna (5b) (Ye-6 No.5)	Failure
04.06.1964	Molniya	G15000-018	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 (1a) (Molniya-1 2L)	Failure
22.08.1964	Molniya	G15000-019	Baikonur LC-1/5	Kosmos 41 (Molniya-1 (1b)) (Molniya-1 1L)	Success
30.11.1964	Molniya	G15000-029	Baikonur LC-1/5	Zond 2 (3MV-4 #1)	Success
12.03.1965	Molniya (E6)	G15000-024	Baikonur LC-1/5	Kosmos 60 (Luna (5c)) (Ye-6 No.9)	Partial failure
10.04.1965	Molniya (E6)	U15000-022	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna (5d) (Ye-6 No.8)	Failure
23.04.1965	Molniya	U15000-035	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 1 (Molniya-1 3L)	Success
09.05.1965	Molniya (M)	U15000-024	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna 5 (Ye-6 No.10)	Success
08.06.1965	Molniya (M)	U15000-033	Baikonur LC-1/5	Luna 6 (Ye-6 No.7)	Success
18.07.1965	Molniya	U15000-032	Baikonur LC-1/5	Zond 3 (3MV-4 #2)	Success
14.10.1965	Molniya	U15000-034	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 2 (Molniya-1 4L)	Success
12.11.1965	Molniya (M)	U15000-042	Baikonur LC-31/6	Venera 2 (3MV-4 #3)	Success
16.11.1965	Molniya (M)	U15000-031	Baikonur LC-31/6	Venera 3 (3MV-3 #1)	Success
23.11.1965	Molniya (M)	U15000-030	Baikonur LC-31/6	Kosmos 96 (Venera (4a)) (3MV-4 #4)	Partial failure
03.12.1965	Molniya	U15000-048	Baikonur LC-31/6	Luna 8 (Ye-6 No.12)	Success
27.03.1966	Molniya (M)	U15000-040	Baikonur LC-31/6	Molniya-1 (3) (Molniya-1 5L)	Failure
25.04.1966	Molniya (M)	N15000-037	Baikonur LC-31/6	Molniya-1 3 (Molniya-1 6L)	Success
20.10.1966	Molniya (M)	N15000-040	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 4 (Molniya-1 7L)	Success
24.05.1967	Molniya (M)	N15000-041	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 5 (Molniya-1 8L)	Success
31.08.1967	Molniya (M)	N15000-081	Baikonur LC-1/5	Kosmos 174 (Molniya-1Yu 11L)	Success
03.10.1967	Molniya (M)	Ya15000-083	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 6 (Molniya-1 9L)	Success
22.10.1967	Molniya (M)	Ya15000-084	Baikonur LC-1/5	Molniya-1 7 (Molniya-1 12L)	Success

References

^ Harvey, Brian (5 July 2007). Russian Planetary Exploration: History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-387-46343-8.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Molniya (8K78)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
^ Reichl, Eugen (2019). The Soviet Space Program - The Lunar Mission Years: 1959 to 1976. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. p. 32. ASIN 0764356755.
^ Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya-1 Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^ Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya 8K78M Archived 8 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya-2 Archived 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
^ Lardier, Christian; Barensky, Stefan (2013). The Soyuz Launch Vehicle: The Two Lives of an Engineering Triumph. New York: Springer. p. 156. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5459-5. ISBN 978-1-4614-5458-8.

"Molniya-M Carrier Rocket". РКЦ Прогресс. Retrieved 7 October 2014.

This rocketry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[rpe-1] Harvey, Brian (5 July 2007). Russian Planetary Exploration: History, Development, Legacy and Prospects. Springer. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-387-46343-8.

[:0-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Molniya (8K78)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 23 October 2023.

[Reichi-3] Reichl, Eugen (2019). The Soviet Space Program - The Lunar Mission Years: 1959 to 1976. Schiffer Publishing Ltd. p. 32. ASIN 0764356755.

[4] Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya-1 Archived 16 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine

[5] Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya 8K78M Archived 8 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[6] Encyclopedia Astronautica Molniya-2 Archived 2 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Lardier, Christian; Barensky, Stefan (2013). The Soyuz Launch Vehicle: The Two Lives of an Engineering Triumph. New York: Springer. p. 156. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-5459-5. ISBN 978-1-4614-5458-8.

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v t e Soviet and Russian launch vehicles
Active	Angara 1.2 A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v UR Proton-M
In development	Amur Irtysh Yenisei
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon original 2 3 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F
Cancelled (no launch attempts)	Tsyklon-4 Proton Light Medium

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H 12 LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 RS1^† Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)

Characteristics

Launches

See also

References