form, it launched  Sputnik , the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the  Soyuz   space launcher  and the  Molniya ,  Vostok  and  Voskhod  variants. The widely used nickname for the R-7 launcher, "semyorka", simply means "the digit 7" in  Russian . SS-6 rocket. (NASA) R-7 8K72