Soyuz-Classic

Soyuz-Classic spacecraft approaching the Skylab Workshop Station during Expedition 3 in November 1981.

### Applications

Transporting astronauts to and from the Skylab Workshop Station

## Specifications

### Design life

317 days docked to a station, 5 days during Independent flight

### Dimensions

6.4 m height, 3.25 m width, 11 m span with solar panels deployed

## Related spacecraft

### Derived from

Experimental test vehicles

Soyuz classic logo

The **Soyuz-Classic** (Russian: **Союз Классик**) was the first generation of Soyuz spacecraft, first launched on October 30th, 1976 for Expedition 2 to Skylab. It was designed to ferry kerbals to and from the Skylab Workshop Station during its early years in orbit.

Designed by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, with the help of RKK Energia and SSPX space companies in 1976, the vehicle pioneered in automated docking, re-usability, and was quite cheap to operate.

However its associated carrier rocket did not have a good track record and was considered unsafe. The system did not have a launch escape system, Pogo vibrations experienced by the crew was too high, and the rocket swayed considerably upon booster ignition and launch, which resulted in numerous failures.

As a result of these failures (outcome of 40% chance of vehicle failure rate), a decision was made by the operating space agency to retire the vehicle at the conclusion of Expedition 14 in February 1984.

The Soyuz Classic SC-5 spacecraft launched for the last time on December 3, 1983, and docked to Skylab on Dec 4. After 77 days in space (69 docked to Skylab), SC-5 undocked from Skylab on February 11, 1984 with 10 crew, and rendezvous with the waiting Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-9 (in a lower parking orbit), where it docked to the shuttle's port for the crew to exit into the shuttle, and the vehicle later mounted in Atlantis' payload bay. The shuttle returned the vehicle to Earth, and made the first landing at KSC in the program's history. Shortly after touchdown, a crane lifted the empty spacecraft from the bay, and loaded it onto a transporting truck for delivery to the KSC visitor museum.

## Design and operational history

### Overview

The Soyuz-Classic consisted of three main parts: a cone-shaped command module which housed six kerbals, a cylindrical habitation module that housed four kerbals and any onboard cargo, and the rear service module containing the propulsion engines, solar panels, flight batteries, and life support system.

The command pod had the first combined-automated rendezvous and docking system to be used for a Low Earth Orbit spacecraft. The system was analog requiring manual dials and tracking sensors, where the crew complained was tricky to handle. Later designs of this vehicle implemented monitor screens.

### Carrier rocket

The Soyuz rocket launch vehicle for the Soyuz Classic spacecraft had two design variants: the first prototype launched SC-1 on Expedition 2 in October 1976; whilst the final design rocket launched all subsequent missions with this manned vehicle.

The first prototype featured a green and orange core stage + cone-shaped boosters, and a cryogenic Mylar-coated upper stage. This rocket launched once, and was successful. Since it was a prototype and not aesthetically attractive or ideally aerodynamic, a new design followed - which was all-green, and launched later missions. This rocket was to be the most notorious of failures.