N1-L3 was underfunded and rushed, starting development in October 1965, almost four years after the Saturn V. The project was badly derailed by the death of its chief designer Sergei Korolev in 1966.
N1-L3 kekurangan dana dan pengujian, dan baru mulai dikembangkan pada Oktober 1965, hampir empat tahun setelah Saturn V. Proyek itu kacau balau setelah kematian kepala desainernya, Sergei Korolev, tahun 1966.