Molniya

8K78

Mission Profile

The Molniya (8K78) was a four-stage Soviet launch vehicle in the R-7 family, an early deep space variant adding a Blok L upper stage to the Vostok core for interplanetary and high-energy orbit missions. Standing 43.4 m tall with a 3 m core diameter and a liftoff mass of 305 tonnes, it generated 4,070 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 1,500 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in October 1960, the Molniya launched the first Soviet Mars and Venus probes and established the Molniya communications satellite constellation in highly elliptical orbits.