Vostok-L

8K72 Luna

Mission Profile

The Vostok-L (8K72, Luna) was a three-stage Soviet launch vehicle in the R-7 family, an early variant of the R-7 with an added upper stage designed for lunar probe missions. Standing 33.5 m tall with a 3 m core diameter and a liftoff mass of 279 tonnes, it generated 3,900 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 4,730 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in September 1958, the Vostok-L launched the first Luna probes including Luna 1 (the first spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity), Luna 2 (the first to reach the Moon), and Luna 3 (the first to photograph the Moon's far side).