Soyuz-M

11A511M

Mission Profile

The Soyuz-M (11A511M) was a three-stage Soviet launch vehicle in the R-7 family, a military variant of the Soyuz optimised for launching heavier reconnaissance and military satellites. Standing 50.7 m tall with a 3 m core diameter and a liftoff mass of 310 tonnes, it generated 4,070 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 6,600 kg to low Earth orbit. First flying in December 1971, the Soyuz-M launched a small number of military Zenit reconnaissance satellites from Plesetsk Cosmodrome before being superseded by the Soyuz-U.