LK Lander

Mission Profile

LK Lander (Lunny Korabl, Lunar Craft) was the Soviet spacecraft designed to land a single cosmonaut on the Moon as part of the N1-L3 lunar landing program. Considerably smaller than the Apollo Lunar Module, the LK relied on a single engine for both descent and ascent and required the cosmonaut to spacewalk between the LOK orbital ship and the lander in lunar orbit rather than using a docking tunnel. The LK was tested unmanned in Earth orbit four times between 1970 and 1971 under the Kosmos designation, successfully demonstrating its propulsion and landing systems. Despite these successful tests, the repeated failures of the N1 rocket meant no cosmonaut ever flew the LK in the lunar environment.