Voskhod

Mission Profile

Voskhod was the Soviet Union's second-generation crewed spacecraft, developed by adapting the Vostok capsule to carry multiple crew members without ejection seats in order to beat American milestones during the Space Race. Voskhod 1 launched on 12 October 1964 with three cosmonauts — the first multi-crew spaceflight in history — while Voskhod 2 on 18 March 1965 enabled Alexei Leonov to perform humanity's first spacewalk during a 12-minute extravehicular activity. The cramped, seatless design meant crews flew without spacesuits, making Voskhod one of the most dangerous crewed spacecraft ever operated. Only two crewed missions flew before the program was superseded by the purpose-designed Soyuz spacecraft.