The Soviet space program (СССР) was the designation for an early Human space exploration agency created by the Earth nation Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
History
- 1957 – the first artificial satellite Sputnik is launched into orbit. First signals from space. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")
- 1961 – Vostok 1 made a single successful orbit of Earth. (TOS-R: "The Cage")
- 1966 – the Soviet Union launched the Soyuz spacecraft. (TOS-R: "The Cage")
- 1968 – nuclear warhead platforms were launched into orbit by all the major powers on Earth. The sabotage and subsequent detonation of the US suborbital warhead eventually led to a stronger international agreement to ban such weapons. (TOS: "Assignment: Earth")
Later developments
In the 2360s, the SS Tsiolkovsky (NCC-53911), an Oberth-class starship, was built at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in an entity still referred to as the "USSR" and commissioned on stardate 40291.7. The ship was lost with all hands while observing the collapse of a red supergiant star. (TNG: "The Naked Now" dedication plaque)
A Russian Space Agency assignment patch was displayed in the 602 Club in 2143. (ENT: "First Flight")
Background information
The starship VK Yuri Gagarin, the USS Enterprise-D shuttlepod Tereshkova, and the USS Voyager shuttlecraft Tereshkova were named after famous Soviet cosmonauts.
According to the Star Trek Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., p. 457, the Soyuz-class was named after the Soyuz spacecraft of the Soviet space program. The Korolev-class was named after the Soviet space pioneer Sergei Korolev.
Multiple Federation starships have borne names honoring the Soviet program, including several vessels named USS Gagarin and the Gagarin class.
The International Space Station was jointly serviced by American space shuttle orbiters and Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. A montage of its construction appeared in the opening credits of Star Trek: Enterprise. (ENT: opening title sequence)