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Vostok-K | Vostok 3
Soviet Space ProgramLaunch Successful

Vostok 3

Vostok-K

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Historical mission record

This page records Vostok-K | Vostok 3 and its reported outcome: Launch Successful. The date above is a historical record.

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Mission status
Launch Successful

Status reported by the mission data provider.

LAUNCH SITEBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

Mission

Vostok 3's mission goal was to test human body's ability to function in weightlessness and to test the Vostok 3KA spacecraft for longer flights. They also tested craft-to-craft communications by launching Vostok 4 a day after Vostok 3. Their trajectories brought them approximately 6.5 km from each other and cosmonauts were able to communicate via radio. This also marked the first time more than one crewed craft was orbiting earth at the same time. The spacecraft carried cosmonaut Andriyan Nikolayev to orbit where he orbited Earth 64 times before reentering. The mission lasted for 3 days 22 hours & 28 minutes.

Launch vehicle
Vostok-K
Mission type
Human Exploration
Destination orbit
Low Earth Orbit
Spacecraft
Vostok-3KA No.5
Destination
Low Earth Orbit
Launch pad
1/5
Provider
Soviet Space Program
Programs
Vostok

The vehicle

Published configuration and flight history.

Vostok-K
Launch vehicle

Vostok-K

The Vostok-K was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union for thirteen launches between 1960 and 1964, six of which were manned. The Vostok-K made its maiden flight on 22 December 1960, three weeks after the retirement of the Vostok-L. The third stage engine failed 425 seconds after launch, and the payload, a Korabl-Sputnik spacecraft, failed to reach orbit. The spacecraft was recovered after landing, and the two dogs aboard the spacecraft survived the flight. On 12 April 1961, a Vostok-K rocket was used to launch Vostok 1, the first manned spaceflight, which made Yuri Gagarin the first human to fly in space.

Height
30.84 m
Diameter
2.99 m
Stages
3
Recorded launches
13
First flight
1960-05-15

Recorded timing

This is a mission record, not an upcoming calendar appointment.

Instantaneous windowPublished target
SCHEDULED MOMENT

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Launch site & orbit

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan

The mission in perspective

Launch site & orbit

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NASA Blue Marble map of Earth's continents and oceans
Representative orbit · accelerated illustrationNo live tracking or simulated ascent. NASA Blue Marble.

Coverage & sources

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