Manufacturer | OKB-52 |
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Country of origin | Soviet Union |
Operator | Soviet space program |
Applications | Land cosmonauts on the Moon and bring them back to Earth |
Production | |
Status | Canceled |
Related spacecraft | |
Derived from | LK-1 |
Derivatives | TKS spacecraft |
LK-700 was a Soviet direct ascent lunar lander program proposed in 1964.[1] It was developed by Vladimir Chelomey as an alternative to the N1-L3 program. It was also a further development of the LK-1 lunar flyby spacecraft.
It would have been launched using the proposed UR-700[2] rocket (related to the Proton rocket) with a crew of three cosmonauts on a direct flight to the lunar surface and back. The direct landing approach would allow the Soviets to land anywhere on the moon's nearside.[3] The program was canceled in 1974.
Uncrewed flights would be followed by crewed flights. The proposed schedule was:
Following initial LK-700 landings, the more ambitious Lunar Expeditionary Complex (LKE) would be delivered to the surface in three UR-700 launches:
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Launch vehicles and ascent/upper stages |
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Spacecraft |
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Other hardware |
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Soyuz docking tests |
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Zond (7K-L1/L1S) lunar flyby missions |
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LOK (7K-LOK/L1E) test missions |
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LK Lander (T2K) test missions |
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The † sign designates failed missions. Italics designates cancelled missions. |
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Active |
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In development |
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Past |
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Cancelled |
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Related |
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Crewed lunar spacecraft
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Orbiters |
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Landers |
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Proposed |
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Related |
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