LK-700

Last updated
LK-700
Manufacturer OKB-52
Country of origin Soviet Union
Operator Soviet space program
ApplicationsLand cosmonauts on the Moon and bring them back to Earth
Production
StatusCanceled
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.

Contents

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.

Mission profile

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:

Characteristics

References

  1. "LK-700". astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2013. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
  2. "UR-700 launch vehicle".
  3. "What Would a Soviet Moon Landing Have Looked Like?". DNews. Archived from the original on 3 May 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2015.