The R-7 rocket that led to the family of Soyuz vehicles launching today lifted off for the first time on Feb. 17, 1959. The last launch, on Dec. 27, 2018, was number 1,898.

Digital recreation of the R-7 rocket family. Gone were V-2's steering rudders placed beneath the engine's nozzle, which guided the rocket by deflecting the exhaust flames in a certain direction at ...

The R-7 rocket family has taken flight from four different launch pads around the world, including a couple of dozen missions managed by the European Space Agency under an agreement from 2011 to ...

The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket will blast off from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan on Wednesday, marking the 2,000th launch for the R-7 family of rockets. The first launch of an R-7 rocket ...

A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket has delivered Resurs-P Earth remote sensing satellite No. 5 into orbit in the 2,000th launch for the domestic family of R-7 Soviet and Russian launch vehicles, ...

The Russian space program reached a significant milestone over the holidays with the 2,000th launch of a rocket from the "R-7" family of boosters. The launch took place on Christmas Day when an R-7 ...

Russian family of rockets reaches 2,000th launch. The Russian space program reached a significant milestone over the holidays with the 2,000th launch of a rocket from the "R-7" family of boosters.

That first rocket flew for only a minute or so before exploding, but months later, Moscow officially initiated the space age on Oct. 4 with the triumphant launch of the Sputnik satellite atop an R-7.