Vostok-2 (rocket)


Vostok-2 was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union between 1962 and 1967. Forty five were launched, of which five failed. It was derived from the earlier Vostok-K, with uprated engines. It was a member of the Vostok family of rockets.
The Vostok-2 switched to the newer 8K74 core and featured the 8D74K first stage engines from the Molniya 8K78 booster which gave it improved performance over the older Vostok 8K72K.
The Vostok-2 made its maiden flight on 1 June 1962, from Site 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. One of the booster engines shut down 1.8 seconds after launch, and the rocket came down away from the pad. The resulting explosion damaged the launch complex, and necessitated delays to several other launches that had been scheduled from that complex, including Vostok 3 and Vostok 4. Thirteen months later, on 10 July 1963, an almost identical failure occurred. The other three failures were caused by a second stage malfunction, a second stage guidance problem, and a problem with the first stage.
The Vostok-2 was used exclusively to launch Zenit-2 reconnaissance satellites. Launches occurred from sites 1/5 and 31/6 at Baikonur, and Site 41/1 at Plesetsk. In 1967, it was retired in favour of the Voskhod due to the growing mass and complexity of the Zenit satellites.

Launches

Vostok-2 was launched forty five times.
DateSerial No.SitePayloadResult
1 June 1962E15000-01Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos
28 July 1962T15000-07Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 7
27 September 1962T15000-06Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 9
17 October 1962T15000-03Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 10
22 December 1962T15000-10Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 12
21 March 1963T15000-01Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 13
22 April 1963T15000-08Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 15
28 April 1963E15000-02Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 16
24 May 1963E15000-12Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 18
10 July 1963E15000-04Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos
18 October 1963G15001-01Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 20
28 November 1963G15001-02Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos
19 December 1963G15001-03Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 24
4 April 1964G15001-04Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 28
25 April 1964R15001-01Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 29
10 June 1964R15001-02Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 32
23 June 1964G15001-05Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 33
15 July 1964R15001-03Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 35
14 August 1964R15001-04Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 37
24 September 1964R15001-05Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 46
14 October 1964R15002-01Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 48
28 October 1964R15002-02Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 50
11 January 1965R15002-03Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 52
25 March 1965G15001-06Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 64
7 May 1965R15002-04Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 66
15 June 1965U15001-01Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 68
13 July 1965R15002-05Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos
14 August 1965U15001-02Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 78
27 November 1965U15001-05Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 98
10 December 1965U15001-04Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 99
7 January 1966U15001-08Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 104
22 January 1966U15001-10Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 105
10 February 1966U15001-06Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 107
17 March 1966U15001-09Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 112
20 April 1966U15001-07Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 115
6 May 1966N15001-01Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 117
16 September 1966N15001-02Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos
14 October 1966U15001-05Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 129
19 November 1966N15001-08Baikonur LC-31/6Kosmos 132
19 December 1966N15001-09Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 136
19 January 1967N15001-05Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 138
27 February 1967U15001-03Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 143
13 March 1967N15001-06Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 147
4 April 1967Ya15001-06Plesetsk LC-41/1Kosmos 153
12 May 1967Ya15001-02Baikonur LC-1/5Kosmos 157