View source for Sergei Korolev

{{Short description|Soviet aerospace engineer (1907–1966)}}
{{about|the Soviet aerospace engineer|other uses}}
{{redirect|The Chief Designer|the novella|The Chief Designer (novella){{!}}''The Chief Designer'' (novella)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Sergei Korolev
| native_name        = {{nobold|{{native name|ru|Сергей Королёв|italics=no|nolink=yes|paren=omit}}<br/>{{native name|uk|Сергій Корольов|italics=no|nolink=yes|paren=omit}}}}
| image              = Нина и Сергей Королевы (cropped).jpg
| image_size         = 250px
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1907|1|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place        = [[Zhytomyr|Zhitomir]], Russian Empire
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1966|1|14|1907|1|12|df=yes}}
| death_place        = Moscow, Soviet Union
| resting_place      = [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]
| children           = 1
| module             = {{Infobox military person
     | embed        = yes
     | allegiance   = Soviet Union
     | branch       = [[Soviet Army]]
     | serviceyears = 1945–1952
     | rank         = [[Polkovnik|Colonel]]
     | awards       = 
     | laterwork    = 
| signature         = Sergei Korolyov Signature.svg
| signature_size    = 150px
}}
| footnotes          = 
| education          = [[Kiev Polytechnic Institute]]<br />[[Bauman Moscow State Technical University]]
| occupation         = Rocket engineer, lead designer of the [[Soviet space program]]
| spouse             = Ksenia Vincentini<br />Nina Ivanovna Kotenkova{{sfn|Harford|1997|pp=25, 94}}
| known              = 
}}
{{Soviet space program sidebar}}
'''Sergei Pavlovich Korolev'''{{efn|{{family name explanation|Pavlovich|[[Korolyov (disambiguation)|Korolev]]|lang=Eastern Slavic}} ''Korol'''e'''v'' is the [[transliteration]] used by the [[Library of Congress]] and adopted by James Harford for his biography.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=xvi}}}}{{efn|{{langx|ru|Сергей Павлович Королёв|Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov}}, {{IPA|ru|sʲɪrˈɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪtɕ kərɐˈlʲɵf|IPA|Ru-Sergei Pavlovich Korolev.ogg}}; {{langx|uk|Сергій Павлович Корольов|Serhii Pavlovych Koroliov}}, {{IPA|uk|serˈɦij ˈpɑu̯lowɪtʃ koroˈlʲɔu̯|IPA}}.}} ({{OldStyleDateDY|12 January|1907|30 December 1906}}{{snd}}14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet [[Aerospace engineering|rocket engineer]] and spacecraft designer during the [[Space Race]] between the [[United States]] and the [[Soviet Union]] in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the [[R-7 Semyorka|R-7 Rocket]], [[Sputnik 1]], and was involved in the launching of [[Laika]], [[Sputnik 3]], the first [[luna 2|human-made object]] to make contact with another celestial body, [[Soviet space dogs#Belka and Strelka|Belka and Strelka]], the first human being, [[Yuri Gagarin]], into space, [[Voskhod 1]], and the first person, [[Alexei Leonov]], to conduct a [[Voskhod 2|spacewalk]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=West|first=John B.|date=1 October 2001|title=Historical aspects of the early Soviet/ Russian crewed space program|url=http://jap.physiology.org/content/91/4/1501|journal=Journal of Applied Physiology|volume=91|issue=4|pages=1501–1511|doi=10.1152/jappl.2001.91.4.1501|pmid=11568130|s2cid=24284107|archive-date=16 November 2017|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116190238/http://jap.physiology.org/content/91/4/1501|url-status=dead|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Although Korolev trained as an [[aircraft designer]], his greatest strengths proved to be in design integration, organization and strategic planning. Arrested on a false official charge as a "member of an anti-Soviet counter-revolutionary organization" (which would later be reduced to "saboteur of military technology"), he was imprisoned in 1938 for almost six years, including a few months in a [[Kolyma]] labour camp. Following his release he became a recognized rocket designer and the key figure in the development of the Soviet [[Intercontinental ballistic missile]] program. He later directed the [[Soviet space program]] and was made a Member of [[Russian Academy of Sciences|Soviet Academy of Sciences]], overseeing the early successes of the [[Sputnik]] and [[Vostok program|Vostok]] projects including the first human Earth orbit mission by Yuri Gagarin on 12 April 1961. Korolev's unexpected death in 1966 interrupted implementation of his plans for a Soviet crewed Moon landing before the United States 1969 mission.

Before his death he was officially identified only as ''glavny konstruktor'' ({{lang|ru|главный конструктор}}), or the ''Chief Designer'', to protect him from possible [[Cold War]] assassination attempts by the United States.<ref name="Scott and Leonov, p. 53.">Scott and Leonov, p. 53. Harford, p. 135.</ref> Even some of the cosmonauts who worked with him were unaware of his last name; he only went by ''Chief Designer.''<ref name=":0" /> Only following his death in 1966 was his identity revealed, and he received the appropriate public recognition as the driving force behind Soviet accomplishments in space exploration during and following the [[International Geophysical Year]].<ref name=Great>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/in-depth/late-great-engineers-sergei-korolev-designated-designer|title=Late great engineers: Sergei Korolev – designated designer|date=2021-01-06|access-date=2021-10-01}}</ref>

==Early life==
[[File:Korolev_(1907).jpg|thumb|left|190px|Korolev with his nanny Varvara Marchenko (1907)]]
[[File:Korolev (1912) 01.jpg|thumb|180px|Korolev in 1912]]
Korolev was born in the city of [[Zhytomyr]], the capital of [[Volhynian Governorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]] (now in Ukraine). His father, Pavel Yakovlevich Korolev, was born in [[Mogilev]] to a [[Russians|Russian]] soldier and a [[Belarusians|Belarusian]] mother.<ref>{{cite web | title=Королев Павел Яковлевич 1877-1929, отец С.П. Королева | url=http://www.famhist.ru/famhist/korol/001905fe.htm }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Историк Стрелец — о белорусских истоках советского освоения космоса | date=10 April 2020 | url=https://www.sb.by/articles/kosmicheskiy-vklad-strelec.html }}</ref><ref name="epizodsspace.airbase.ru">[http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/koroleva-n/otets/koroleva-otets-t1-2007.pdf Наталия Королева – С.П. Королев] Отец, Москва Наука, 2007, accessed 18 April 2021</ref><ref>[http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/koroleva-n/otets/koroleva-otets-t1-2007.pdf Наталия Королева – С.П. Королев] Отец, page 48, Москва Наука, 2007</ref>

His mother, Maria Nikolaevna Koroleva (Moskalenko/Bulanina), was a daughter of a wealthy merchant from the city of [[Nizhyn]], with [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Zaporozhian Cossack]], Greek and Polish heritage.<ref name="epizodsspace.airbase.ru">[http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/koroleva-n/otets/koroleva-otets-t1-2007.pdf Наталия Королева – С.П. Королев] Отец, Москва Наука, 2007, accessed 18 April 2021</ref><ref>[http://epizodsspace.airbase.ru/bibl/koroleva-n/otets/koroleva-otets-t1-2007.pdf Наталия Королева – С.П. Королев] Отец, page 19, Москва Наука, 2007</ref>

His father moved to Zhytomyr to be a teacher of the Russian language.<ref>[http://zhzh.info/news/2007-01-12-761 В Житомире сто лет назад появился на свет Сергей Королев. ФОТО / Культура / Журнал Житомира / Zhitomir City Journal]. ''tr. "Sergey Korolev was born in Zhitomir a hundred years ago"'' Zhzh.info (12 January 2007). Retrieved on 30 April 2011.</ref> Three years after Sergei's birth the couple separated due to financial difficulties. Although Pavel later wrote to Maria requesting a meeting with his son, Sergei was told by his mother that his father had allegedly died. Sergei never saw his father after the family break-up, and Pavel died in 1929 before his son learned the truth.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=16}}

Korolev grew up in Nizhyn,<ref name=Great/> under the care of his maternal grandparents Nikolay Yakovlevich Moskalenko who was a trader of the [[Merchant guild (Russian Empire)#2nd guild|Second Guild]] and Maria Matveevna Moskalenko (née Fursa), a daughter of a local [[cossack]]. Korolev's mother also had a sister Anna and two brothers Yuri and Vasily. Maria Koroleva was frequently away attending Women's higher education courses in Kiev, so Sergei was often by himself and grew up a lonely child with few friends. In 1914 [[World War I]] commenced with social unrest in the Kiev area. No one had time for the seven year old Korolev during this period and he was noted as being stubborn, persistent, and argumentative.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=19}} Korolev began reading at an early age from his grandfather's newspapers, and his pre-school teacher noted he had an excellent memory with abilities in mathematics, reading and writing.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=17-19}} His mother divorced Pavel in 1915 and in 1916 married Grigory Mikhailovich Balanin, an electrical engineer who had been educated in Germany but who had to attend the Kiev Polytechnic University because German engineering diplomas were not recognized in Russia. Grigory was an excellent step-father, positively influencing Korolev's manners and study habits.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=19}} After getting a job with the regional railway, Grigory moved the family to [[Odessa]]<ref name=Great/> in 1917, where they endured hardships with many other families through the tumultuous years following the [[Russian Revolution of 1917|Russian Revolution]] and continuing internecine struggles until the [[Bolsheviks]] assumed unchallenged power in 1920. Local schools were closed and young Korolev had to continue his studies at home, where he suffered from a bout of typhus during the severe food shortages of 1919.<ref name=Great/>

==Education==
[[File:Korolyov_(1929).jpg|thumb|left|Korolev in 1925]]
Korolev received vocational training in carpentry and academics at the Odessa Building Trades School (Stroyprofshkola No. 1). Enjoyment of a 1913 air show inspired interest in [[aeronautical engineering]]. He made an independent study of flight theory, and worked at the local glider club. A detachment of military seaplanes had been stationed in Odessa, and Korolev took a keen interest in their operations.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=22-23}}

[[File:Korolyov (1927).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Korolev in 1927]]
In 1923 he joined the Society of Aviation and Aerial Navigation of Ukraine and the Crimea (OAVUK). He had his first flying lesson after joining the Odessa hydroplane squadron and had many opportunities to fly as a passenger. In 1924 he designed an OAVUK construction project glider called the K-5 when he was 17 years old.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=25}} He briefly trained in gymnastics until his academic work suffered. Korolev hoped to attend the [[Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy|Zhukovsky Academy]] in Moscow, but he did not meet the academy's standards. He attended the [[Kiev Polytechnic Institute]]'s aviation branch in 1924 while living with his uncle Yuri, and earned money for his courses by doing odd jobs. His curriculum included engineering, physics and mathematics classes. He met and became attracted to a classmate, Xenia Vincentini, who would later become his first wife. In 1925 he was accepted into a limited class on glider construction, and suffered two broken ribs flying the training glider they built. He continued courses at Kiev until he was accepted into the [[Bauman Moscow State Technical University]] (MVTU, BMSTU) in July 1926, having the famous aircraft designer [[Andrei Tupolev]] as his mentor, who was a professor there.<ref name=Great/>{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=25-28}}

Korolev studied specialized aviation topics until 1929, while living with his family in the typically crowded conditions of Moscow. Korolev enjoyed opportunities to fly gliders and powered aircraft during this part of his education. He designed a glider in 1928, and flew it in a competition the next year. The Communist Party accelerated the education of engineers in 1929 to meet the country's urgent need for their skills. Korolev obtained a diploma by producing a practical aircraft design by the end of the year.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=29-34}}

==Early career==
[[File:Korolyov in cockpit.jpg|thumb|right|Korolev sitting in the cockpit of glider "Koktebel."]]
After graduation, Korolev worked with some of the best Soviet designers at the 4th Experimental Section aircraft design bureau OPO-4 headed by {{Interlanguage link multi|Paul Aimé Richard|fr|3=Paul Aimé Richard|vertical-align=sup}} who emigrated to the USSR from France in the 1920s.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=122}} He did not stand out in this group, but while so employed he also worked independently to design a glider capable of performing aerobatics. In 1930 he became interested in the possibilities of liquid-fueled rocket engines to propel airplanes, while working at the [[Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute]] (TsAGI) as a lead engineer on the [[Tupolev TB-3]] heavy bomber.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=4}} Korolev earned his pilot's license in 1930 and explored the operational limits of the aircraft he piloted, wondering what was beyond his plane's altitude limit and how he could get there. Many believe this was the start of his interest in space.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

Korolev married Xenia Vincentini on 6 August 1931. He had first proposed marriage to her in 1924, but she then declined so she might continue her higher education. In 1931, Korolev and [[Spaceflight|space travel]] enthusiast [[Friedrich Zander]] participated in the creation of the [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion]] (GIRD), one of the earliest state-sponsored centers for rocket development in the USSR. While there, he met [[Mikhail Tikhonravov]], a glider pilot and aerospace engineer who would later work under Korolev's Sputnik group.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Siddiqi |first=Asif A. |date=2023-03-29 |title=Korolev, Sputnik, and The International Geophysical Year |url=https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/siddiqi.html |website=NASA History Division: Sputnik and the Dawn of the Space Age |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration}}</ref> In May 1932 Korolev was appointed chief of the group; and military interest encouraged funding of group projects. On August 18, 1933, GIRD launched the first [[Hybrid-propellant rocket|hybrid propellant rocket]], the [[Group for the Study of Reactive Motion#GIRD-9|GIRD-09]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Okninski |first1=Adam |title=Hybrid rocket propulsion technology for space transportation revisited - propellant solutions and challenges |journal=FirePhysChem |date=December 2021 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=260–271 |doi=10.1016/j.fpc.2021.11.015 |bibcode=2021FPhCh...1..260O |s2cid=244899773 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and on November 25, 1933, the Soviet's first liquid-fueled rocket [[GIRD-X]].<ref>{{cite web |title=GIRD (Gruppa Isutcheniya Reaktivnovo Dvisheniya) |url=http://weebau.com/rock_rus/gird.htm |website=WEEBAU |access-date=26 July 2022}}</ref>

Growing military interest in this new technology caused GIRD to be merged with the [[Gas Dynamics Laboratory]] (GDL) at [[Saint Petersburg|Leningrad]] in 1933 to create the [[Reactive Scientific Research Institute]] (RNII), which brought together the best of the Soviet rocket talent, including Korolev, [[Georgy Langemak]], and former GDL engine designer [[Valentin Glushko]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7-8}}{{sfn|Baker|Zak|2013|p=9}} Korolev was appointed deputy head under [[Ivan Kleymyonov]], however in 1934, following a disagreement over the direction of RNII, Korolev was demoted to section chief of winged missiles and was replaced by [[Georgy Langemak]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=7-8}}{{refn |group= note |11.01.1934. the position of deputy head of the RNII was eliminated, and instead of it the post of chief engineer was introduced.}} Korolev supervised development of [[cruise missile]]s and a crewed rocket-powered [[Glider aircraft|glider]]. "Rocket Flight in Stratosphere" was published by Korolev in 1934.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Space Age Turns 50 - Ideas of Space Flight from the Early 20th Century Korolev, the R-7, and Sputnik |url=https://faculty.etsu.edu/gardnerr/sputnik/korolev.htm |website=ESTU |access-date=27 July 2022}}</ref> On 10 April 1935, Korolev's wife gave birth to their daughter, Natalya; and they moved out of Sergei's parents' home and into their own apartment in 1936. Both Korolev and his wife had careers, and Sergei always spent long hours at his design office.

==Imprisonment==
 
[[Joseph Stalin]]'s [[Great Purge]] severely damaged RNII, with Director Kleymyonov and Chief Engineer Langemak arrested in November 1937, tortured, made to sign false confessions and executed in January 1938. Glushko was arrested in March 1938 and with many other leading engineers was imprisoned in the [[Gulag]]. Korolev was arrested by the [[NKVD]] on 27 June 1938 after being accused of a variety of charges, including false charges extracted from Kleymyonov, Langemak and Glushko. He was tortured in the [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka]] prison to extract a confession. Glushko and Korolev had reportedly been denounced by Andrei Kostikov who became the head of RNII after its leadership was arrested.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=10-12}}{{sfn|Baker|Zak|2013|p=9}}

Korolev was sent to prison, where he wrote many appeals to the authorities, including [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] himself. Following the fall of NKVD head [[Nikolai Yezhov]], the new chief [[Lavrenti Beria]] chose to retry Korolev on reduced charges in 1939; but by that time Korolev was on his way from prison to a [[Gulag]] [[Sevvostlag|forced labour camp in Kolyma]] in the far east of Siberia, where he spent several months in a gold mine before word reached him of his retrial. Work camp conditions of inadequate food, shelter, and clothing killed thousands of prisoners each month.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} Korolev sustained injuries, including possibly a heart attack<ref>{{Cite web|date=2011-03-13|title=Sergei Korolev: the rocket genius behind Yuri Gagarin|url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/13/yuri-gagarin-first-space-korolev|access-date=2022-01-30|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref> and lost most of his teeth from [[scurvy]] before being returned to Moscow in late 1939. When he reached Moscow, Korolev's sentence was reduced to eight years.<ref>{{cite book|last = French|first = Francis|author2 = Colin Burgess|author3 = Paul Haney|title = Into that Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961–1965|year = 2007|publisher = University of Nebraska Press|page = [https://archive.org/details/intothatsilentse00fren_0/page/110 110]|isbn = 978-0-8032-1146-9|url-access = registration|url = https://archive.org/details/intothatsilentse00fren_0/page/110}}</ref> However, due to the intervention by his old mentor, [[Andrei Tupolev]], he was relocated to a [[Sharashka|prison for scientists and engineers]] in September 1940.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=11-14}} These were labor camps where scientists and engineers worked on projects assigned by the Communist party leadership. The ''Central Design Bureau 29'' (CKB-29, ЦКБ-29) of the NKVD, served as Tupolev's engineering facility, and Korolev was brought here to work. During [[World War II]], this ''sharashka'' designed both the [[Tupolev Tu-2]] bomber and the [[Petlyakov Pe-2]] dive bomber. The group was moved several times during the war, the first time to avoid capture by advancing German forces. Korolev was moved in 1942 to the ''sharashka'' of [[Kazan]] OKB-16 under Glushko. Korolev and Glushko designed the RD-1&nbsp;KhZ<ref>"''Last of the Wartime Lavochkins''", AIR International, Bromley, Kent, U.K., November 1976, Volume 11, Number 5, pages 245–246.</ref> auxiliary rocket motor tested in an unsuccessful fast-climb [[Lavochkin La-7R]]. Korolev was isolated from his family until 27 June 1944 when he{{em dash}}along with Tupolev, Glushko and others{{em dash}}was finally discharged by special government decree, although the charges against him were not dropped until 1957.<ref>{{cite book|last = Parrish|first = Michael|title = The Lesser Terror|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group|year = 1996|page = 46|isbn = 0-275-95113-8}}</ref>

Korolev rarely talked about his experience in the Gulag, and lived under constant fear of being executed for the military secrets he possessed. He was deeply affected by his time in the camp, becoming reserved and cautious as a result. He later learned that Glushko was one of his accusers, and this was likely the cause of the lifelong animosity between the two men. The design bureau was handed over from NKVD control to the government's aviation industry commission. Korolev continued working with the bureau for another year, serving as deputy designer under Glushko and studying various rocket designs.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=16}}

==Ballistic missiles==
Korolev was commissioned into the [[Red Army]] with the rank of [[polkovnik|colonel]] in 1945; his first military decoration was the Badge of Honor, awarded in 1945 for his work on the development of rocket motors for military aircraft. On 8 September 1945, Korolev was brought to Germany along with many other experts to recover the technology of the German [[V-2 rocket]].{{sfn|Harford|1997}} The Soviets [[German influence on the Soviet space program|worked with German specialists]] to understand and replicate the rocket technology, placing a priority on recreating the entire German [[V-2 rocket]]. In February 1946 the Institute Nordhausen was formed, with Korolev as Chief Engineer, Glushko as head of Engine assembly and propulsion systems and German [[Helmut Gröttrup]], who previously worked with [[Wernher von Braun]], as General Director.<ref name="RSW_SovietinGermany">{{cite web |last1=Zak |first1=Anatoly |title=Soviet rocket research in Germany after World War II |url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/rockets_ussr_germany.html |website=Russian Space Web |access-date=28 June 2022 |archive-date=14 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160214151928/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/rockets_ussr_germany.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The work continued in [[East Germany]] until late 1946, when 2,000+ German scientists and engineers were sent to the USSR through [[Operation Osoaviakhim]]. Most of the German experts, Gröttrup being an exception, had not worked directly with [[Wernher von Braun]]. Many of the leading German rocket scientists, including Dr. von Braun himself, surrendered to Americans and were transported to the United States as part of [[Operation Paperclip]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sputnik Biographies--Sergei P. Korolev (1906-1966)|url=https://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/korolev.html|access-date=16 June 2020|website=history.nasa.gov}}</ref>

Stalin made rocket and missile development a national priority upon signing a decree on 13 May 1946,{{sfn|Harford|1997}} and a new institute called Scientific Research Institute No. 88 ([[NII-88]]) was created for that purpose, in the suburbs of Moscow. Development of [[ballistic missile]]s was placed under the military control of [[Dmitriy Ustinov]] through the decree signed by Stalin, and Ustinov appointed Korolev as chief designer of long-range missiles at Department No. 3 of NII-88.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=40-41}} During this period Korolev demonstrated his organisation and management capabilities by organising a "Council of Chief Designers", which assisted in circumnavigating the bureaucratic hierarchy of the Soviet missile industry.  This group eventually assumed engineering control over the early [[Soviet space program]].{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=47}}

Korolev returned from Germany in February 1947 and took up his duties as chief designer and Head of Department No 3 of NII-88, initially tasked with reproduction of the V-2. The Soviets were only able to obtain parts to assemble approximately a dozen V-2 rockets, so the decision was made to replicate a Soviet version, which was designated the [[R-1 (missile)|R-1]]. Initially Korolev opposed this decision as he thought it was a waste of time and they should move immediately to manufacture a more advanced version, which had been designated the [[R-2 (missile)|R-2]].  However Korolev was overruled and was ordered to assemble what V-2s they had for flight testing, then create the R-1 using Soviet infrastructure and materials. NII-88 also incorporated 170+ German specialists{{snd}}including Helmut Gröttrup and [[Fritz Karl Preikschat]]{{snd}} with approximately half based at Branch 1 of NII-88 on [[Gorodomlya Island]] in [[Lake Seliger]] some {{convert|200|km}} from Moscow. The Germans provided a variety of support to the Soviet efforts, particularly on assembling the V-2 and creating the R-1.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=41-49}}

The first Soviet tests of V-2 rockets took place in October 1947 at [[Kapustin Yar]], with Korolev as management lead for the project. Numerous German engineers also participated in the tests. A total of 11 V-2 rockets were launched, with 5 reaching their designated targets.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=55-56}}{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=36-38 Vol 2}} In September 1948 testing of the R-1 began at Kapustin Yar, where Korolev was a formal member of the "State Commission for testing the R-1". No Germans participated in these tests, which launched 9 rockets between September and November 1948.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=61-62}}

[[File:Korolev Kurchatov Keldysh.jpg|thumb|right| "Chief Designer" Korolev (left) with "father of the Soviet atomic bomb" [[Igor Kurchatov]] (centre) and "Chief Theoretician" [[Mstislav Keldysh]] (right), 1956 ]]
Korolev continued to lobby for the design and construction of the R-2, including meeting with [[Stalin]] in April 1947, but faced competition from a proposal from the Germans, called the G-1. Whilst the German proposal was initially supported by Soviet management, Korolev opposed utilising German specialists for personal reasons and basically ignored their suggestions and advice. Due to political and security concerns, German specialists were not allowed knowledge or access to any Soviet missile design{{sfn|Chertok|2005|p=57 Vol 2}} and in December 1948 work on the G-1 proposal was terminated.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=63}} The Ministry of Defence decided to dissolve the German team in 1950 and repatriated the German engineers and their families between December 1951 and November 1953.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=82}}

In April 1948 the go ahead for "scientific and experimental work" was approved, which led to the creation of the R-2. The [[R-2 rocket|R-2]] doubled the range of the V-2, and was the first design to utilize a separable warhead. This was followed by the R-3, which had a range of {{convert|3000|km}}, and thus could target England.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=57-61}}

Glushko couldn't obtain the required thrust from the R-3 engines, so the project was canceled in 1952. Korolev joined the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Soviet Communist Party]] that year to request money from the government for future projects including the [[R-5 missile|R-5]], with a more modest {{convert|1200|km}} range. It completed a first successful flight by 1953. The world's first true [[intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM) was the [[R-7 Semyorka]]. This was a two-stage rocket with a maximum payload of 5.4 tons, sufficient to carry the Soviets' bulky [[Nuclear weapon|nuclear bomb]] an impressive distance of {{convert|7000|km}}. During the summer of 1957, the first three launches of the R-7 all failed, severely demoralizing Korolev and his colleagues. The failures also jeopardized his position and dream of using an R-7 to launch an artificial satellite in the future.<ref name=":2" /> The fourth test, completed on 21 August 1957, was finally able to deliver a dummy payload to the [[Kamchatka Peninsula]]. The Soviet news agency [[TASS]] made a brief announcement about the ICBM's success, but it was largely ignored or dismissed by members of the American public and media.<ref name=":2" /> Because of Korolev's success with the R-7 and because the Soviet Union had successfully created the ICBM before the United States of America, he was nationally recognized by the Soviet Union, although his name was kept secret. However, despite the Soviet R-7 initial success, it experienced later failures as it was not intended to be a practical weapon.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} On 19 April 1957 Korolev was declared fully "[[Rehabilitation (Soviet)|rehabilitated]]", as the government acknowledged that his sentence was unjust.<ref name=esa-father>{{Cite web|title=Sergei Korolev: Father of the Soviet Union's success in space|url=https://www.esa.int/About_Us/ESA_history/50_years_of_humans_in_space/Sergei_Korolev_Father_of_the_Soviet_Union_s_success_in_space|access-date=16 June 2020|website=www.esa.int|language=en}}</ref><ref name=Great/>

==Space program==
Korolev was keenly aware of the orbital possibilities of the rockets being designed as ICBMs, ideas that were shared by [[Mikhail Tikhonravov|Tikhonravov]] then working at [[Science and technology in the Soviet Union|NII]]-4.<ref name=":2" /> On 26 May 1954, six days after being tasked to lead the R-7 ballistic missile program, Korolev submitted a proposal to use the R-7 to launch a satellite into space, naming a technical report from Tikhonravov and mentioning similar work being carried out by Americans.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} After receiving lukewarm support from the Soviet leadership, Korolev initiated a modest satellite research project in coordination with Tikhonravov.<ref name=":2" /> To intensify his lobbying efforts, Korolev, along with other like-minded engineers, began writing speculative articles for Soviet newspapers on space flight. They were picked up by the press in the United States and the CIA, influencing American authorities to start their own satellite programs. On 29 July 1955, the [[Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower administration]] announced the intention of the United States to launch "small Earth-circling satellites" for the [[International Geophysical Year]].<ref name=":2" /> While the US government debated the idea of spending millions of dollars on this concept, Korolev suggested the international prestige of launching a satellite before the United States. On 5 August, he sent another proposal with American newspaper articles about the US program attached. Three days later, the Soviet leadership approved his plan.<ref name="Siddi2017">{{cite web |title=Sputnik remembered: The first race to space (part 1) (page 1) |url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3341/1 |website=www.thespacereview.com |publisher=[[The Space Review]] |date=2 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424223315/http://www.thespacereview.com/article/3341/1 |archive-date=24 April 2019 |quote=To add power to his request, he added a folder containing a bunch of recent articles from the American media, all properly translated, all communicating that the United States was giving priority to its own satellite program. The attached folder clinched the deal: a little over a week after the American announcement, on August 8, 1955, the Soviet Politburo approved a satellite project under Korolev |access-date=12 November 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sixty Years Later, Sputnik Declassifications Offer Primer in Fake News |url=https://news.fordham.edu/inside-fordham/sputnik-declassifications-offer-primer-fake-news/ |website=Fordham Newsroom |publisher=[[Fordham University]] |date=10 October 2017 |quote="In 1954 . . . because they knew a lot of Soviet journalists, they flooded the Soviet media with speculative articles on space flight .. cited a lot in the Washington Post and New York Times. July 1955, the Eisenhower administration announces they're going to launch a satellite in a couple of years, it's going to be a scientific satellite}}</ref> On 30 August, Korolev met with members of the Soviet defense and scientific communities. As a result, he was allowed to use the R-7 rocket to launch satellites, and his project also gained support from the [[Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union|Soviet Academy of Sciences]]. On 30 January 1956, the [[Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union|USSR Council of Ministers]] officially approved the satellite project in its decree number 149-88ss.<ref name=":2" />

The original plan for the satellite called for a sophisticated scientific laboratory.<ref name=":2" /> Nicknamed "[[Object D]]", it would be the fifth type of payload built for the R-7 missile.<ref name="Siddiqi, Asif A. 2003, p. 176">Siddiqi, Asif A.. ''Sputnik and the Soviet Space Challenge'', Gainesville, Florida. The University of Florida Press, 2003, p. 176. {{ISBN|0-8130-2627-X}}</ref>{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=151}} Despite earlier work done by Tikhonravov, much of its design, such as pressurized equipment, long-range communications systems, automated switches, and a metal construct to work in space, had little precedent. By mid-1956, Korolev had finalized the modifications to the R-7 ICBM for a satellite launch, but the project as a whole was falling behind schedule. He feared that the United States would launch a satellite before he could. This was heightened by reports of the American [[Project Vanguard]] and a secret 1956 missile launch from [[Patrick Space Force Base#United States Air Force use|Patrick Air Force Base]], Florida. Meanwhile, testing of the R-7 rocket engine showed that its [[specific impulse]] would be lower than projected and thus insufficient for Object D's specifications. Korolev sent a revised plan calling for a simpler payload of approximately 100 kilograms. It was approved on 25 January 1957 as '[[Sputnik 1|Object PS]]'.<ref name=":2" />

Despite having achieved one successful flight of the R-7 rocket, Korolev still faced opposition from some officials to his plan of launching a satellite. In August 1957, he proposed letting the [[Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|Central Committee]] make the call. Because no one wanted to risk losing the prestige to the United States, Korolev's satellite launch was finally approved. In September, a second successful flight of the R-7 was made, and 6 October was established as the target date for launching PS-1, the first of the Object PS-type satellites.<ref name=":2" />

The lead designer of Object PS was Mikhail S. Khomyakov, and its deputy designer was Oleg G. Ivanovskiy.<ref name=":2" /> It was constructed in less than a month by the Tikhonravov group,<ref name=Siddi2017/> while Korolev personally managed the assembly at a hectic pace. The satellite was a simple polished metal sphere no bigger than a beach ball, containing batteries that powered a transmitter using four external communication antennas. Korolev moved the launch date two days early, fearing a preemptive launch of their own satellite by the United States.<ref name=":2" /> PS-1 was successfully launched into space on 4 October 1957 as [[Sputnik 1]], becoming the first artificial [[satellite]] of the Earth.<ref name=Great/>

For security reasons, the names of chief individuals in the Soviet space program became a secret. They were allowed to prepare a report detailing the design and construction of Sputnik 1, however, which was published anonymously by ''[[Pravda]]'' on 9 October. Korolev also began writing other articles under the pseudonym "Professor K. Sergeyev".<ref name=":2" />

The Soviet government initially had a low-key response to the success of the launch. [[Sputnik crisis|International reaction]] was electrifying and tumultuous, however, which the Soviets later capitalized on.<ref name=":2" /> [[Space Race|Political ramifications]] of the accomplishment continued for decades. [[Nikita Khrushchev]]—initially bored with the idea of another Korolev rocket launch—was pleased with this success after the wide recognition, and encouraged launch of a more sophisticated satellite less than a month later, in time for the 40th anniversary of the [[October Revolution]] on 3 November.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

Korolev and close associate Mstislav Keldysh wished to up the ante of building a second, larger satellite by proposing the idea of putting a dog on board, which sufficiently caught the interest of the [[Russian Academy of Sciences|Soviet Academy of Sciences]].{{sfn|Harford|1997}} This new [[Sputnik 2]] spacecraft had six times the mass of the Sputnik 1, and carried the dog [[Laika]] as a payload. The entire vehicle was designed from scratch within four weeks, with no time for testing or quality checks. It was successfully launched on 3 November and Laika was placed in orbit. There was no mechanism to bring the dog back to Earth; the dog died from heat exhaustion after five hours in space.<ref>[http://www.russianspaceweb.com/sputnik2_mission.html "Sputnik-2 in orbit"], ''Russian Space Web'', accessed 18 April 2021</ref>

The instrument-laden [[Sputnik 3]] spacecraft was launched initially on 27 April 1958, but the satellite had a failure with the engine which caused the satellite to fall back down to Earth in separate pieces.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} On 15 May 1958, Sputnik 3 was successfully launched into orbit. The tape recorder that was to store the data failed after launch. As a result, the discovery and mapping of the [[Van Allen radiation belt]]s was left to the United States'<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/s/sputnik3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227235733/http://astronautix.com/s/sputnik3.html|archive-date=27 December 2016|title=Sputinik 3|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> [[Explorer 3]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/e/explorera.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229020749/http://astronautix.com/e/explorera.html|archive-date=29 December 2016|title=Explorer A|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> and [[Pioneer 3]] satellites. Sputnik 3 left little doubt with the American government about the Soviets' pending ICBM capability.

===The Moon===
{{Main|Soviet Moonshot}}
Even before the ''Sputnik 1'' launch, Korolev was interested in getting to the Moon. He came up with the notion to modify the R-7 missile in order to carry a package to the Moon. However, it was not until 1958 that this idea was approved, after Korolev wrote a letter explaining that his current technology would make it possible to get to the Moon.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} A modified version of the R-7 launch vehicle was used with a new upper stage. The engine for this final stage was the first designed to be fired in outer space. ''Mechta'' is the Russian word meaning "dream", and this is the name Korolev called his moon ships. Officially, the Soviet Union called them [[Luna programme|Lunas]].{{sfn|Harford|1997}} The first three lunar probes launched in 1958 all failed in part because of political pressure forcing the launches to be rushed with an inadequate budget to test and develop the hardware properly before they were ready to fly. Korolev thought political infighting in Moscow was responsible for the lack of sufficient funding for the program, although the US space program at this early phase also had a scarcely enviable launch record. Once, when pressured to beat the US to a working lunar probe, Korolev allegedly exclaimed: "Do you think that only American rockets explode!?"{{sfn|Harford|1997}} The [[Luna 1]] mission on 2 January 1959 was intended to impact the surface, but missed by about {{convert|6000|km}}. Nevertheless, this probe became the first to reach escape velocity and the first to go near the Moon, as well as becoming the first man-made object to orbit the Sun.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} A subsequent attempt (''[[Luna E-1A No.1]]'') failed at launch, and then ''[[Luna 2]]'' successfully impacted the surface on 14 September 1959, giving the Soviets another first. This was followed just one month later by an even greater success with ''[[Luna 3]]''. It was launched only two years after Sputnik 1, and on 7 October 1959 was the first spacecraft to photograph the [[Far side (Moon)|far side of the Moon]], which was something the people of Earth had never seen beforehand.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

The Luna missions were intended to make a successful soft landing on the Moon, but Korolev was unable to see a success. ''[[Luna 4]]'' and ''[[Luna 6]]'' both missed, ''[[Luna 5]]'', ''[[Luna 7]]'', and ''[[Luna 8]]'' all crashed on the Moon. It was not until after Korolev's death that the Soviet Union successfully achieved a soft landing on the Moon with ''[[Luna 9]]''.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

Towards the latter part of Korolev's life, he had been working on projects for reaching the planets [[Mars]] and [[Venus]], and even had spacecraft ready to reach both. The United States was also working towards reaching these planets, so it was a race to see who would be successful. Korolev's two initial Mars probes suffered from engine failures, and the five probes the Soviet Union launched in hopes of reaching Venus all failed between 1961 and 1962, Korolev himself supervised the launches of all probes.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

On 1 November 1962, the Soviet Union successfully launched ''[[Mars 1]]'' and although communications failed, was the first to complete a [[Flyby (spaceflight)|flyby]] of Mars. Later, the Soviet Union launched ''[[Venera 3]]'', which was the first impact of Venus. It was not until after Korolev's death that the Soviet Union impacted Mars.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

Korolev's group was also working on ambitious programs for missions to Mars and Venus, putting a man in orbit, launching communication, spy and weather satellites, and making a soft-landing on the Moon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/k/korolevbureau.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820170320/http://www.astronautix.com/k/korolevbureau.html|archive-date=20 August 2016|title=Korolev bureau|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> A radio communication center needed to be built in the [[Crimea]], near [[Simferopol]] and near [[Pluton (complex)|Yevpatoria]] to control the spacecraft.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/kik_nip16.html|title=Crimean space connection|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> Many of these projects were not realized in his lifetime, and none of the planetary probes performed a completely successful mission until after his death.

===Human spaceflight===
[[File:Гагарин_перед_полётом.jpg|thumb|250px|Korolev (right) with cosmonaut [[Yuri Gagarin]] and [[Marshal of the Soviet Union|Marshal]] [[Kirill Moskalenko]], before Gagarin's launch in [[Vostok 1]] (1961)]]
Although he had conceived of the idea as early as 1948, Korolev's planning for the piloted mission began in 1958 with design studies for the future [[Vostok spacecraft]]. It was to hold a single passenger in a [[space suit]], and be fully automated. The space suit, unlike the United States' pure [[oxygen]] system, was 80 percent [[nitrogen]] and only 20 percent oxygen. The capsule had an escape mechanism for problems prior to launch, and a soft-landing and ejection system during the recovery. The spacecraft was spherical, just like the Sputnik design, and Korolev explained his reasoning for this by saying "the spherical shape would be more stable dynamically". Beginning with work on the Vostok, [[Konstantin Feoktistov]] was recruited directly by Korolev to be the principal designer for [[Human spaceflight|crewed]] spaceflight vehicles.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

On 15 May 1960 an uncrewed prototype performed 64 orbits of Earth, but the reentry maneuver failed. On 28 July 1960, two dogs by the names of Chaika and Lishichka were launched into space, but the mission was unsuccessful when an explosion killed the dogs. However, on 19 August, the Soviet Union became the first to successfully recover living creatures back to Earth. The dogs, [[Soviet space dogs|Belka]] and [[Soviet space dogs|Strelka]] were successfully launched into space on a Vostok spacecraft and they completed eighteen orbits.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} Following this, the Soviet Union sent a total of six dogs into space, two in pairs, and two paired with a dummy. Unfortunately, not all the missions were successful. After gaining approval from the government, a modified version of Korolev's R-7 was used to launch [[Yuri Gagarin|Yuri Alexeevich Gagarin]] into orbit on 12 April 1961, which was before the United States was able to put [[Alan Shepard]] into space.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} Korolev served as capsule coordinator, and was able to speak to Gagarin who was inside the capsule.<ref name=Great/> The first human in space and Earth orbit returned to Earth via a parachute after ejecting at an altitude of {{convert|7|km|ft}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/vostok1_landing.html|title=Landing of the Vostok spacecraft|access-date=2021-10-01}}</ref> Gagarin was followed by additional Vostok flights, culminating with 81 orbits completed by [[Vostok 5]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.spacefacts.de/mission/english/vostok-5.htm|title=Spaceflight mission report: Vostok 5|access-date=2021-10-01|date=2020-08-11}}</ref> and the launch of [[Valentina Tereshkova]] as the first woman cosmonaut in space aboard [[Vostok 6]].<ref name=Great/>

Korolev proposed communications satellites and the Vostok craft was a spinoff from the [[Zenit (satellite)|Zenit]] spy satellite useful for photographic reconnaissance and  Vostok had its defense importance acknowledged by the military.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/2844/1|title=Declassified documents offer a new perspective on Yuri Gagarin's flight|date=12 October 2015|author=[[Asif Siddiqi]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213141408/https://www.thespacereview.com/article/2844/1|archive-date=13 December 2020|access-date=2021-10-01|url-status=live}}</ref> Korolev planned to move forward with [[Soyuz spacecraft|Soyuz]] craft able to dock with other craft in orbit and exchange crews. He was directed by Khrushchev to cheaply produce more 'firsts' for the piloted program, including a multi-crewed flight. Korolev was reported to have resisted the idea as the Vostok was a one-man spacecraft and the three-man Soyuz was several years away from being able to fly. Khrushchev was not interested in technical excuses and let it be known that if Korolev could not do it, he would give the work to his rival, [[Vladimir Chelomey]]. But Russian Space Web describes this demand by Khrushchev as a legend<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/voskhod-origin.html|title=Voskhod: Mission impossible |access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> and Challenge to Apollo says that the evidence that Khrushchev would have ordered these missions does not survive scrutiny.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=384-385}}

Cosmonaut [[Alexei Leonov]] described the authority Korolev commanded at this time.<ref name="Scott and Leonov, p. 53."/>

<blockquote>Long before we met him, one man dominated much of our conversation in the early days of our training; Sergei Pavlovich Korolev, the mastermind behind the Soviet space program. He was only ever referred to by the initials of his first two names, SP, or by the mysterious title of "Chief Designer", or simply "Chief". For those on the space program there was no authority higher. Korolev had the reputation of being a man of the highest integrity, but also of being extremely demanding. Everyone around him was on tenterhooks, afraid of making a wrong move and invoking his wrath. He was treated like a god.
</blockquote>

Leonov recalled the first meeting between Korolev and the cosmonauts.<ref>Scott and Leonov, p. 54.</ref>

{{blockquote|I was looking out of the window when he arrived, stepping out of a black [[ZIS-110|Zis 110]] limousine. He was taller than average;
I could not see his face, but he had a short neck and large head.
He wore the collar of his dark-blue overcoat turned up and the brim of his hat pulled down.

"Sit down, my little eagles," he said as he strode into the room where we were waiting.

He glanced down a list of our names and called on us in alphabetical order to introduce ourselves briefly and talk about our flying careers.}}On August 11, 1962, Korolyov launched the first group flight with [[Vostok 3 and 4]] (with [[Andriyan Nikolayev]] and [[Pavel Popovich]]). The two spacecraft approached each other to 6.5 km. This was based on precise calculations already at launch and not on steering (maneuvering) of the spacecraft. During the flight, at Korolev's request, Popovich sang the Ukrainian song "[[Watching the sky and thinking a thought]] ..." (Ukrainian Дивлюсь я на небо, та й думку гадаю ..., poem by [[Mykhailo Petrenko]]) the first song from outer space.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1962-08-12 |title=Перша пісня, яка пролунала в космосі, була українською! |website=[[YouTube]] |trans-title=The first song that sounded in space was Ukrainian! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbsfBjmS-ZQ |access-date=2023-10-21 |at=1:05 min |language=ru}}</ref>{{Main|Voskhod program}}

The [[Voskhod spacecraft|Voskhod]] was designed as an incremental improvement on the Vostok to meet Khruschev's goal. As a single capsule would be ineffective for proper travel to the Moon, the vehicle needed to be able to hold more people.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} Khrushchev ordered Korolev to launch three people on the Voskhod capsule quickly, as the United States was already doing unmanned tests of the 2 person [[Gemini 3|Gemini]]. Korolev accepted, on the condition that more backing would be given to his [[N1 (rocket)|N-1]] rocket program.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} One of the difficulties in the design of the Voskhod was the need to land it via parachute. The three-person crew could not bail out and land by parachute. So the craft would need much larger parachutes in order to land safely.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/voskhod-design.html|title=From Vostok to Voskhod|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> Early tests with the craft resulted in some failures<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/voskhod-kosmos47.html|title=Kosmos-47: The Final test of Voskhod|access-date=2021-10-02}}</ref> until use of stronger fabric improved parachute reliability.

The resulting Voskhod was a stripped-down vehicle from which any excess weight had been removed; although a backup retrofire engine was added, since the more powerful Voskhod rocket used to launch the craft would send it to a higher orbit than the Vostok, eliminating the possibility of a natural decay of the orbit and reentry in case of primary retrorocket failure. After one uncrewed test flight, this spacecraft carried a crew of three [[cosmonauts]], Komarov, Yegorov and Feoktistov, into space on 12 October 1964 and completed sixteen orbits. This craft was designed to perform a soft landing, eliminating a need for the ejection system; but the crew was sent into orbit without space suits or a launch abort system.

With the Americans planning a spacewalk with their [[Gemini program]], the Soviets decided to trump them again by performing a spacewalk on the second Voskhod launch. After rapidly adding an airlock, the [[Voskhod 2]] was launched on 18 March 1965, and [[Alexei Leonov]] performed the world's first spacewalk. The flight very nearly ended in disaster, as Leonov was just barely able to re-enter through the airlock, and plans for further Voskhod missions were shelved. In the meantime the change of Soviet leadership with the fall of Khrushchev meant that Korolev was back in favor and given charge of beating the US to landing a man on the Moon.

For the [[Soviet Moonshot#Moon landing N1/L3 program|Moon race]], Korolev's staff started to design the immense [[N1 rocket]] in 1961,<ref name="sovlun">Lindroos, Marcus. [http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/science-technology-and-society/sts-471j-engineering-apollo-the-moon-project-as-a-complex-system-spring-2007/readings/soviet_mand_lunr.pdf The Soviet manned Lunar program] ''[[MIT]]''. Accessed: 4 October 2011.</ref> using the [[NK-15]] [[Liquid-propellant rocket|liquid fuel rocket engine]].<ref name="NK-15 Engine">{{cite encyclopedia | url=http://www.astronautix.com/engines/nk15.htm | title=NK-15 | encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Astronautix | year=2015 | access-date=29 December 2015 | author=Wade, Mark | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825232334/http://www.astronautix.com/engines/nk15.htm | archive-date=25 August 2016 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He also was working on the design for the [[Soyuz programme|Soyuz]] spacecraft that was intended to carry crews to LEO and to the Moon. As well, Korolev was designing the Luna series of vehicles that would soft-land on the Moon and make robotic missions to Mars and Venus. Unexpectedly, he died in January 1966, before he could see his various plans brought to fruition.

====Criticism====

Engineer [[Sergei Khrushchev]], son of former [[Soviet Premier]] Nikita Khrushchev, explained in an interview some of the shortcomings he discerned in Korolev's approach, which in his opinion was why the Soviets didn't land on the Moon:

{{Blockquote
|text=I think Russia had no chance to be ahead of the Americans under Sergei Korolev and his successor, Vasili Mishin. ... Korolev was not a scientist, not a designer: he was a brilliant manager. Korolev's problem was his mentality. His intent was to somehow use the launcher he had [the N1 rocket]. It was designed in 1958 for a different purpose and with a limited payload of about 70 tons. His philosophy was, let's not work by stages [as is usual in spacecraft design], but let's assemble everything and then try it. And at last it will work. There were several attempts and failures with Lunnik [a series of uncrewed Soviet moon probes]. Sending man to the moon is too complicated, too complex for such an approach. I think it was doomed from the very beginning.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/apollo-moon-khrushchev/|title=The Moon Landing through Soviet Eyes: A Q&A with Sergei Khrushchev, son of former premier Nikita Khrushchev|first=Saswato R.|last=Das|website=Scientific American}}</ref>
}}
Another reason the Soviet crewed lunar program didn't succeed was the rivalry between Korolev and [[Vladimir Chelomey]]. Their animosity was due to the intolerable persona of both men, and their desire for leadership at any cost. The two never said a harsh word about each other either in public or in private, but toppled each other's projects in any way possible. Instead of dividing competencies and responsibilities and cooperating in order to pursue the same goal, the two struggled for leadership in the space program.<ref>{{cite book|first=Sergei|last=Khrushchev|title=Никита Хрущев: Рождение сверхдержавы|trans-title=Nikita Khrushchev: The Birth of a Superpower|language=ru|location=Moscow|publisher=Vremya|date=2010|pages=210–225, 245–291, 553–576}}</ref> According to Khrushchev, who worked for Chelomey and knew both men well, they both would have preferred the Americans to land on the Moon first rather than their rival.<ref>[http://echo.msk.ru/programs/hrushev/668837-echo/ Sergei Khrushchev talks to Echo Moskvy] (in Russian).</ref>

==Death==
[[File:Korolyev kremlin wall.jpg|thumb|right|Korolev's tomb (left) in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis]]]]
[[File:The Soviet Union 1969 CPA 3731 stamp (Sergei Korolev).jpg|thumb|Korolev on a [[Postage stamps and postal history of Russia|1969 Soviet stamp]] (10 kopeks)]]
[[File:Stamp of Romania (1989) - Sergei Korolyov.jpg|thumb|Korolev on a 1989 Romanian stamp]]
On 3 December 1960, Korolev suffered his first [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} During his convalescence, it was also discovered that he was suffering from a kidney disorder, a condition brought on by his detention in the Soviet prison camps.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} He was warned by the doctors that if he continued to work as intensely as he had, he would not live long. Korolev became convinced that Khrushchev was only interested in the space program for its propaganda value and feared that he would cancel it entirely if the Soviets started losing their leadership to the United States, so he continued to push himself.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=51,198-199}}

By 1962, Korolev's health problems were beginning to accumulate and he was suffering from numerous ailments. He had a bout of intestinal bleeding that led to him being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. In 1964 doctors diagnosed him with [[cardiac arrhythmia]]. In February he spent ten days in the hospital after a heart problem. Shortly after, he was suffering from inflammation of his [[gallbladder]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} The mounting pressure of his workload was also taking a heavy toll, and he was suffering from a lot of fatigue. Korolev was also experiencing hearing loss, possibly from repeated exposure to loud rocket-engine tests.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=276-7}}

The actual circumstances of Korolev's death remain somewhat uncertain. In December 1965, he was supposedly diagnosed with a bleeding [[polyp (medicine)|polyp]] in his [[large intestine]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} He entered the hospital on 5 January 1966 for routine surgery, but died nine days later. It was stated by the government that he had what turned out to be a large, cancerous [[tumor]] in his abdomen, but [[Valentin Glushko]] later reported that he actually died due to a poorly performed operation for [[hemorrhoid]]s.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} Another version states that the operation was going well when Korolev started to bleed. Doctors tried to provide [[intubation]] to allow him to breathe freely, but his jaws, injured during his time in a Gulag, had not healed properly and impeded the installation of the breathing tube. Korolev died without regaining consciousness. According to Harford,{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=279}} Korolev's family confirmed the cancer story. His weak heart contributed to his death during surgery.{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=278-285}}<ref>McKie, Robin, "[https://www.theguardian.com/science/2011/mar/13/yuri-gagarin-first-space-korolev Sergei Korolev: the rocket genius behind Yuri Gagarin]", ''[[The Observer]]'', 13 March 2011, retrieved 21 March 2011.</ref>

Under a policy initiated by Stalin and continued by his successors, the identity of Korolev was not revealed until after his death. The purported reason was to protect him from foreign agents from the United States. As a result, the Soviet people did not become aware of his accomplishments until after his death. His obituary was published in the ''[[Pravda]]'' newspaper on 16 January 1966, showing a photograph of Korolev with all his medals. Korolev's ashes were interred with state honors in the [[Kremlin Wall Necropolis|Kremlin Wall]].{{sfn|Harford|1997|p=282-285}}

Korolev is comparable to [[Wernher von Braun]] as the leading architects of the [[Space Race]].<ref>{{cite episode
 | title = Inside the Gulag
 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/national/podcasts/moonrise-the-origins-of-apollo-11-mission/
 | series = Moonrise
 | credits = Lillian Cunningham
 | network = Washington Post Podcasts
 | air-date = 13 August 2019
| number = 13
 | minutes = 39 minutes
 }}</ref> Like von Braun, Korolev had to compete continually with rivals, such as [[Vladimir Chelomey]], who had their own plans for flights to the Moon. Unlike the Americans, he also had to work with technology that in many aspects was less advanced than what was available in the United States, particularly in electronics and computers, and to cope with extreme political pressure.

Korolev's successor in the Soviet space program was [[Vasily Mishin]], a quite competent engineer who had served as his deputy and right-hand man. After Korolev died, Mishin became the Chief Designer, and he inherited what turned out to be a flawed [[N1 rocket]] program. In 1972, Mishin was fired and then replaced by a rival, Valentin Glushko, after all four N-1 test launches failed. By that time, the rival Americans had already made it to the Moon, and so the program was canceled by CPSU General Secretary [[Leonid Brezhnev]].

==Personal life==
The Soviet émigré Leonid Vladimirov related the following description of Korolev by [[Valentin Glushko]] at about this time:

{{blockquote|Short of stature, heavily built, with head sitting awkwardly on his body, with brown eyes glistening with intelligence, he was a skeptic, a cynic and a pessimist who took the gloomiest view of the future. 'We are all going to be shot and there will be no obituary' (''Khlopnut bez nekrologa'', Хлопнут без некролога – i.e. "we will all vanish without a trace") was his favorite expression.|author=Lev Kerber<ref>[http://www.lib.ru/MEMUARY/KERBER/tupolewskaya_sharaga.txt Tupolev's Sharaga] — 1973 (in Russian).</ref>}}

Korolev rarely drank alcohol, and lived a fairly austere lifestyle.<ref>{{Cite web |last=aburchyski |date=2010-04-12 |title=The Scientist Who Survived the Gulag to Launch Sputnik |url=https://www.historynet.com/the-scientist-who-survived-the-gulag-to-launch-sputnik/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |website=HistoryNet |language=en-US}}</ref>

His career also contributed to instability in his personal life. About 1946, the marriage of Korolev and Vincentini began to break up. Vincentini was heavily occupied with her own career, and about this time Korolev had an affair with a younger woman named Nina Ivanovna Kotenkova, who was an English interpreter in the Podlipki office.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} Vincentini, who still loved Korolev and was angry over the infidelity, divorced him in 1948. Korolev and Kotenkova were married in 1949, but he is known to have had affairs even after this second marriage.

Korolev's passion for his work was a characteristic that made him a great leader. He was committed to training younger engineers to move into his space and missile projects, even while consumed with his own work. Korolev knew that students would be the future of space exploration, which is why he made such an effort to communicate with them.{{sfn|Harford|1997}} [[Arkady Ostashev]] was one of Korolev's students, who Korolev hired to do dissertation work before later becoming an engineer and working on the R-2.{{sfn|Harford|1997}}

==Awards and honours==
[[File:Stamps 2007 Ukrposhta 859.jpg|thumb|Korolev (left) and [[Valentin Glushko]] on a 2007 Ukrainian stamp]]
Korolev, an engineer by training, was able to navigate the unpredictable and dangerous Soviet politics of Moscow, secure funding and support of leadership to the cause that was only vaguely defined (space exploration), create a shared vision to sell the idea to an extended set of disparate stakeholders, and create an entirely new segment of science.

Among his awards, Korolev was twice honored as [[Hero of Socialist Labour]], in 1956 and 1961. He was also a [[Lenin Prize]] winner in 1971,<ref name="nmspacemuseum.org">[http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=15 International Space Hall of Fame :: New Mexico Museum of Space History  :: Inductee Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630062834/http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.php?id=15 |date=30 June 2017 }} nmspacemuseum.org</ref> and was awarded the [[Order of Lenin]] three times, the [[Order of the Badge of Honour]] and the [[Medal "For Labour Valour"]].

In 1958 he was elected to the [[Academy of Sciences of the USSR]]. In 1969 and 1986, the USSR issued 10 [[Soviet ruble|kopek]] postage stamps honoring Korolev.<ref>[[:Image:Soviet Union-1969-Stamp-0.10. Sergei Korolev.jpg|Image of 1969, 10k stamp.]] [http://www.stamprussia.com/5713b.jpg Image of 1986, 10k stamp.]</ref> In addition he was made an [[Honorary Citizen]] of [[Korolyov, Moscow Oblast|Korolyov]] and received the [[Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow"]].

[[Sergei Khrushchev]] claimed that his father Nikita rejected a [[Nobel Prize]] for Korolev out of concern that the award would anger the rest of the Council of Chief Designers.<ref name="airspacemag.com">[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/we-shocked-the-world-19693460/] smithsonianemag.com</ref>

In 1990, Korolev was inducted into the [[International Air & Space Hall of Fame]] at the [[San Diego Air & Space Museum]].<ref>Sprekelmeyer, Linda, editor. ''These We Honor: The International Aerospace Hall of Fame''. Donning Co. Publishers, 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-57864-397-4}}.</ref>

===Namesakes===
A street in Moscow was named after Korolev in 1966 and is now called ''Ulitsa Akademika Korolyova'' (Academician Korolyov Street). ''The memorial home-museum of akademician S.P.Korolyov'' was established in 1975 in the house where Korolev lived from 1959 till 1966 (Moscow, 6th Ostankinsky Lane,2/28).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.museum.ru/kosmonav/Housee.htm |title=The memorial home-museum of akademician S.P.Korolev |access-date=6 February 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050313223527/http://www.museum.ru/kosmonav/Housee.htm |archive-date=13 March 2005 }}</ref> In 1976 he was inducted into the [[New Mexico Museum of Space History|International Space Hall of Fame]].<ref name="nmspacemuseum.org"/>
	
The town of Kaliningrad (historic name ''Podlipki'', Moscow region) was renamed [[Korolev, Moscow Oblast|Korolev]] in honour of Korolev in 1996. There is now an oversized statue of Korolev located in the town square. The town is the home of [[S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia|RSC Energia]], the largest space company in Russia. RSC Energia was also renamed to [[S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia]] in later years.

[[Astronomical naming conventions|Astronomical features named]] after Korolev include the [[Korolev (lunar crater)|crater Korolev]] on the far side of the Moon, a [[Korolev (Martian crater)|crater on Mars]], and the asteroid [[1855 Korolyov]].

Quite a large number of streets exist with his name in Russia as well as in Ukraine. In [[Zhytomyr]] on the other side of the street (vulytsia Dmytrivska) from the house where Korolev was born is the {{Interlanguage link multi|Korolev Memorial Astronautical Museum|qid=Q26988112}}.

A visual phenomenon iconic to a type of rocket staging event is named the [[R-7 (rocket family)#Korolev Cross|Korolev cross]] in honor of Korolev.

Aeroflot named a brand new [[Boeing 777]] after Korolev in 2021.

==Portrayals in fiction==
The first portrayal of Korolev in Soviet cinema was made in the 1972 film ''[[Taming of the Fire]]'', in which Korolev was played by [[Kirill Lavrov]].

The 2001 story ''[[The Chief Designer (novella)|The Chief Designer]]'' by [[Andy Duncan (writer)|Andy Duncan]] is a fictionalized account of Korolev's career.

He was played by [[Steve Nicolson]] in the 2005 [[BBC]] co-produced docudrama ''[[Space Race (TV series)|Space Race]]''.

In 2011 the British writer [[Rona Munro]] produced the play ''Little Eagles'' on Korolev's life – its premiere was from 16 April to 7 May 2011, in an [[Royal Shakespeare Company|RSC]] production at the [[Hampstead Theatre]],<ref>[http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/page/3031/Little+Eagles/231 What's On Main Stage] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110321184649/http://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/page/3031/Little+Eagles/231 |date=21 March 2011 }}. Hampstead Theatre. Retrieved on 30 April 2011.</ref> with Korolev played by [[Darrel D'Silva]] and [[Yuri Gagarin]] by [[Dyfan Dwyfor]].<ref>[http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/little-eagles/cast.aspx Cast and creatives – Little Eagles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225032924/http://www.rsc.org.uk/whats-on/little-eagles/cast.aspx |date=25 February 2011 }}. RSC. Retrieved on 30 April 2011.</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/apr/21/little-eagles-review?INTCMP=SRCH | work=The Guardian | first=Michael | last=Billington | title=Little Eagles – review | date=21 April 2011}}</ref>

He was played by [[Mikhail Filippov]] in the 2013 Russian film ''[[Gagarin: First in Space]]''.

He was portrayed by [[Vladimir Ilyin (actor)|Vladimir Ilyin]] in the 2017 Russian film ''[[The Age of Pioneers]]''.

According to [[Ronald D. Moore]], the creator of the [[alternate history]] TV series ''[[For All Mankind (TV series)|For All Mankind]]'', the divergence point of the alternate timeline was that Korolev instead survives the surgery in 1966, which leads to the Soviets landing on the moon first.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collider.com/for-all-mankind-season-2-ending-explained-ronald-d-moore-interview/|title='For All Mankind': Ronald D. Moore on Season 2 Tragedies, Season 3 Hints, and the Official Reason Why Russia Beat America to the Moon|website=[[Collider (website)|Collider]] |date=2021-04-23|access-date=2021-09-30}}</ref> Korolev then also appears in the second season, where he is portrayed by [[Endre Hules]].

The popular music band [[Public Service Broadcasting (band)|Public Service Broadcasting]] released the song “Korolev” in 2015 as a tribute to Sergei Korolev. It features as a B-Side to the single “Sputnik” which is taken from their album “[[The Race for Space (album)|The Race For Space]]”.

==See also==
{{Portal|Spaceflight|Biography|Soviet Union}}
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Hermann Oberth]]
* [[History of rockets]]
* [[Kerim Kerimov]]
* [[List of aerospace engineers]]
* [[Maxime Faget]]
* [[Mstislav Keldysh]]
* [[Robert Ludvigovich Bartini]]
* [[Soviet rocketry]]
* [[Timeline of the Space Race]]
* [[Yuri Kondratyuk]]
* [[Mikhail Yangel]]
* [[Vladimir Chelomey]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}
 {{reflist|group=note}}
 
==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=David |last2=Zak |first2=Anatoly |title=Race for Space 1: Dawn of the Space Age |date=9 September 2013 |publisher=RHK |url=https://books.apple.com/au/book/race-for-space-1-dawn-of-the-space-age/id634833085 |access-date=21 July 2022}}
* {{cite book |last1=Chertok |first1=Boris |title=Rockets and People Volumes 1-4 |date=2005 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration |url=https://www.nasa.gov/connect/ebooks/rockets_people_vol1_detail.html |access-date=21 July 2022}}
*{{Cite book|last=Harford|first=James|title=Korolev: How One Man Masterminded the Soviet Drive to Beat America to the Moon|year=1997|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=0-471-14853-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/korolevhowoneman0000harf}}
*{{Cite book |last=Korolyov |first=S. P.  |title=Rocket Flight in the Stratosphere |year=1934 |publisher=State Military Publishers (Гос. воен. изд.) |location=Moscow }} 
*{{Cite book |last=Korolyov |first=S. P.|title=The Practical Significance of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's Proposals in the Field of Rocketry |year=1957 |publisher=USSR Academy of Sciences |location=Moscow }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Mishin |first=Vassily P. |date=12 November 1991 |title=Why Didn't We Fly to the Moon? |journal=JPRS-Usp-91-006 |page=10 }}
*{{Cite book |last=Scott |first=David |author-link=David Scott |author2=[[Alexei Leonov]]  |others=with Christine Toomey |title=Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race |year=2006 |publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|isbn=0-312-30866-3 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Siddiqi |first1=Asif |title=Challenge to Apollo: the Soviet Union and the space race, 1945-1974 |date=2000 |publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA History Div. |location=Washington, D.C. |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4408pt1.pdf |access-date=27 July 2022}}
*{{Cite book |last=Vladimirov |first=Leonid  |others=David Floyd (trans.) |title=The Russian Space Bluff |year=1971 |publisher=The Dial Press |isbn=0-85468-023-3 }}
* "Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age", – Matthew Brzezinski, [[Henry Holt and Company]], 2008 г. {{ISBN|0-8050-8858-X}};
* [[Arkady Ostashev|A.I. Ostashev]], ''Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov – The Genius of the 20th Century'' — 2010 M. of Public Educational Institution of Higher Professional Training MGUL {{ISBN|978-5-8135-0510-2}}
* ''S. P. Korolev. Encyclopedia of life and creativity'' – edited by C. A. Lopota, [[S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia|RSC Energia. S. P. Korolev]], 2014 {{ISBN|978-5-906674-04-3}}

==External links==
{{Commons|Sergei Korolyov}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://astrotalkuk.org/2011/07/25/yuri-gagarin-statue-in-london/ Episode 47 of astrotalkuk.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110909053422/http://astrotalkuk.org/2011/07/25/yuri-gagarin-statue-in-london/ |date=9 September 2011 }} Contains recording from the unveiling of Yuri Gagarin Statue event in London on 14 July 2011, includes Natalya Koroleva speaking about her father.
* [http://www.russianspaceweb.com/korolev.html Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (1907–1966)] Biography, with several historic photographs provided by Natalya Koroleva.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060519202932/http://www.cosmos-club.org/web/journals/1998/harford.html "Korolev, Mastermind of the Soviet Space Program"] Biography, with a few photographs, by James Harford, adapted, in part, from the author's book.
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070101083332/http://www.furthermore.org.uk/static/phoenix/korolev.htm "Sergei Pavlovich Korolev"]}} Biography by Phil Delnon dated May 1998.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020701161450/http://www.astronautix.com/astros/korolev.htm Korolev] — detailed biography at [https://web.archive.org/web/20010721175730/http://astronautix.com/ ''Encyclopedia Astronautica'']
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005060912/http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/korolev/SP5.htm Detailed biography at Centennial of Flight website]
* [http://www.famhist.ru/famhist/korol/0011a3b1.htm Family history]

{{Person of the year by Gazeta Wyborcza}}
{{Authority control}}

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