Roscosmos - the Soviet inheritance
1957-present
Who
The first space programme: the Soviet program from 1957, organised after 1991 as the Federal Space Service and from 2015 under today's Roscosmos State Corporation. Launches still fly from Baikonur - leased from Kazakhstan through 2050, which means Russia sends its cosmonauts to orbit from another country. Published budget: ₽413 bn (2023); non-convertible, so comparisons to dollar figures carry a caveat, and this card keeps it.
Why it matters
The record, mission by mission: Sputnik 1, the first satellite (1957). Vostok 1, the first human in space (1961). Luna 9, the first soft landing on the Moon (1966); Luna 16, the first sample return (1970); Salyut, the first station (1971); Mir, the first modular station. From 2011 to 2020, Soyuz seats were the only way to and from the ISS - the sole taxi, eight years running. Then the contraction, stated the same way: Luna 25, the first lunar attempt since 1976, was lost on 11 Sep 2025 during the orbit-lowering manoeuvre before landing - no soft landing, no south pole. Crewed flights continue (Soyuz MS-28 launched 27 Nov 2025); the planned successor is the International Lunar Research Station with CNSA, construction from about 2031. ESA ended its Soyuz cooperation contracts after 2022. Status: September 2026.
Lineage
Korolev's design lineage - Sputnik, Vostok, Soyuz - is this collection's first act. The ILRS plan links the inheritance to CNSA's next chapter.