SERGEI (Sergey) KOROLEV TIMELINE

1907 Sergei Korolev born Ukraine

1930 aircraft designer

Late 30’s interested in rockets…

Marshal Mikhael Tukhachevsky sponsored Gas Dynamics Laboratory in Petroplavsakaya
Reaction Propulsion Lab, Central Moscow
Valentin Glushko, designer of thrust chambers/fuel pumps
Korolev – overall vehicle design

1933 Soviet Army Marshall Tukhachevsky begins major consolidation of rocket programmes for military applications

June 1937 Tukhachevsky is arrested & executed. Korolev is sentenced to ten years in Siberia

June 1941 Nazi invasion of Russia

Korolev and others brought back to work on design in aircraft factories as prisoners

Sept 1945 Korolev on mission to Germany to claim remnants of V2 programme

1950s Korolev & Glushko develop range of rockets and missiles

May 31 1955 work begins Baikonur as ICBM base

1956 Korolev in control of his own industrial empire based around OKB1 (Special Design Bureau) Kaliningrad, near Moscow

August 3 1957 R-7 (Semyorka) first successful launch, Baikonur

October 4 1957 Sputnik launch

November 3 1957 Laika

January 31 1958 American Explorer 1 Van Allen belt discovery

Autumn 1959 Korolev begins cosmonaut selection

May 15 1960 First Vostok prototype launched & lost in space

June 18 1960 – meets Gagarin

July 28 Chaika & Lisicha dog mission explodes after launch, witnessed by cosmonauts

Aug 19 Strelka & Belka dog mission successful

Sept 19 1960 Korolev’s proposal for manned mission approved

Oct 10 1960 Rival R-16 prototype explodes on launch pad killing Marshall Nedelin and hundreds of ground crew

December 22nd 4th dd mission aborted during climb -dogs survive emergency ejection. Dog capsule rescue mission

March 9, 1961 first of two ‘Ivan Ivanovich’ dummy missions

April 3 faked scenes of launch preparations filmed

April 7 Final selection of Gagarin to make first flight

April 12 Vostock launch scheduled date