Soyuz-U launch vehicle was an improved version of the original Soyuz rocket.
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12 Facts About Soyuz-U
2.
Soyuz-U was part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile.
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3.
The first Soyuz-U flight took place on 18 May 1973, carrying as its payload Kosmos 559, a Zenit military surveillance satellite.
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4.
The final flight of a Soyuz-U rocket took place on 22 February 2017, carrying Progress MS-05 to the International Space Station.
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5.
Soyuz-U held the world record of highest launch rate in a year in 1979 with 47 flights.
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6.
Over its operational lifetime, the Soyuz-U variant flew a total of 786 missions, another world record.
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7.
Soyuz-U has been one of the most reliable launchers, with a success rate of 97.
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8.
Soyuz-U was the basic platform for the development of the Soyuz-FG variant, which used an all-new first stage and took over crew transport to the ISS in 2002.
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9.
On 6 July 1976, a Soyuz-U launched Soyuz 21, which took a crew of two to the Salyut 5 space station.
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10.
The final crewed mission to use the Soyuz-U was Soyuz TM-34, a Soyuz ferry flight to the International Space Station.
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11.
From 2000 until its retirement in 2017, Soyuz-U vehicles were used by the Russian Federal Space Agency primarily to launch Progress-M robotic cargo spacecraft on resupply missions to the International Space Station .
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