Voskhod

Voskhod, meaning dawn or sunrise in Russian, was a Soviet human spaceflight program conducted by OKB-1 under Sergei Korolev in the mid-1960s. Built on the earlier Vostok program, Voskhod aimed to achieve rapid milestones by modifying existing hardware to carry more crew and to attempt an extra-vehicular activity (EVA). The program operated from 1964 to 1965 and produced the first multi-person crewed spaceflight and the first spacewalk, albeit within a constrained risk framework.

Technically, the Voskhod spacecraft were largely based on the Vostok design but were altered to accommodate two or three astronauts and to support EVA capability. The ejection seat was removed to save mass, and the crew compartment was rearranged to fit additional cosmonauts. The missions relied on the same launch vehicle lineage as Vostok and reused the core reentry capsule, with limited on-orbit maneuvering or docking capability.

Voskhod 1, launched in October 1964, carried Vladimir Komarov, Konstantin Feoktistov, and Boris Yegorov. It conducted 16 orbits and stayed in space for about a day, marking the first time a spacecraft carried more than two people. The mission demonstrated the feasibility of crewed multikabined flights but did not introduce significant advancements in spacecraft control or rendezvous.

Voskhod 2, launched in March 1965, carried Alexei Leonov and Pavel Belyayev and achieved the first spacewalk when Leonov exited the spacecraft for about 12 minutes. The EVA tested suited mobility and life-support in vacuum but exposed cosmonauts to considerable risk, including difficulties with space suit pressure and reentry.

The program ended in 1965 amid safety concerns and the push to develop the Soyuz program. Voskhod's legacy lies in its record-setting milestones and its influence on subsequent Soviet spaceflight design and EVA development.