R-7 (rocket family) in the context of "RD-107A"

Soyuz-U (GRAU index: 11A511U) was a Soviet and later Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress factory in Samara, Russia. The U designation stands for unified, as the launch vehicle was the replacement for the Voskhod rocket and several earlier Soyuz rocket variants. The Soyuz-U is part of the larger R-7 rocket family, which evolved from the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile.

The first Soyuz-U flight took place on 18 May 1973, carrying as its payload Kosmos 559, a Zenit military surveillance satellite. The final flight of a Soyuz-U rocket took place on 22 February 2017, carrying Progress MS-05 to the International Space Station.

The Soyuz-FG was an improved variant of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle from the R-7 rocket family, developed by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. It featured upgraded first and second stage engines, RD-107A and RD-108A, respectively, with enhanced injector heads that improved combustion efficiency and specific impulse. The designation "FG" refers to forsunochnaya golovka (injector head) in Russian.

Soyuz-FG made its maiden flight on 20 May 2001, delivering a Progress cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). It became the primary vehicle for launching crewed Soyuz TMA, Soyuz TMA-M, and Soyuz MS spacecraft from 2002 until its retirement in 2019.

Soyuz (Russian: Союз, lit. 'union', as in Soviet Union, GRAU index: 11A511) is a family of Soviet and later Russian expendable, medium-lift launch vehicles initially developed by the OKB-1 design bureau and has been manufactured by the Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara, Russia. The Soyuz family holds the record for the most launches in the history of spaceflight. All Soyuz rockets are part of the R-7 rocket family, which evolved from the R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.

As with several Soviet launch vehicles, the names of recurring payloads became closely associated with the rocket itself. The Soyuz rocket became widely recognized as the launcher of crewed Soyuz spacecraft under the Soyuz programme, and of the derivative uncrewed Progress cargo spacecraft. Despite this recognition, the majority of Soyuz launches have been dedicated to deploying satellites for both governmental and commercial purposes.

The Soyuz (Russian: Союз, meaning "union", GRAU index 11A511) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev, Soviet Union. It was commissioned to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soviet human spaceflight program, first with eight uncrewed test flights, followed by the first 19 crewed launches. The original Soyuz also propelled four test flights of the improved Soyuz 7K-T capsule between 1972 and 1974. It flew 30 successful missions over ten years and suffered two failures.

The Soyuz 11A511 type, a member of the R-7 family of rockets, first flew in 1966 and was an attempt to standardize the R-7 family and get rid of the variety of models that existed up to that point. It was basically a Molniya 8K78M without the Blok L stage. It featured the 8D74M RD-107 and the RD-110 engines from the 8K78M, The new, uprated core stage and strap-ons became standard for all R-7 derived launch vehicles to replace the numerous older variants in use. The RD-0110 engine had been introduced on the 8K78M booster in 1964 and was also used in 11A511s due to its enhanced performance, while Voskhod boosters continued using the less powerful RD-0107.

The R-7 Semyorka (Russian: Р-7 Семёрка, lit. 'number seven', GRAU index: 8K71) was a Soviet missile developed during the Cold War, and the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 made 28 launches between 1957 and 1961. A derivative, the R-7A, was operational from 1960 to 1968. To the West it was unknown until its launch (later it would get the NATO reporting name SS-6 Sapwood). In modified form, it launched Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite, into orbit, and became the basis for the R-7 family which includes Sputnik, Luna, Molniya, Vostok, and Voskhod space launchers, as well as later Soyuz variants. Various modifications are still in use and it has become the world's most reliable space launcher.

Vostok (Russian: Восток, lit. 'East') was a family of rockets derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka ICBM and was designed for the human spaceflight programme. This family of rockets launched the first artificial satellite (Sputnik 1) and the first crewed spacecraft (Vostok) in human history. It was a subset of the R-7 family of rockets.