Soyuz 3

Soyuz 3
Soyuz 3 commemorative postage stamp, USSR, 1968
Mission typeTest flight
OperatorSoviet space program
COSPAR ID1968-094A Edit this at Wikidata
SATCAT no.03516
Mission duration3 days 22 hours 50 minutes 45 seconds
Orbits completed81
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftSoyuz 7K-OK No.10
Spacecraft typeSoyuz 7K-OK (active)
ManufacturerExperimental Design Bureau (OKB-1)
Launch mass6575 kg
Landing mass2800 kg
Dimensions7.13 m long
2.72 m wide
Crew
Crew size1
MembersGeorgy Beregovoy
CallsignАргон (Argon - "Argon")
Start of mission
Launch date26 October 1968, 08:34:18 GMT
RocketSoyuz
Launch siteBaikonur, Site 31/6[1]
End of mission
Landing date30 October 1968, 07:25:03 GMT
Landing siteKaraganda, Kazakhstan
Orbital parameters
Reference systemGeocentric orbit[2]
RegimeLow Earth orbit
Perigee altitude196.0 km
Apogee altitude241.0 km
Inclination51.66°
Period88.87 minutes

Soyuz 3 mission patch
← Soyuz 2
Soyuz 4 →

Soyuz 3 (Russian: Союз 3, Union 3) was a spaceflight mission launched by the Soviet Union on 26 October 1968. Flown by Georgy Beregovoy, the Soyuz 7K-OK spacecraft completed 81 orbits over four days. The 47-year-old Beregovoy was a decorated World War II flying ace and the oldest person to go into orbit up to that time. The mission achieved the first Russian space rendezvous with the uncrewed Soyuz 2, but failed to achieve a planned docking of the two craft.

  1. ^ Wade, Mark (2016). "Baikonur LC31". Astronautix.com. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Trajectory was invoked but never defined (see the help page).