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Soyuz 1

Mission / eventTragedy

First crewed Soyuz flight ends in a fatal parachute failure

Soyuz 1 launched Vladimir Komarov on April 23, 1967 for the first crewed flight of the Soyuz spacecraft. An undeployed solar panel reduced electrical power and obstructed attitude-control sensors, forcing controllers to abandon the planned with a second crewed Soyuz and bring Komarov home early. The descent module reentered, but its main parachute did not deploy correctly and the reserve became entangled; Komarov died at impact on April 24.

No reviewed mission patch is available for Soyuz 1.

Launch record

Explore this mission’s launch, including its vehicle, launch site, payload, and outcome.

Soyuz No. 4

launch attemptOrbital attemptcompletedNo reviewed launch image

Orbital attempt involving Soyuz 11A511 on Apr 23, 1967 at NIIP-5. The launch succeeded.

Launch date: Apr 23, 1967
Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511

5 connections

Mission dossier

Flight profile, locations, hardware, and outcome in the same reference format used throughout the archive.

Flight profile

Launch: April 23, 1967[3]
Landing: April 24, 1967[3]
Duration: 1 day, 2 hours, 47 minutes[3]

Places and recovery

Destination: Earth orbit[3]

Mission record

Vehicle: Soyuz spacecraft[3]
Crew members: 1[3]
Program: Soyuz[3]
Mission type: Crewed spaceflight mission[3]
Crew complement: 1[3]
Outcome: Tragedy[3]
Archive classification: Human spaceflight[3]
Primary objective: First fatality during a spaceflight[3]

Trajectory profile

6 sources

Follow the mission from departure through its flight environment, destination, and final phase. This sequence is not a scale orbital plot.

1
Departure
Launch
April 23, 1967[3]
2
Destination or encounter
Destination
Earth orbit[3]
3
Return or end state
Landing
April 24, 1967[3]

Incidents and investigations

1967-04-23

Launch and solar-array failure

Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.

Date: 1967-04-23
Date precision: exact day
Event class: incident
Date detail: Date and description follow the mission's documented timeline; a time of day is not added when the record does not establish one.

Open investigation record

1967-04-24

Fatal landing failure

The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.

Date: 1967-04-24
Date precision: exact day
Event class: incident
Date detail: Date and description follow the mission's documented timeline; a time of day is not added when the record does not establish one.

Open investigation record

Assignment Manifest

The flight crew and the backup team assigned to train for this mission.

Prime crew

1 assignment

Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarovlaunch crewCommanderLaunched April 23-April 24, 19671 day, 2 hours, 47 minutesCommander on Soyuz 1.

Backup crew

Trained for the mission but did not count as flown unless reassigned to the prime crew.

1 assignment

Yuri Alekseyevich GagarinBackup CommanderTrained as backup crew and did not fly this mission.

Mission Purpose

6 sources

Operate the first crewed Soyuz 7K-OK in Earth orbit.
and dock with the planned three-person companion spacecraft.
Return Komarov after spacecraft failures made the paired mission impossible.

Planned Flight Plan

6 sources

April 23, 1967
Launch and solar-array failure
Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.
April 23–24, 1967
Companion mission cancelled
The planned Soyuz 2A launch and crew-transfer operation are cancelled while controllers prepare an early return.
April 24, 1967
Fatal landing failure
The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.
After the accident
Soyuz redesigned
Crewed Soyuz flight pauses while parachute and other spacecraft systems are corrected and tested uncrewed.

Mission Timeline

6 sources

April 23, 1967
Launch and solar-array failure
Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.
April 23–24, 1967
Companion mission cancelled
The planned Soyuz 2A launch and crew-transfer operation are cancelled while controllers prepare an early return.
April 24, 1967
Fatal landing failure
The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.
Open operation record
After the accident
Soyuz redesigned
Crewed Soyuz flight pauses while parachute and other spacecraft systems are corrected and tested uncrewed.

Open canonical event chronology

Vehicle And Payloads

6 sources

Program: Soyuz
Vehicle: Soyuz spacecraft
Crew spacecraft: Soyuz spacecraft Open payload record
Mission destination: Earth orbitOpen payload record

Source library

Official and institutional references reviewed for this mission record. Numbered links open the original source in a new tab.

1NASA: Soviets Select Their First Cosmonauts 2NASA: Early Space Stations 3NASA Mir Hardware Heritage: Soyuz and Salyut Mission Descriptions 4NASA History: Human Spaceflight 5NASA Safety Center: Soyuz 1 significant incident record 6NASA SP-2010-578: NASA Astronauts on Soyuz

Archive maintenance details

Every displayed mission fact is linked to an attached reviewed source. The August 23 review includes the independently audited early Soviet, Salyut/Almaz, Mir, twenty-item Mir terminal-logistics, hundred-item Russian chronology, and twelve-record missing-dossier closure cohorts. It preserves physical transport identities, resident-expedition intervals, launch and landing crew exchanges, future and cancelled flight states, individual hardware, major anomalies, source-date disagreements, explicit evidence holds, and prior citation-owned inventories.

Sources reviewed: August 23, 2026
Information current through: August 23, 2026

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Soyuz 1

Mission / eventTragedy

First crewed Soyuz flight ends in a fatal parachute failure

No reviewed mission patch is available for Soyuz 1.

Launch record

Explore this mission’s launch, including its vehicle, launch site, payload, and outcome.

Soyuz No. 4

launch attemptOrbital attemptcompletedNo reviewed launch image

Orbital attempt involving Soyuz 11A511 on Apr 23, 1967 at NIIP-5. The launch succeeded.

Launch date: Apr 23, 1967
Vehicle: Soyuz 11A511

5 connections

Mission dossier

Flight profile, locations, hardware, and outcome in the same reference format used throughout the archive.

Flight profile

Launch: April 23, 1967[3]
Landing: April 24, 1967[3]
Duration: 1 day, 2 hours, 47 minutes[3]

Places and recovery

Destination: Earth orbit[3]

Mission record

Vehicle: Soyuz spacecraft[3]
Crew members: 1[3]
Program: Soyuz[3]
Mission type: Crewed spaceflight mission[3]
Crew complement: 1[3]
Outcome: Tragedy[3]
Archive classification: Human spaceflight[3]
Primary objective: First fatality during a spaceflight[3]

Trajectory profile

6 sources

Follow the mission from departure through its flight environment, destination, and final phase. This sequence is not a scale orbital plot.

1
Departure
Launch
April 23, 1967[3]
2
Destination or encounter
Destination
Earth orbit[3]
3
Return or end state
Landing
April 24, 1967[3]

Incidents and investigations

1967-04-23

Launch and solar-array failure

Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.

Date: 1967-04-23
Date precision: exact day
Event class: incident
Date detail: Date and description follow the mission's documented timeline; a time of day is not added when the record does not establish one.

Open investigation record

1967-04-24

Fatal landing failure

The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.

Date: 1967-04-24
Date precision: exact day
Event class: incident
Date detail: Date and description follow the mission's documented timeline; a time of day is not added when the record does not establish one.

Open investigation record

Assignment Manifest

The flight crew and the backup team assigned to train for this mission.

Prime crew

1 assignment

Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarovlaunch crewCommanderLaunched April 23-April 24, 19671 day, 2 hours, 47 minutesCommander on Soyuz 1.

Backup crew

Trained for the mission but did not count as flown unless reassigned to the prime crew.

1 assignment

Yuri Alekseyevich GagarinBackup CommanderTrained as backup crew and did not fly this mission.

Mission Purpose

6 sources

Operate the first crewed Soyuz 7K-OK in Earth orbit.
and dock with the planned three-person companion spacecraft.
Return Komarov after spacecraft failures made the paired mission impossible.

Planned Flight Plan

6 sources

April 23, 1967
Launch and solar-array failure
Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.
April 23–24, 1967
Companion mission cancelled
The planned Soyuz 2A launch and crew-transfer operation are cancelled while controllers prepare an early return.
April 24, 1967
Fatal landing failure
The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.
After the accident
Soyuz redesigned
Crewed Soyuz flight pauses while parachute and other spacecraft systems are corrected and tested uncrewed.

Mission Timeline

6 sources

April 23, 1967
Launch and solar-array failure
Soyuz 1 reaches orbit, but one solar panel fails to deploy and attitude control is impaired.
April 23–24, 1967
Companion mission cancelled
The planned Soyuz 2A launch and crew-transfer operation are cancelled while controllers prepare an early return.
April 24, 1967
Fatal landing failure
The main parachute fails and the reserve becomes entangled; Komarov is killed at impact.
Open operation record
After the accident
Soyuz redesigned
Crewed Soyuz flight pauses while parachute and other spacecraft systems are corrected and tested uncrewed.

Open canonical event chronology

Vehicle And Payloads

6 sources

Program: Soyuz
Vehicle: Soyuz spacecraft
Crew spacecraft: Soyuz spacecraft Open payload record
Mission destination: Earth orbitOpen payload record

Source library

Official and institutional references reviewed for this mission record. Numbered links open the original source in a new tab.

Archive maintenance details

Sources reviewed: August 23, 2026
Information current through: August 23, 2026

Launch record

Soyuz No. 4

Mission dossier

Flight profile

Places and recovery

Mission record

Trajectory profile

Departure

Destination or encounter

Return or end state

Incidents and investigations

Launch and solar-array failure

Fatal landing failure

Prime crew

Backup crew

Mission Purpose

Planned Flight Plan

Launch and solar-array failure

Companion mission cancelled

Fatal landing failure

Soyuz redesigned

Mission Timeline

Launch and solar-array failure

Companion mission cancelled

Fatal landing failure

Soyuz redesigned

Launch record

Soyuz No. 4

Mission dossier

Flight profile

Places and recovery

Mission record

Trajectory profile

Departure

Destination or encounter

Return or end state

Incidents and investigations

Launch and solar-array failure

Fatal landing failure

Prime crew

Backup crew

Mission Purpose

Planned Flight Plan

Launch and solar-array failure

Companion mission cancelled

Fatal landing failure

Soyuz redesigned

Mission Timeline

Launch and solar-array failure

Companion mission cancelled

Fatal landing failure

Soyuz redesigned