History
Proton initially started life as a "super ICBM." It was designed to launch a 100-megaton (or larger) nuclear warhead over a distance of 13,000 km. It was hugely oversized for an ICBM, and was never deployed in such a capacity. It was eventually utilized as a space launch vehicle. It was the brainchild of Vladimir Chelomei's design bureau as a foil to Sergei Korolev's N1 booster with the specific intent of sending a two-man Zond craft around the Moon. With the termination of the Saturn V program, Proton became the largest expendable launch system in service until the Energia rocket first flew in 1987 and the U.S. Titan IV in 1989.
Between the 1965 first flight and 1970, the Proton experienced dozens of failures. However, once perfected it became one of the most reliable heavy launch vehicles. With a total of about 335 launches, it has an 88% success rate.
Proton launched the unmanned Soviet circumlunar flights, and was intended to have launched the first Soviet circumlunar spaceflights, before the United States flew the Apollo 8 mission. Proton launched the Salyut space stations, the Mir core segment and expansion modules, and both the Zarya and Zvezda modules of the ISS. It also launched many probes to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and even Halley's Comet (using the 4-stage D-1e version).
Proton also launches commercial satellites, most of them being managed by International Launch Services. The first ILS Proton launch was on 9 April 1996 with the launch of the SES Astra 1F communications satellite.
Since 1994, Proton has earned $4.3 billion for the Russian space industry, and by 2011 this figure is expected to rise to $6 billion.
Read more about this topic: Proton (rocket Family)
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