Author Topic: Soyuz launch pads (Read 5148 times)

Mark Dave · « **on:** 09/29/2010 10:12 pm »

Are there any site or photos of them? I am looking for some reference for art as well as my scale model.

I'm also curious about how the structure supports the rocket. I mean do the small supports hidden below the ground level of the pad retract at launch or are permanently held out?

Is there anything on the history of them? Well in comparing photos from the present to old photos in books of say Vostok and Sputnik the larger structures changed.

Damon Hill · « **Reply #1 on:** 09/29/2010 11:23 pm »

Four booms support the Soyuz rocket at it's midpoint, just below the second stage. The entire rocket is suspended over a large pit until it begins to lift off and the counter-weighted booms automatically swing out of the way. This basic design, and the launch pads themselves, are almost unchanged from the mid-50s. So far as I know, this design is unique to the R-7 series