Soyuz 7

{{Short description|Crewed flight of the Soyuz programme}}

{{about|a 1969 spaceflight|the proposed carrier rocket|Soyuz-7 (rocket)|the mission identified by NASA as ISS Soyuz 7|Soyuz TMA-3}}

{{Use British English|date=October 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}

{{Infobox spaceflight

| name = Soyuz 7

| image = The Soviet Union 1969 CPA 3810 stamp (Anatoly Filipchenko, Vladislav Volkov and Viktor Gorbatko (Soyuz 7)) cancelled.jpg

| image_caption = Filipchenko, Volkov and Gorbatko on a 1969 commemorative stamp of Soviet Union

| image_size = 300px

| mission_type = Test flight

| operator = Soviet space program

| COSPAR_ID = 1969-086A

| SATCAT = 04124

| mission_duration = 4 days 22 hours 40 minutes 23 seconds

| orbits_completed = 80

| spacecraft = Soyuz 7K-OK No.15[https://www.russianspaceweb.com/soyuz6-soyuz7-soyuz8.html Soyuz spacecraft conduct triple mission] www.russianspaceweb.com, accessed 27 December 2022

| spacecraft_type = Soyuz 7K-OK (passive)

| manufacturer = Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-1)

| launch_mass = 6570 kg

| landing_mass = 1200 kg

| dimensions =

| power =

| launch_date = 12 October 1969, 10:44:42 GMT{{cite web|url=https://planet4589.org/space/log/launchlog.txt|title=Launchlog|publisher=Jonathan's Space Report|date=28 September 2020|access-date=3 October 2020}}

| launch_rocket = Soyuz

| launch_site = Baikonur, Site 1/5{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|title=Baikonur LC1|access-date=4 March 2009 |publisher=Encyclopedia Astronautica|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415160730/http://www.astronautix.com/sites/baiurlc1.htm|archive-date=15 April 2009}}

| landing_date = 17 October 1969, 09:25:05 GMT

| landing_site = 155 km at the northwest of Karaganda, Kazakhstan

| crew_size = 3

| crew_members = Anatoly Filipchenko
Vladislav Volkov
Viktor Gorbatko

| crew_callsign = {{lang|ru|Буран}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|Buran}} - "Blizzard")

| crew_photo =

| crew_photo_caption =

| crew_photo_size =

| orbit_reference = Geocentric orbit

| orbit_regime = Low Earth orbit

| orbit_periapsis = 210.0 km

| orbit_apoapsis = 223.0 km

| orbit_inclination = 51.65°

| orbit_period = 88.77 minutes

| apsis = gee

| insignia =

| insignia_caption =

| insignia_size = 200px

| programme = Soyuz programme

| previous_mission = Soyuz 6

| next_mission = Soyuz 8

}}

Soyuz 7 ({{langx|ru|Союз 7}}, Union 7) was part of an October, 1969, joint mission with Soyuz 6 and Soyuz 8 that saw three Soyuz spacecraft in orbit together at the same time, carrying a total of seven cosmonauts.

The crew consisted of commander Anatoly Filipchenko, flight engineer Vladislav Volkov and research-cosmonaut Viktor Gorbatko, whose mission was to dock with Soyuz 8 and transfer crew, as the Soyuz 4 and Soyuz 5 missions did. Soyuz 6 was to film the operation from nearby.

However, this objective was not achieved due to equipment failures. Soviet sources later claimed that no docking had been intended,{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} but this seems unlikely, given the docking adapters carried by the spacecraft, and the fact that the Soyuz 8 crew were both veterans of the previous successful docking mission. This was the last time that the Soviet crewed Moon landing hardware was tested in orbit, and the failure seems{{citation needed|date=April 2014}} to have been one of the final nails in the coffin of the programme.

The radio call sign of the spacecraft was {{lang|ru-Latn|Buran}}, meaning blizzard, which years later was re-used as the name of the entirely different spaceplane Buran. This word is apparently used as the name of an active or aggressive squadron in Soviet military training, and just like Soyuz 4, the Soyuz 7 spacecraft was constructed to be the active or male spacecraft in its docking.