Designer of Soyuz booster rockets dies at 87

Alexander Soldatenkov, the designer, who created booster rockets R-7, R-7A and Soyuz-2, died in Samara at age 87.

Soldatenkov was an honorary citizen of Samara, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of Lenin and State prizes. He also had other awards.

Soldatenkov dedicated his entire life to working at Progress Space Center, where he had been serving as the technical manager for flight tests of launch vehicles since 1964.