LK (spacecraft)

LK

LK-3 test unit
Manufacturer	OKB-586
Designer	Mikhail Yangel
Country of origin	Soviet Union
Operator	Soviet space program
Applications	Crewed lunar landing
Specifications
Spacecraft type	Lunar module
Launch mass	5,560 to 6,525 kg
Crew capacity	1 (2 on later variant)
Dimensions	5.20 to 5.8 m high 4.50 m wide overall, landing gear deployed
Volume	5 m3
Power	N2O4/UDMH
Batteries	Equipped
Regime	Lunar orbit
Design life	48 hours
Production
Status	Canceled
Built	Several
Launched	3 (T2K)
Failed	0
Lost	0
Maiden launch	24 Nov 1970 Kosmos 379 (T2K)
Last launch	12 Aug 1971 Kosmos 434 (T2K)
Last retirement
Blok E (Lunar descent/ascent)
Powered by	11D410
Maximum thrust	20 kN (4,500 lbf)
Specific impulse	315 s (3.09 km/s)
Propellant	UDMH/N2O4[1]
Configuration
LK components: 1) passive plate of the docking system, 2) attitude control nozzles, 3) orbital rendezvous window, 4) landing window (in a concave recess), 5) high-gain antennas, 6) solid-fuel "nesting" engines, 7) footpads, 8) omnidirectional antenna, 9) rendezvous radar, A) pressurized compartment, B) equipment compartment, C) hatch, D) batteries, E) engine and fuel tanks, G) ladder

The LK (Russian: ЛК, from Russian: Лунный корабль, romanized: Lunniy korabyl, lit. 'lunar craft'; GRAU index: 11F94) was a lunar module (lunar lander designed for human spaceflight) developed in the 1960s as a part of several Soviet crewed lunar programs. Its role was analogous to the American Apollo Lunar Module (LM). Three LK modules, of the T2K variant, were flown without crew in Earth orbit, but no LK ever reached the Moon. The development of the N1 launch vehicle required for the lunar flight suffered setbacks (including several launch failures), and the first Moon landings were achieved by US astronauts on Apollo 11. As a result, having lost the Space Race, both the N1 and the LK programs were cancelled without any further development.