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Soyuz flies its last solo mission

On Sept. 15, 1976, just three weeks after the emergency return of Soyuz-21 from Salyut-5, watchers of the secretive Soviet space program were shocked to learn about the launch of a fresh crew. Even more surprising, Soyuz-22 did not head to the troubled Salyut-5, but entered an unusually high-latitude orbit never used by a Soviet space station and never flown again by a Soviet spacecraft.

Previous chapter: Investigating the Soyuz-21 crisis (INSIDER CONTENT)

Soyuz-22 mission at a glance:

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Origin of the Raduga-1 mission

Yuri Semenov (right) makes a presentation on the Raduga-1 project to the head of NPO Energia Valentin Glushko.

The Apollo-Soyuz joint mission left two unused back-up crew vehicles (No. 74 and 76) from the 7K-TM series after the successful docking between the Soviet and American spacecraft on the first try in July 1975. Ahead of the US-Soviet mission, Vehicle No. 76 went through irreversible operations, including fueling with highly corrosive propellant components, leaving no opportunity for its refurbishment. As a result, the spacecraft was drained of its propellants and gases in Tyuratam and then returned to its developer — NPO Energia in Podlipki where it was dismantled for parts. In particular, its Descent Module became a part of Vehicle No. 47, which would fly as Soyuz-31 in 1978, (231) while the Habitation Module and the Instrument Module, along with a mockup of the Descent Module, were turned into a full-scale display of the Apollo-Soyuz stack at NPO Energia's internal demo room.

In the meantime, Vehicle No. 74, was never fueled for the Apollo-Soyuz mission, but, like the primary ship in the project, it was configured for an autonomous flight lasting around a week. Thus, it provided an opportunity to demonstrate the adaptability of Soyuz for a completely new mission.

At the time, one pressing issue affecting the Soviet space station program was the low reliability of scientific payloads. The complexity of science instruments and lack of experience operating them in orbit left very little margin for error for space station expeditions.

In 1975, one of the critical instruments planned for installation on the next Salyut lab was the MKF Earth-imaging camera developed by the world-famous Karl Zeiss Jena optical factory in East Germany under specifications from Moscow's Space Research Institute, IKI, issued in early 1973. The instrument was believed to be the most significant contribution by a non-Soviet entity into its space program to date. (1154)

Before the final commitment to the installation of the 204-kilogram instrument on Salyut, NPO Energia decided to fly its test version on the "leftover" Soyuz.

MKF-6 camera

An unflown version of the MKF-6 camera, complete with a replaceable cassette (right) and lense filters for red, orange, green, blue and two infra-red channels. (bottom left).

Known specifications of the MKF-6 camera:

*From a 260-kilometer orbit

The MKF-6 camera was a six-lens unit designed for simultaneous shooting in four optical channels and two infra-red channels. From a 260-kilometer orbit, it was specified to capture a 150-kilometer swath of Earth's surface during each imaging session not exceeding 16 minutes per 1.5-hour orbit. On average, each frame covered 17,000 square kilometers. (1153)

It was expected to operate for five or six orbits during each day of the flight, logging a total of 25 or 30 orbits of shooting, during a nominal six-day mission with a 1.5 days reserve. The flight was estimated to cover from 20 to 30 percent of the Soviet territory in latitudes between 35 and 65 degrees North.

Highlighting the multi-spectral capability of the MKF camera, its test mission became known as Raduga-1 (rainbow). The flight was also considered to be a part of the Interkosmos project, aiming to attract foreign participation into the Soviet civilian space activities in parallel with the US effort to engage other countries into its space program and therefore could be considered another front in the Space Race and the Cold War competition.

Raduga-1 became the second purpose-oriented autonomous mission of the Soyuz spacecraft, after Soyuz-13 flew in 1973 with the Orion-2 ultraviolet telescope.

As had been done with the Orion, the MKF camera was installed in a custom-designed compartment attached to the front of the Habitation Module, BO. On Vehicle No. 74, the camera section replaced the androgynous docking mechanism from the Apollo-Soyuz project. One Soviet-era industry poster, which was likely a part of an official presentation on the status of the Soyuz project, identified this particular version of Soyuz as 7K-TM(F), where "F" likely stood for "fotographic." The same document also estimated the "economic efficacy" of Soyuz adaptability at 120 million rubles.

The camera section featured a 420-millimeter window, designated TSK 201.13.00, as well as a special dust protection and the air-circulation systems. On the outside, the window was protected with an electrically driven cover with heaters.

Inside the module, the camera was mounted on a special gimbal platform, which could pitch to scan the Earth's surface under different angles.

The control console of the camera and dedicated avionics with a built-in cooling fan were installed inside the Habitation Module. (52) Several additional cassettes with extra film were also stored in the Habitation Module and storage containers for the return of the film were arranged in the Descent Module, SA.

Besides its modifications for accommodating the camera, Vehicle No. 74 retained some unique features from the Apollo-Soyuz project, such as custom-built three-section solar panels. The spacecraft also used a new type of thermal insulation, known as 2B-30.

Three crews prepare for the Raduga-1 mission

Aksenov (left) and Bykovsky inside Soyuz simulator during training for the Soyuz-22 mission.

In January 1976, a total of three pairs of cosmonauts, including a military commander and a civilian flight engineer, were formed to prepare for the Raduga-1 mission:

• Valery Bykovsky and Vladimir Aksenov;
• Yuri Malyshev and Gennady Strekalov;
• Leonid Popov and Boris Andreev.

Given the mere eight months remaining before the planned launch, the cosmonauts had their schedule cut out for them. Nevertheless, all three crews were declared having successfully completed their training in August 1976 and departed for the Tyuratam test range for the launch campaign.

Soyuz-22 enters orbit

The Soyuz 7K-T No. 74 lifted off on Sept. 15, 1976. Onboard were a veteran of the Vostok-5 mission Valery Bykovsky, serving as a commander, and a flight engineer Vladimir Aksenov. The crew used the call sign Yastreb (hawk).

The spacecraft successfully entered a 192.6 by 317.9-kilometer orbit, with an unusual inclination of 64.76 degrees toward the Equator, which had not been used in the Soviet piloted space program since the Vostok-2 mission in 1961.

The unexpected launch (shortly after the abrupt end of an expedition aboard Salyut-5) was publicly announced as Soyuz-22. In another surprise to the Soviet space program watchers, the mission was revealed to be a solo remote-sensing flight. The Earth-watching objective explained the rare high-inclination orbit, because it could provide much wider coverage of northern latitudes, including much of the Soviet territory and also in East Germany, where pre-positioned airborne teams were ready to conduct comparative aerial photography in conjunction with the Raduga-1 mission.

At the same time, the launch of Soyuz-22 coincided with the Teamwork military exercises by NATO forces in Norway, which prompted speculations that the Soviet spacecraft could be on a reconnaissance mission, even though known capabilities of the MKF-6 camera indicated that it was probably ill-suited for such roles as capturing troop movements. (50)

Along with the disclosure about the East-German camera aboard Soyuz, it was also revealed that a delegation from East Germany had attended the launch and that some representatives from the Soviet bloc countries would participate in future cooperative missions. (1127)

After first five orbits around the Earth, Soyuz-22 re-entered the communications range of the Soviet ground stations and maneuvered to a 249.9 by 280.6-kilometer orbit.

The testing phase of the camera's work was reported completed on the 15th orbit of the mission on the second day of the flight. Along with imaging various geographical regions of the Earth, such as Asia, Siberia and Kazakhstan, the Soviet sources specifically mentioned the effort to photograph the Baikal-Amur railway, which was the flagship Soviet construction project at the time and was widely advertised in order to attract volunteer workforce into this remote, but strategically important region of the USSR. Photos of the Moon rising over the Earth's horizon were apparently also taken to measure the propagation of light through the atmosphere as well as to calibrate the camera and to assess the opacity of window glass on the spacecraft.

During Earth-photography sessions, Aksenov operated the MKF-6 camera from the Habitation Module, while Bykovsky sat at the Soyuz controls in the Descent Module to ensure proper orientation of the spacecraft for shooting.

After 16 orbits, on the second day of the mission, when the spacecraft was again within radio range of ground control, a second major engine burn put Soyuz-22 into a near-circular 251 by 257-kilometer operational orbit. (2) For the next several days, the crew focused on Earth-imaging work.

Simultaneously, some of the test areas imaged from Soyuz-22 were also photographed from an An-30 aircraft designed to operate from high altitude. (1127) A total of 50 test sites in the USSR were involved in the Raduga-1 project. (1153)

Along with their primary mission, the Soyuz-22 crew also worked with the Biogravistat miniature centrifuge unit, which was used to study the influence of gravity on plant growth. Research into the impact of cosmic rays on human vision and the monitoring of fish behavior in a small aquarium were also reported.

The wisdom of in-flight testing complex hardware was vindicated in the Soyuz-22 mission as soon as the crew exposed all the cassettes, which had been pre-loaded on the ground. The installation of a new film batch had to be done in complete darkness to prevent exposure to light, but several cassettes jammed. According to Aksenov's recollections, after dozens of failed attempts to replace the film, the crew was left with the option of trying to resolve the problem while lights were on and thus ruin at least some of the film. Fortunately, the persistence of the cosmonauts eventually worked, but they never informed mission control about their troubles, saving the bad news until their meeting on the ground with experts from Karl Zeiss, who would have to address the problem in the next iteration of the MKF camera.

Toward the end of the eight-day mission, the crew attempted to remove color filters from the camera for the return back to Earth, apparently in response to a private request from Karl Zeiss engineers before the flight, which was another activity not coordinated with mission control. The returned glass could supposedly help developing a decoding method for multi-spectral imagery. According to Aksenov, the unplanned effort turned into a multi-hour struggle in night-time conditions, which led to the "complete dismemberment" of the camera and produced a cloud of screws and other components floating around the Habitation Module. Nevertheless, the improvised operation was completed successfully in time, before the crew had to retreat to the Descent Module for landing, leaving the rest of the MKF camera to burn up with the Habitation Module. (231)

Outcome of the Soyuz-22 mission

Aksenov (left) and Bykovsky, clearly in good spirits after landing, chat with search and rescue personnel shortly after their extraction from the Descent Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft on Sept. 23, 1976.

According to Soviet sources, the MKF-6 camera was successfully used for multi-spectral imaging, producing as many as 2,400 photos, covering 20 million square kilometers of the Earth's surface, including half of the Soviet territory and some areas in East Germany. At least 30 distinct regions were photographed, with some areas imaged more than once. The Soviet experts leading the Raduga experiment later wrote that five minutes of land coverage from Soyuz-22 was worth two years of aerial photography and 80 years of geological surveys on the ground! (1153)

Specifically for the analysis of images from MKF-6, the East German team also developed a MSR-4 projector for the synthesized display of multi-spectral photos at five-times magnification. It could produce combined regular and false-color images emphasizing or even revealing desirable features and properties of the photographed surface. (1154)

Up to 95 percent of the images were found to be of excellent quality, distinguishing vegetation cover and agricultural activities, as well as various environmental features. Upgrades of the camera, known as MKF-6M and -6MA, were later developed for the Salyut space stations and for Mir. (52, 1127)

The article by Anatoly Zak; last update: September 15, 2026

Page editor: Alain Chabot; last edit: September 14, 2026

All rights reserved

The custom-built Habitation Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft prototype with the MKF-6 camera housing at the top. Copyright © 2011 Anatoly Zak

Roald Sagdeev from the Space Research Institute, IKI, which coordinated the development of the MKF-6 camera, attends Semenov's presentation at NPO Energia on the Raduga-1 mission.

Official photos of the MKF-6 camera with a regular hand-held camera shown below for comparison.

Frames from a Soviet-era animation illustrating the operation of a gimbal mechanism holding the MKF-6 camera aboard Soyuz-22.

Aksenov (foreground) and Bykovsky inside Soyuz simulator during training for the Raduga-1 mission.

The Soyuz-22 crew during post-landing survival training.

A back-up crew of Soyuz-22 including Gennady Strekalov (left) and Yuri Malyshev.

The flight-ready Soyuz-22 spacecraft is lowered in horizontal position from its processing rig in Tyuratam ahead of the ship's integration with a payload fairing.

The launch vehicle with the Soyuz-22 spacecraft rolls out to launch pad in Tyuratam in September 1976.

Aksenov (foreground) and Bykovsky board Soyuz-22.

Soyuz-22 lifts off from Site 1 in Tyuratam on Sept. 15, 1976.

Soyuz-22 enters orbit. Copyright © 2026 Anatoly Zak

Bykovsky inside the Habitation Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft in orbit. The black and white portrait on the left commemorates Pavel Belyaev, Bykovsky's colleague from the first Soviet cosmonaut group, who died in 1970.

Bykovsky next to the MKF-6 camera inside the Habitation Module of Soyuz-22.

Bykovsky inside the Habitation Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft.

Aksenov inside the Habitation Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft.

Aksenov at the control console of the MKF-6 camera inside the Habitation Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft.

The Descent Module of the Soyuz-22 spacecraft at the landing site.

A Soviet post stamp dedicated to the Soyuz-22 mission from Anatoly Zak's collection.