N3

N3
General Information
Alias	N-3
Operator	Soviet Space Program
Type	Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
Function	Crewed lunar spaceflight
Launch sites	Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
Specifications
Propulsion	Chemical
Components	5 stages
Capacity
Crew	3-5
Payload	unknown
History
Mission	Build & supply lunar Zvezda base
First used	8 August 1976

The N3, (from Raketa-nositel', "Carrier Rocket") is a Soviet human-rated super heavy-lift launch vehicle.

The successor to the Soviet N1, it was first launched from Baikonur, Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, on August 8, 1976, and was the largest rocket ever launched to that date, before the American Sea Dragon the next year, becoming the largest rocket ever built.

The N3 was built to replace the aging N1 rocket in the matters of lifting heavy cargos to orbit and supplying the Zvezda Moon base with supplies and crews.

Behind the scenes

The footage of N3 launching is actually a footage of the launch of N1-6L in 1971, which was a launch failure.

Gallery

See also

• N1
• Launch vehicle