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The Poisk commission

By the beginning of the 1970s the Soviet Ministry of Defence initiated a research programme called Poisk ('Search') to look into future launch needs and vehicles.

Carried out by TsNII-50, the Ministry.s main space research institute, the study was completed in early 1973 and concluded that it was necessary to build a new family of dedicated space launch vehicles in four payload categories:
light rockets (payload up to 3 tons)
medium-lift rockets (10-12 tons)
heavy-lift rockets (30-35 tons) and
superheavy rockets (100 tons and more).

Current vehicles in the class were the Tsyklon, Soyuz, Proton and N-1 - very dissimilar, antiquated, with half of them using the dreaded storable propellants.

The dream of an universal family of boosters was an old one, never achieved. Korolev, Yangel, Chelomei all had failed to sell the Soviet leadership a complete family of boosters.
Mishin was ready to try again from the N-1, while Glushko had been given Chelomei empire and designed his own, new family of launch vehicles, the RLAs.

This new family of launch vehicles was to have two more characteristics.

First, in order to cut costs to the maximum extent possible, it would use unified rocket stages and engines.

Second, it would rely on non-toxic, ecologically clean propellants, with preference being given to liquid oxygen and kerosene.

What played a major role in that second rule were a series of catastrophic low-altitude Proton failures that contaminated wide stretches of land at or near the Baykonur cosmodrome. In one of the major mishap, April 2, 1969 in Baikonur the State Commission had had to run away from a deadly cloud of corrosive propellants.

The basic conclusions of the study were approved on 3 November 1973 at a meeting of the Chief Directorate of Space Assets (GUKOS), the 'space branch' of the Strategic Rocket Forces.
Although not stated specifically, the eventual goal of the programme seems to have been to phase out all existing missile-derived launch vehicles - the Tsyklon and Proton.

At first glance it seemed to Mishin that the N-1 could be cut in shorter and shorter rockets that would ultimately fill the Poisk four categories.
But, as usual, the devil was in the details. While it worked not too bad for the heavy lifter (and Proton-slayer) the N-11, the smaller two vehicles needed more modifications.
The N-111 had its share of issues, notably that it fell in payload between Tsyklon and Soyuz. Critically, it was not powerful enough to lift the Soyuz workshorse.
It essentially lacked a third stage, as suggested by Mishkaelvanski, one of Mishin deputies. With a decent third stage it could certainly loft the Soyuz.

The last member of the family - the Tsyklon class launcher or N-1111 (!) was even more marginal. A brand new first stage would have to be used, probably build using the Block V tooling with a pair of NK-33, eventually with a Block G second stage and a Block D stage 3.
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