Sergei Korolev dies in the Gulag, 1939
- Thread starter Wimble Toot
- Start date
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- Tags
- space race ussr
@nixonshead wrote Kolymar's Shadow that had Korolev freezing to death in Siberia and Project Vanguard putting the first American satellite into orbit ahead of von Braun's Juno I as the two main points of divergence.
I'm curious about why you think the death of Korolev might lead to the loss of the USSR's superpower status.
I'm curious about why you think the death of Korolev might lead to the loss of the USSR's superpower status.
Wimble Toot
Banned
Absence of adequate ballistic missiles for its nukes, was a main reason, they struggled enough as it was.
Thanks for the TL info, much obliged!
Thanks for the TL info, much obliged!
Hmm, not an easy prediction to make.
While Sergei Palvovich Korolev was very much the Driving Force behind the Soviet Space Programme - and all of their Early Successes - he was not the only one. The R-7 ICBM (responsible for Sputnik, Laika, Vostok, Voskhod, and to this day, Soyuz) used engines designed and built by Valentin Petrovich Glushko. Indeed, Sergei tended to see the applications of Rocket Technology less for Military Applications and more for the Conquest of Space itself, but the power of the Soviet Military meant he needed to find viable military uses for his LVs as so to secure their support. One reason why they were willing to support Vostok - it being (relatively) low-cost, easy (relatively speaking) enough, and a fantastic PR Coup, but not the far more expensive and difficult N1-L3.
Glushko & Yangel, IIRC, were more interested in the Military Aspects so their keeping the Military on-side I think would be easier for them.
Then there's Chelomei. For a time he and Glushko did get along, so who know what he could do with Glushko's support - and Krushchev's while he was Soviet Premier.
In short, their non-military uses I can see as being somewhat behind, but a small lead relative to OTL in their military use is what I can see being the most likely case.
While Sergei Palvovich Korolev was very much the Driving Force behind the Soviet Space Programme - and all of their Early Successes - he was not the only one. The R-7 ICBM (responsible for Sputnik, Laika, Vostok, Voskhod, and to this day, Soyuz) used engines designed and built by Valentin Petrovich Glushko. Indeed, Sergei tended to see the applications of Rocket Technology less for Military Applications and more for the Conquest of Space itself, but the power of the Soviet Military meant he needed to find viable military uses for his LVs as so to secure their support. One reason why they were willing to support Vostok - it being (relatively) low-cost, easy (relatively speaking) enough, and a fantastic PR Coup, but not the far more expensive and difficult N1-L3.
Glushko & Yangel, IIRC, were more interested in the Military Aspects so their keeping the Military on-side I think would be easier for them.
Then there's Chelomei. For a time he and Glushko did get along, so who know what he could do with Glushko's support - and Krushchev's while he was Soviet Premier.
In short, their non-military uses I can see as being somewhat behind, but a small lead relative to OTL in their military use is what I can see being the most likely case.