The Vostok program (Восто́к, translated as "East") was a Soviet human spaceflight project that succeeded in putting a person into Earth orbit for the first time. The programme developed the Vostok spacecraft and adapted the Vostok rocket from an existing ICBM design.
A series of prototype Vostoks, including at least five with animals and some with a test dummy aboard, were used to qualify the spacecraft for human flight.
Another seven Vostok flights were originally planned, going through to the April of 1966, but these were cancelled as the race to the moon intensified.
Vostok was followed by the Voskhod program.
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