Korolev, Serguey - Reflexions

Korolev, Serguey

Sergey Korolyev was born in 1907 in Jitomir, in Ukraine. An engineer in aeronautics, he was arrested in 1938 during a Stalinist purge, tortured and sent to the gulag. In 1940, whilst remaining a prisoner, he became a member of a team of engineers charged with military aeronautical research. He was freed in 1944 and then given the responsibility of penetrating the secrets of the German V2 missile, developed by Werner von Braun. He then imposed himself as chief designer of the Soviet space programme, even though his name was never cited for political reasons. He developed Semiorka, a rocket which is still active today and which launched the first Sputnik. It is also thanks to him that the USSR was able to send the first man into space. He died on January 14th, 1966, in Moscow.