Editing N1 (rocket) (section)

{{short description|Soviet super heavy-lift launch vehicle}}
{{about|the Soviet rocket|the Japanese rocket|N-I (rocket)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox rocket
|image =N1 1M1 mockup on the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in late 1967.jpg
|caption = Mockup at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in late 1967
<!----Core parameters (required)---->
|name = N1
|function = [[Super heavy-lift launch vehicle]] for crewed lunar mission
|manufacturer = [[OKB-1]]
|country-origin = [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics|USSR]]
|cpl = {{US$|604}}{{nbsp}}million (1985)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/n/n11964.html |title=N1 1964 |last=Wade |first=Mark |website=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |access-date=January 16, 2025 }}</ref>
<!----Dimensions (required)---->
|height = {{cvt|105.3|m}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Complex N1-L3 Components |url=https://www.energia.ru/en/history/systems/vehicles/vehicle_n1-l3_c.html |website=S.P. Korolev Rocket-Space Corporation Energia |publisher=S.P. Korolev RSC "Energia" 4A Lenin Street, Korolev, Moscow area 141070 Russia |access-date=13 June 2019 |archive-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804104046/https://www.energia.ru/en/history/systems/vehicles/vehicle_n1-l3_c.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|diameter = {{cvt|17|m}}<ref name="Soviet N1 moon booster" />
|mass = {{cvt|2750000|kg}}
|stages = 5
<!----Payloads (optional)---->
|capacities =
  {{Infobox rocket/Payload
  |location = [[Low Earth orbit|LEO]]
  |mass     = {{cvt|95000|kg}}<ref name="Soviet N1 moon booster">{{Cite web |last=Zak |first=Anatoly |title=Soviet N1 moon booster |url=https://www.russianspaceweb.com/n1.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240215013247/https://www.russianspaceweb.com/n1.html |archive-date=15 February 2024 |access-date=24 January 2015 |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com }}</ref>
  }}
  {{Infobox rocket/Payload
  |location = [[Trans Lunar Injection|TLI]]
  |mass     = cca {{cvt|33000|kg}}{{efn|Calculated as sum of the [[Block D]], [[LK (spacecraft)|LK lander]] and [[Soyuz 7K-LOK|LOK spacecraft]]}}
  }}
<!----Launch history (required)---->
|status = Cancelled during development
|sites = [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur]], [[Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 110|Site 110]]
|launches = 4
|success = 0
|fail = 4
|partial =
|first=21 February 1969
|last=23 November 1972
<!--Stages/boosters (optional)-->
|stagedata    =
  {{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |stageno    = First
  |type       = stage
  |name       = Block A
  |length     = <!--{{convert||m|ft|abbr=on}}-->
  |diameter   = {{cvt|17|m}}
  |empty      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |gross      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |engines    = 30 × [[NK-15]]
  |thrust     = {{Unbulleted list
   | {{abbr|SL|at sea level}}: {{cvt|45780|kN}}
   | {{abbr|vac|in vacuum}}: {{cvt|46320|kN}}
   }}
  |SI         = {{Unbulleted list
   | {{abbr|SL|at sea level}}: {{cvt|297|isp}}
   | {{abbr|vac|in vacuum}}: {{cvt|318|isp}}
   }}
  |burntime   = 125 seconds
  |fuel       = [[LOX]] / [[RG-1 (propellant)|RG-1]]
  }}
  {{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |stageno    = Second
  |type       = stage
  |name       = Block B
  |length     = <!--{{convert||m|ft}}-->
  |diameter   = <!--{{convert||m|ft}}-->
  |empty      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |gross      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |engines    = 8 × [[NK-15|NK-15V]]
  |thrust     = {{cvt|14,064|kN}}
  |SI         = {{cvt|325|isp}}
  |burntime   = 120 seconds
  |fuel       = [[LOX]] / [[RG-1 (propellant)|RG-1]]
  }}
  {{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |stageno    = Third
  |type       = stage
  |name       = Block V
  |length     = <!--{{convert||m|ft}}-->
  |diameter   = <!--{{convert||m|ft}}-->
  |empty      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |gross      = <!--{{convert||kg|lb}}-->
  |engines    = 4 × [[NK-19]]<ref name="Soviet Rocket Engines">{{Cite web |last=Kiseleva |first=Mariia |date=2021-11-24 |title=Soviet Rocket Engines |url=https://everydayastronaut.com/soviet-rocket-engines/ |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=Everyday Astronaut |language=en-US}}</ref>
  |thrust     = {{cvt|1800|kN}}
  |SI         = {{cvt|346|isp}}
  |burntime   = 370 seconds
  |fuel       = [[LOX]] / [[RG-1 (propellant)|RG-1]]
  }}
  {{Infobox Rocket/Stage
  |stageno    = Fourth
  |type       = stage
  |name       = Block G
  |length     = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |diameter   = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |empty      = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |gross      = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |engines    = 1 × [[NK-21]]<ref name="Soviet Rocket Engines" />
  |thrust     = {{cvt|329|kN}}
  |SI         = {{cvt|346|isp}}
  |burntime   = 443 seconds
  |fuel       = [[LOX]] / [[RG-1 (propellant)|RG-1]]
  }}
  {{Infobox rocket/Stage
  |stageno    = Fifth
  |type       = stage
  |name       = [[Block D]]{{efn|The "fifth stage" similar to the [[Service propulsion system]] on the [[Apollo Command and Service Module]], but treated as a part of the launch vehicle}}
  |length     = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |diameter   = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |empty      = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |gross      = <!--{{cvt||m}}-->
  |engines    = 1 × [[RD-58]]<ref name="Soviet Rocket Engines" />
  |thrust     = {{cvt|83.36|kN}}
  |SI         = {{cvt|349|isp}}
  |burntime   = 600 seconds
  |fuel       = [[LOX]] / [[RG-1 (propellant)|RG-1]]
  }}
|comparable= [[Saturn V]]
}}

The '''N1''' (from {{lang|ru|Ракета-носитель}} {{Transliteration|ru|ISO|Raketa-nositel'}}, "Carrier Rocket"; Cyrillic: '''[[En (Cyrillic)|Н]]1''')<ref name="lardierbarensky2013">{{Cite book |translator-last=Bowler |translator-first=Tim |last1=Lardier |first1=Christian |last2=Barensky |first2=Stefan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CWRIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |title=The Soyuz launch vehicle the two lives of an engineering triumph |date=12 March 2013 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4614-5459-5 |location=New York |page=82 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-5459-5 |orig-date=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230910154450/https://books.google.com/books?id=CWRIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |archive-date=10 September 2023 |url-status=live }}</ref> was a [[super heavy-lift launch vehicle]] intended to deliver payloads beyond [[low Earth orbit]]. The N1 was the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] counterpart to the US [[Saturn V]] and was intended to enable crewed travel to the [[Moon]] and beyond,<ref name= lvsn1>{{cite web|url= http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/n1.htm |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20020612070438/http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/n1.htm |url-status= dead |archive-date= June 12, 2002 |title= N1 |publisher= Encyclopedia Astronautica |access-date=2011-09-07}}</ref> with studies beginning as early as 1959.<ref name= starbase1>{{cite web |url= http://www.starbase1.co.uk/pages/n1-project-history.html |title= The N1 Moon Rocket - a brief History |access-date= 2013-01-01 |archive-date= 2016-10-31 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161031200800/http://www.starbase1.co.uk/pages/n1-project-history.html |url-status= dead }}</ref> Its first stage, Block A, was the most powerful [[multistage rocket|rocket stage]] ever flown for over 50 years, with the record standing until [[SpaceX Starship|Starship's]] [[SpaceX Starship integrated flight test 1|first integrated flight test]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=SpaceX Official Super Heavy Specifications |url=http://www.spacex.com/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=SpaceX |language=en}}</ref> However, each of the four attempts to launch an N1 failed in flight, with the second attempt resulting in the vehicle crashing back onto its launch pad shortly after liftoff. Adverse characteristics of the large cluster of thirty engines and its complex fuel and oxidizer feeder systems were not revealed earlier in development because static test firings had not been conducted.<ref name="vick-mishin-diaries">{{Cite web |last1=Vick |first1=Charles P. |title=The Mishin Diaries – A western perspective |url=http://www.space2010.ru/Western_EN.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230503231533/http://www.space2010.ru/Western_EN.pdf |archive-date=3 May 2023 |access-date=23 October 2019 |website=mishindiaries.com |publisher=The Perot Foundation & Moscow Aviation institute |quote="Because the first stage was so big, the decision was made to forego building a separate test facility for it, and instead to try to discover any problems with a series of full-up launches. In hindsight, this would prove to be a mistake, because each of the four launch attempts of the N-1 resulted in failure due to various problems with the first stage." }}</ref>

The '''N1-L3''' version was designed to compete with the United States [[Apollo program]] to land a person on the Moon, using a similar [[lunar orbit rendezvous]] method. The basic N1 launch vehicle had three stages, which were to carry the L3 lunar payload into low Earth orbit with two cosmonauts. The L3 contained one stage for [[trans-lunar injection]]; another stage used for mid-course corrections, [[lunar orbit]] insertion, and the first part of the descent to the lunar surface; a single-pilot [[LK (spacecraft)|LK Lander]] spacecraft; and a two-pilot [[Soyuz 7K-LOK]] lunar orbital spacecraft for return to Earth.

The N1 started development in October 1965, almost four years after the Saturn V, during which it was underfunded and rushed. The project was badly derailed by the death of its chief designer [[Sergei Korolev]] in 1966; the program was suspended in 1974 and officially canceled in 1976. All details of the [[Soviet crewed lunar programs]] were kept secret until the USSR was nearing collapse in 1989.<ref name="history-20190711">{{Cite web |last=Little |first=Becky |date=11 July 2019 |title=The Soviet Response to the Moon Landing? Denial There Was a Moon Race at All |url=https://www.history.com/news/space-race-soviet-union-moon-landing-denial |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118080644/https://www.history.com/news/space-race-soviet-union-moon-landing-denial |archive-date=18 January 2024 |website=[[History Channel]] }}</ref>