📊 Analysis
Statistics & insights on rockets and organizations — technology, history, numbers.
R-36O 8K69
RetiredYuzhnoye Design Bureau
The R-36O was the only orbiting military nuclear weapon ever deployed, although in order to remain legal under international treaties it was a 'fractional orbital' weapon. Although American infrared early warning satellites invalidated the 'surprise attack' component of the concept, 18 missiles were operational from 1969 to 1983.
Key figures
Total launches
21
Successes
19
Failures
2
Success rate
90.5 %
Success streak
14
Maiden flight
Jul 28, 1965
Reusable
No
Shortest launch interval ⓘ
2d 23h
Planned launches
0
R-36O family total
23 launches · 21 successes · 2 failures (2 variants)
🧐 Data check
Automatic plausibility checks — anomalies are surfaced transparently here:
- ℹ️The figures above apply only to the “R-36O 8K69” variant. The Launch Library counts each variant separately — the R-36O family totals 23 launches across 2 variants.
Technology
Length
32.6 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch mass
182 t
Stages
2
Launches per year
of which in our database: 21
Successes Failures Other/planned
History & events
Sources
- Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs)
- Wikipedia