📊 Analysis
Statistics & insights on rockets and organizations — technology, history, numbers.
R-36O 8K69M
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
2
Successes
2
Failures
0
Success rate
100.0 %
Success streak
2
Maiden flight
Sep 25, 1970
Reusable
No
Shortest launch interval ⓘ
317d 9h
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 8K69M” variant. The Launch Library counts each variant separately — the R-36O family totals 23 launches across 2 variants.
Technology
Length
35 m
Diameter
3 m
Launch mass
180 t
Stages
2
Launches per year
of which in our database: 2
Successes Failures Other/planned
History & events
Sources
- Launch Library 2 (The Space Devs)
- Wikipedia