The Soyuz rocket without question is the greatest rocket system in the world. The family of Soyuz rockets have garnered what is perhaps the most successful flight record of any. The Soyuz configuration introduced in 1966 has been the workhorse of the Soviet / Russian space program, achieving a high launch success rate. The Soyuz launch vehicle family has provided reliable and efficient launch services since the birth of the Russian space program. Vehicles in this family, which have launched both the first satellite and first man into space, and they have been credited with more than 1650 launches. Today, this vehicle is used for manned and unmanned flights to the International Space Station and other commercial launches. Soyuz traces its roots back to the two-stage R-7A Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), which was the first in an evolutionary series of launch vehicles, beginning with the launch of Sputnik in 1957. This vehicle launched the first unmanned spacecraft to the moon and in 1961 carried Yuri Gagarin into space. The Soyuz launch vehicle benefits from exacting standards in both reliability and robustness.