Sergei Pavlovich Korolev

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev was a Soviet scientist, design engineer, and academician. He was born on January 12, 1907, in Zhytomyr. He began his education at a gymnasium, but due to the revolution he was forced to transfer to a workers' school. Korolev's subsequent life was closely linked to the development of aviation and space exploration.

In 1924 Korolev entered the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, choosing a specialization in aviation engineering. After moving to Moscow he completed his studies at the Moscow Higher Technical School named after N. E. Bauman. In 1931 he founded the Group for the Study of Reactive Motion (GIRD), which soon achieved significant successes by launching a pioneering rocket. In 1936 he assumed the position of chief designer.

In 1938 Korolev was arrested on false charges. Despite his imprisonment, he continued to work in prison design bureaus. After his release in 1944 he actively participated in studying German rocket technologies. Korolev's work in the defense industry laid the foundation for the historic achievements of Soviet spaceflight: the launch of the first artificial Earth satellite in 1957 and Yuri Gagarin's flight into space in 1961. Sergei Pavlovich Korolev died on January 14, 1966.