On the 80th anniversary of RKK "Energia", experts remind: it was this enterprise that laid the foundation for practical cosmonautics. As Pavel Gaiduk, Deputy Head of the Scientific Exhibition Department of the Museum of Cosmonautics in Moscow, told TASS, the intercontinental ballistic missile R-7 was created within the corporation's walls, and its direct descendant, the "Soyuz-2" launch vehicle, is still in use today.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the enterprise developed the first artificial Earth satellites and automatic interplanetary stations of the "Luna", "Venera", and "Mars" series. Later, the groundwork for automatic spacecraft was transferred to other enterprises, but the corporation forever remained the starting point.

Today, RKK "Energia" continues to support the manned program: it assembles "Soyuz" and "Progress" spacecraft for the ISS, produces automatic spacecraft, upper stages, and is working on a promising new generation spacecraft. From Department No. 3 of SKB NII-88 in 1946 to the lead organization for manned systems – a history spanning 80 years.