Sergei Korolev

Sergei Pavlovich Korolev or Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov was a lead Soviet rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He is regarded by many as the father of practical astronautics. He was involved in the development of the R-7 Rocket, Sputnik 1, launching Laika, Belka and Strelka and the first human being, Yuri Gagarin, into space.Although Korolev trained as an aircraft designer, his greatest strengths proved to be in design integration, organization and strategic planning.