This book presents data of the existing and newly developed national and foreign launch vehicles, including brief design description of each vehicle. Information is also included concerning launch sites and launching facilities. | Reading this book, you will get acquainted with what is commonly referred to as one of the key areas of space technology: the LAUNCH VEHICLES. This book offers brief descriptions and performance of launch vehicles along with the prospects of their future development, and the data of the existing and newly built launch sites. Containing numerous pictures, the book provides a useful source of information for a variety of readers, especially students, genuinely interested in what is what in the present and the nearest future of space equipment. Many facts included in this book have never been made public before and may be particularly interesting to experts. | This book is edited by Yuri N. Koptev, General Director of the Russian Aerospace Agency. Its author, Semyon Petrovich Umansky, has worked for various aerospace businesses in Russia for more than half a century. He was Project Designer for the Lavochkin-5 project, the aircraft know for its liquid propellant rocket booster designed by V. Glushko. Starting from 1948, Mr. Umansky worked together with German aircraft designers in Dubna outside of Moscow, and was involved in the development of a supersonic aircraft to be flown by a recumbent pilot at Mach 2. Mr. Semyon P. Umansky spent a quarter of a century working at Plant No. 918 (NPO Zvezda Research and Production Association), where he made his career from a lead designer to the office of Deputy Chief Designer. Despite his retirement quite a long time ago, Mr. Umansky is still an active worker, and has been writing about astronautics for many years.