First intercontinental missile in the world. The first artificial Earth satellite. First man in space. First soft landing on the moon. The birth of the Strategic Missile Forces. The Soviet Union owes all these triumphs to the legendary "seven" - the "ultra-long-range rocket" of the R-7, created under the leadership of S.P. Korolev. The head of NASA called it "the most reliable spacecraft in the world" - out of 1800 launches of launch vehicles based on the "seven" 97% were successful. In the new book of the leading historian of cosmonautics, you will find comprehensive information about this epochal masterpiece of Soviet geniuses, about the taming of fire and the rapid take-off of the cosmic Superpower.