Head to head

Molniya 8K78 vs Vostok 8A92

Two vehicles in the same payload class. Every figure below comes from the same two sources for both rockets, and a row appears only when both publish the input.

Payload to low Earth orbit

Relative

Molniya 8K78: 1,900 kg

Vostok 8A92: 4,730 kg

Side by side

8 comparable figures

The highlighted value wins the row. Rows where neither direction is better, like length or stage count, highlight nothing.

Metric	Molniya 8K78	Vostok 8A92
Flights flown	40	44
Success rate	50%	90.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	1,900	4,730
Liftoff thrust (kN)	813	3,996
Length (m)	43.44	30.84
Diameter (m)	3	2.99
Launch mass (t)	305	281
Stages	4	2

Molniya 8K78

Flight record

50% success rate20 of 40 flown · 20 failed

1960peak 1965 · 11 flights1967

Maiden flight 1960-10-10. Retired.

Vostok 8A92

Flight record

90.9% success rate40 of 44 flown · 4 failed

1962peak 1966 · 10 flights1967

Maiden flight 1962-06-01. Retired.

Molniya 8K78 is built by Strategic Rocket Forces of Russia.Vostok 8A92 is built by RKK Energiya of Russia.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Molniya 8K78 · Vostok 8A92.

Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.