>Old rockets that haven't been changed in decades like the Soyuz stopped exploding long ago. Context for others: Soyuz, the spacecraft, is launched by Soyuz, t

>Old rockets that haven't been changed in decades like the Soyuz stopped exploding long ago. Context for others: Soyuz, the spacecraft, is launched by Soyuz, the rocket. The rocket is the latest iteration of the R-7 that the USSR developed as an ICBM in the 1950s, and which it used to launch to orbit Sputnik 1 in 1957 and Vostok 1 with Yuri Gagarin in 1961. The Soviets had to develop such a rocket—far more powerful than US ICBMs—because its electronics and warhead technology was inferior, resulting in far larger and less reliable warheads and satellites. On the other hand, Soviets and Russians have used variants of that rocket for 65 years and counting, even while the US used many, many varieties of Redstone, Atlas, Titan, Delta, and Saturn ICBMs and rockets for its satellites and spacecraft, along with the shuttle and now SLS and SpaceX Falcon. While Falcon 9 and the forthcoming Starship are far, far, far superior to anything the Russians (or Arianespace, or NASA or other US commercial firms) are producing today, there is a lot to be said for having gotten the booster right the first time around and iterating it over years and decades.