The Soviet MP-1 spaceplane, weighing 1,750 kg and designed by Chelomei, made a 405 km suborbital apogee flight over Kapustin Yar. In 1964, Chelomei (guilty of association with deposed Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev) fell out of favor with the new Soviet government. In the wake of Khrushchev’s fall, Chelomei’s research on reusable vehicles was transferred to Artem Mikoyan’s design bureau.
