Soyuz is still in space.
Soyuz . It is also the name for the Soyuz spacecraft , now the main vehicle used in missions and crew transfers to and from the International Space Station since NASA retired the Space Shuttle Program in 2011 . The Soyuz ( Союз , meaning `` union '' , GRAU index 11A511 ) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev , Soviet Union . Soyuz ( Союз , meaning `` union '' , GRAU index 11A511 ) is a family of expendable launch systems developed by OKB-1 , and manufactured by Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center in Samara , Russia . Soyuz ( Сою́з [ sɐˈjʉs ] , `` Union '' , as in Сове́тский Сою́з , `` Sovetskiy Soyuz '' , `` Soviet Union '' ) is a series of spacecraft designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau ( now RKK Energia ) in the 1960s that remains in service today . Soyuz 7K-T . Kosmos 496 was launched on June 26 , 1972 and spent a week in space , part of it in powered-down mode .