[2] Design work began in 1953 at OKB-1 in Kaliningrad in Moscow Oblast (presently Korolyov, Moscow Oblast) and other divisions with the requirement for a missile with a launch mass of 170 to 200 tons, range of 8,500 km and carrying a 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) nuclear warhead, powerful enough to launch a nuclear warhead against the United States.

This was further refined by Dmitry Okhotsimsky's Department of Applied Mathematics in 1951 and expanded by Korolev's OKB-1 in 1952–53, which concluded that a core and four strap on boosters as the preferred model, which the R-7 used.

The solution was to eliminate the pad and to suspend the entire rocket in the trusses that bear both vertical weight load as well as horizontal wind forces.

The launch system simulated flight conditions with strap-on boosters pushing the central core forward.

During the next attempt on 11 June an electrical short caused the missile to start rolling uncontrollably and disintegrate 33 seconds after liftoff.

[13] The first successful long flight, of 6,000 kilometres (3,700 mi; 3,200 nmi), was made on 21 August 1957 with the missile reaching the target at Kamchatka, however the dummy warhead disintegrated in the upper atmosphere.

Five days later, TASS announced that the Soviet Union had successfully tested the worlds's first intercontinental ballistic missile.

[16] A modified version of the missile (8K71PS) launched the world's first satellite into orbit when Sputnik 1 lifted off from Baikonur on 4 October 1957.

[16][18] The costs of the system were high, mostly due to the difficulty of constructing in remote areas the large launch sites required.

Also, the R-7 took almost twenty hours to prepare for launching, and it could not be left on alert for more than a day due to its cryogenic fuel system.

[16][19] The limitations of the R-7 pushed the Soviet Union into rapidly developing second-generation missiles which would be more viable weapons systems, particularly the R-16.

[21] As of 2024[update], modified and modernized versions (Soyuz 2 and the boosterless 2.1v variant) remain in service, having launched over 1,840 times.

The R-7 is also a record holder in terms of longevity, with more than 50 years of service with its various modifications and has become the world's most reliable space launcher.