The flight was plagued with technical issues, and Komarov was killed when the descent module crashed into the ground due to a parachute failure.

The original mission plan was complex, involving a rendezvous with Soyuz 2 and an exchange of crew members before returning to Earth.

[3] According to interviews with Venyamin Russayev, a former KGB agent, prior to launch, Soyuz 1 engineers are said to have reported 203 design faults to party leaders, but their concerns "were overruled by political pressures for a series of space feats to mark the anniversary of Lenin's birthday".

[4] Russayev also claims that Yuri Gagarin was the backup pilot for Soyuz 1, and was aware of the design problems and the pressures from the Politburo to proceed with the flight.

Soyuz 1 was launched on 23 April 1967 at 00:32 GMT from Baikonur Cosmodrome carrying Komarov, the first Soviet cosmonaut to fly in space twice, in the 7K-OK No.

[7] Problems began shortly after launch when one solar panel failed to unfold, leading to a shortage of power for the spacecraft's systems.

By the time they landed and approached, the descent module was in flames with black smoke filling the air and streams of molten metal dripping from the exterior.

When the fire at last ended, the rescuers were able to dig through the rubble to find Komarov strapped into the center couch, his body had turned into charred clothing and flesh.

The body was transported to Moscow for an official autopsy in a military hospital where the cause of death was verified to match the field doctors' conclusions.

There is a memorial monument at the site in the form of a black column with a bust of Komarov at the top, in a small park on the roadside.

[2][13][14] Posthumously, Komarov was named a Hero of the Soviet Union for the second time, and awarded the Order of Lenin.

This 18-month gap, with the addition of the explosion of an uncrewed N-1 rocket on 3 July 1969, scuttled Soviet plans of landing a cosmonaut on the Moon.

Although it suffered another tragedy with the Soyuz 11 accident in 1971, and went through several incidents with non-fatal launch aborts and landing mishaps, it has become one of the longest-lived and most dependable crewed spacecraft yet designed.