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While the United States had Werner von Braun, the Soviet Union also had several experts in rocket propulsion. Sergey Korolyov was one of the founders of Moscow Group for the Study of Reactive Motion and participated in the Soviet Union's first launch of a liquid-propellant rocket in 1933. Because he was not a member of the Communist Party, he spent much of his life under house arrest. After demonstrating his expertise in the modification of captured V2 rockets, Korolyov directed the design, testing, construction, and launching of the Vostok spacecraft, and most of the other projects undertaken by the U.S.S.R. 

Around 1958, Korolev argued for the pursuit of manned space flight instead of military reconnaissance satellites. After a lengthy and dangerous debate, he obtained approval for the development of the Vostok project provided the launch vehicle could also be used for military purposes.