Lunar Expeditionary Complex


The LEK Lunar Expeditionary Complex was a lunar expedition and moonbase proposed by Valentin Glushko in 1974 as a Soviet response to the United States' Apollo program and as successor of Zvezda moonbase that based on closed N1-L3 crewed Moon expedition program. If implemented, it was intended to have been operational by 1980 and used for scientific and engineering research.

Hardware

The Vulkan-LEK project based on new superheavy launcher developed in Glushko's bureau.
The moonbase design consisted of a number of modules, including:
The project was cancelled in 1976 when an Academy of Sciences Commission ruled that resources should be targeted toward projects primarily adding economic value rather than for national prestige.