Lt-Gen Kerim Kerimov

Shadowy figure behind the Soviet space programme

Kerim Aliyevich Kerimov, engineer: born Baku, Azerbaijan 14 November 1917; married (one daughter); died Moscow 29 March 2003.

Despite his leading role in shaping the Soviet space programme over several decades, Kerim Kerimov was a mysterious, shadowy figure whose identity remained a secret for most of his career. Working alongside such legendary figures as Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko, Kerimov was one of the architects of the string of Soviet successes that stunned the world in the early 1960s.

Kerimov was born in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1917, the son of an engineer. Soon after he completed his studies at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union and Kerimov enrolled with the Red Army's Artillery Academy, which was evacuated to Samarkand. In autumn 1943 he received a diploma for a thesis about the production of mortars, and worked for the remainder of the Second World War on the inspection and acceptance of the famous Katyusha rocket launcher. His work was honoured with the order of the Red Star.

Although the Americans captured most of the leading Nazi rocket scientists and transported many of their V-2 missiles back to the United States, the Soviets were determined to learn from the German successes. In 1946, Kerimov joined the group of Soviet specialists in rocket engineering who descended on the V-2 production site at Nordhausen in Germany, where he studied the remnants of the missile programme.

For the next 20 years, while the Soviet Union worked to introduce the world's first intercontinental ballistic missiles and the first man-made satellite, Kerimov moved up the ladder in the Soviet Ministry of Defence, spending much of his time at the remote Kapustin Yar launch centre. By 1959, after reaching the rank of Engineer-Colonel, he was appointed head of the Ministry's Space Objects Control Department. As such, he took a leading role in overseeing the numerous launches from the Soviet Union's secret cosmodromes.

At this point, fate intervened and prevented a sudden end to his promising career. When his younger brother was killed in a plane crash in October 1960, Kerimov was granted a few days' leave to attend his funeral. So it was that he was absent when a new Soviet ICBM (the R-16) exploded during launch preparations at Baikonur Cosmodrome. One hundred and twenty-six officers and engineers, including the commander of the Strategic Missile Forces, were incinerated when the missile caught fire and exploded. "Under normal circumstances, I would have been standing right beside Marshal Nedelin," said Kerimov. "It was such a mysterious twist of fate that my brother's death, in essence, saved mine."

The following year saw the Soviet space programme reach its zenith with the launch of the first human in space, Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin's 108-minute trip around the world caused a sensation, but intense media interest brought numerous headaches for the secretive Soviet authorities. A few days after the historic flight, Kerimov attended a meeting with several other officials to draw up the official flight records to be registered with the International Aviation Federation. Unable to identify the secret Vostok launch site at Tyura-Tam, the group chose a plausible alternative – a small Kazakh settlement called Baikonur. The launch base has retained this misleading name ever since.

Promoted to the rank of Major-General, Kerimov was confirmed as one of the leading figures in the Strategic Missile Forces. During the next few years he oversaw the introduction of various satellite systems, including the "Zenith" reconnaissance satellites. In 1964, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the new Central Directorate of Space Assets. However, his vocal support of manned spaceflight did not go down too well with his superiors and within a year he and several other leading artillery officers were transferred to the newly created Ministry of General Machine Building.

By 1966, on the recommendation of his late colleague Sergei Korolev, Kerimov was appointed chairman of the State Commission for Flight Testing of the new Soyuz manned spacecraft. The first commission chairman not to hold ministerial rank, Kerimov retained this position for the next 25 years. "I almost didn't have a personal life," he later explained. "I used to work Saturdays and Sundays. I couldn't fall ill. I didn't have the right to get sick."

His period of tenure got off to a disastrous start with the loss of a Soyuz prototype labelled Cosmos 133. A second Soyuz launch attempt in December 1966 ended with another fireball which resulted in Kerimov running for his life to a nearby command bunker. Although the next Soyuz test flight ended off course in the Aral Sea, Kerimov remained confident that the teething problems could be overcome. He was soon to be proved wrong.

After a series of major malfunctions on Soyuz 1, its pilot, Vladimir Komarov, was ordered by Kerimov's State Commission to make an emergency re-entry. As his spinning capsule plunged Earthwards, its parachutes became entangled, sending the unfortunate Komarov spiralling to his death. Soon afterwards, Kerimov arrived at the impact site to survey the remains of the dead hero.

Although the disaster grounded the manned programme for 18 months, the pressure to proceed with the secret manned Moon programme remained. In October 1967, Cosmos 186 and 188 made history by successfully completing the first automated link-up between two unmanned spacecraft. For this achievement, Kerimov was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General.

However, progress was slow, and while the Soviet Moon programme languished, it was Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin who first set foot on the lunar Sea of Tranquillity. The Soviets concentrated instead on the creation of the world's first space stations, but once more unexpected problems arose when the first Soyuz crew to dock with Salyut 1 was unable to enter the station. Then a member of the next assigned crew became ill and, after a long debate, the State Commission agreed to replace all three cosmonauts with their back-up team.

The Soyuz 11 mission to occupy the space station was a great success and, after three weeks in orbit, the rookie crew prepared for a triumphant homecoming. It was not to be. A minor valve malfunction allowed the life-giving cabin air to leak into space during re-entry. When the unsuspecting search and rescue crews arrived at the landing site and opened the hatch, they found the crew dead in their seats. Kerimov flew to the scene of the tragedy to take part in an on-the- spot investigation.

Despite periodic failures in the Soyuz and space station programmes, Kerimov remained a key figure in the Soviet manned programme, but in 1974 his support for continued development of the giant N-1 rocket and the manned lunar programme led to his demotion. Although he continued to chair the State Commission for Soyuz missions, he was no longer responsible for overseeing the Korolev design bureau, the most important part of the Soviet space infrastructure.

Kerimov went on to oversee the joint US-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz Test Project of 1975 as well as the second and third generation Salyut and Mir space stations. Finally brought to the notice of the public by the Communist Party newspaper Pravda in 1987, when he was awarded the title of Hero of Socialist Labour and the Order of Lenin, Kerimov retired as the First Deputy Director of the Central Science Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering in 1991.

In 1995, he wrote a history of the Soviet space programme entitled "The Way to Space" and, like many of his contemporaries, sold at auction some of the signed photographs and other mementoes from his long, distinguished career. Although he enjoyed his retirement living on a farm, Kerimov continued to provide expert advice on projects such as Shuttle-Mir.

"I've had incredible experiences in my lifetime, most of which I wouldn't trade for anything in the world," he said.

Peter Bond