premise: Soyuz is still in existence.
hypothesis: The Soyuz ( Союз , meaning `` union '' , GRAU index 11A511 ) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev , Soviet Union . Starting in 1973 , the original Soyuz rocket was gradually superseded by the Soyuz-U derivative type , which became the world 's most prolific launcher , flying hundreds of missions over 43 years until its retirement scheduled for 2016 . Soyuz ( Союз , meaning `` union '' , GRAU index 11A511 ) is a family of expendable launch systems developed by OKB-1 , and manufactured by Progress State Research and Production Rocket Space Center in Samara , Russia . Soyuz ( Сою́з [ sɐˈjʉs ] , `` Union '' , as in Сове́тский Сою́з , `` Sovetskiy Soyuz '' , `` Soviet Union '' ) is a series of spacecraft designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau ( now RKK Energia ) in the 1960s that remains in service today .