The 8K72K rocket, (later known as Vostok) derived from a three-stage launch vehicle which carried the first Soviet unmanned probes to the moon. Structural changes were limited primarily to the top (third) stage originally developed for sending its payloads to the Moon. For Vostok missions, a larger cylindrical adapter was fitted onto the stage to accommodate a manned spacecraft and its protective payload shroud. The new fairing had a big circular opening to enable Vostok pilots to eject from the cabin in case of an emergency on the launch pad or in the early phase of the launch.

The total launch mass of the 8K72 rocket with the Vostok spacecraft reached 287 tons. The launch and first two stages of the orbital insertion would be similar to most vehicles based on the R-7 missile. The payload fairing the Vostok spacecraft would be split into two petals and dropped soon after the separation of the first stage.

Upon reaching the velocity necessary to insert the Vostok spacecraft into orbit, the flight control system would shut down the engine of the third stage and separate the stage from the spacecraft.

With the conclusion of manned Vostok missions in 1963, the unmanned version of the rocket later known as Vostok-M was introduced on Aug. 28, 1964, with the launch of the Meteor satellite. The vehicle continued flying for several decades with unmanned satellites, including Elektron and Meteor. The general architecture of the Vostok rocket was revealed to the general public only in 1967, when a full-scale mockup of the rocket was displayed at the Paris Air and Space Show in Le Bourget, France.