the first soyuz flight had no people aboard. it launched on november 28, 1966. the first soyuz mission with a crew, soyuz 1, launched on 23 april 1967 but crashed upon return, killing cosmonaut vladimir komarov. soyuz 3 (october 26, 1968) was the first successful manned mission. now, the soyuz is widely considered the world's safest, most cost-effective human spaceflight vehicle. soyuz spacecraft were used to carry cosmonauts to and from salyut and later mir space stations, and are now used for transport to and from the international space station (iss). at least one soyuz spacecraft is docked at the iss at all times for use as an escape craft in the event of an emergency.