The Other Moon Rocket

When we talk about the Space Race, the legendary Saturn V dominates the conversation, leaving its Soviet challenger largely forgotten. Yet, the story of the journey to the Moon is incomplete without the N1 rocket. Up until the development of these massive heavy-lift vehicles, the Soviet Union was undeniably winning the Space Race, consistently beating the United States to historic milestones like the first satellite and the first human in space. The N1 was designed to be their crowning achievement. Had this colossal engineering marvel been successful, the Soviet Union could very well have beaten the USA to the lunar surface, completely altering the history of space exploration.

An extraordinary rocket

The N1’s broad, flared base, changing stage slopes and exposed lattice structures give it a striking silhouette. The complete N1–L3 vehicle stood approximately 105 metres tall, measured 17 metres across its base, and weighed roughly 2,800 tonnes at liftoff. Its first stage used an extraordinary cluster of 30 engines, burning kerosene and liquid oxygen. Anatoly Zak’s N1 overview

All four test launches, between 1969 and 1972, failed before the first stage completed its work. The problems varied between flights and included propulsion failures, fires, damaged plumbing and wiring, and loss of control. Making such a large engine cluster operate reliably as one system proved exceptionally difficult. The N1 never reached orbit, but remains one of the most ambitious machines built during the space race. Check out this cool xkcd style explainer

About this model

This model was inspired by the N1 infographic created by Anatoly Zak at RussianSpaceWeb and the drawings of Alexander Shliadinski. Their work helped bring this remarkable vehicle and its internal arrangement into view. The model itself was created on Fusion with a GPT6 Astra integration, rendered on Blender and Marmoset 5. The Fusion file is included as well.

It is an educational approximation, designed to make the rocket’s stages and major internal assemblies easier to understand. Details have been simplified or adapted for visibility, strength and 3D printing.

One side reveals the cutaway interior, including the tanks, engine assemblies, supporting structures and upper spacecraft. The opposite side presents the exterior shell. Turn the model around to move between the familiar outline of a rocket and the machinery hidden inside it.

The rocket stands approximately 600 mm tall, excluding the display base, at approximately 1:175 scale. Small human figures on the base provide a sense of just how enormous the real vehicle was. These low-poly figures were created by José Pedro.

Printing and assembly

The model is organised into 29 printable components: 24 PRINT components and 5 SHELL components, including the display base. Each prepared component is supplied as an individual colour-preserving 3MF.

Where a component contains separate bodies, these can be split into smaller parts in a compatible slicer. However, printing each prepared component together is recommended to preserve its intended alignment and simplify assembly.

The main rocket assemblies use four colours: blue, orange, white and grey. Decorative markings add red and yellow, while the base also uses black. The supplied base contains five colours; for a four-filament setup, its colours can be consolidated or its bodies printed in separate jobs.

Keyed connections help position the internal assemblies against the outer shell and adjoining components. Test-fit the connections before gluing the model together.

Supports are required, but overhangs have been reduced where practical through chamfers, sloped undersides and changes to small details. Check the support preview for your chosen orientation and printer settings before printing.

The assembly guide is shown in the preview images and is also available as a downloadable PDF, showing where the prepared components belong and how they fit together.