The USSR holds the distinction of building the most powerful space launcher in history, the universal space rocket system with the super-heavy class carrier Energia. Created between 1976 and 1987, the rocket system represented a giant leap forward in Soviet science and technology. With a payload capacity of nearly 100 tons, Energia furthered the development of space research in unprecedented ways. The Soviet space program further intended the development of a whole range of unified heavy and super-heavy rocket-carriers based on the Energia model. The rocket class depended upon the special configuration of the side blocks and the modification of the central block, which would have allowed delivery into geostationary orbit of a wide array of objects up to 200 tons.