Soviet rocket scientist, a pioneer in rocket propulsion systems, and a major contributor to Soviet space and defense technology.

After graduating from Leningrad State University (1929), Glushko headed the design bureau of Gas Dynamics Laboratory in Leningrad and began research on electrothermal, solid-fuel, and liquid-fuel rocket engines. Working together from 1932 to 1966, Glushko and renowned rocket designer Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov (Korolyov, Sergey Pavlovich) achieved their greatest triumphs in 1957 with the launching of both the first intercontinental ballistic missile in August and the first successful artificial satellite, Sputnik I, in October. In 1974 he was named chief designer of the Soviet space program, in which he oversaw the development of the Mir space station. Glushko received numerous official honours, including the Lenin Prize (1957) and election to the U.S.S.R. Academy of Sciences (1958).