In 1953, Korolev made his first successful flight with his new rocket: the R-5. The R-5 could go about twice as far as the R-2 (37). On March 5, 1953, Stalin died. The ensuing power struggle left Nikita Kruschev as leader of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev quickly became acquainted with Korolev. In 1957 Korolev showed Kruschev a new prototype for a new rocket, the R-7 (42). The R-7 was capable of intercontinental travel, able to hit any target in the world (38). Korolev worked on the R-7 on a secret site in Kazakhstan. The first three tests of the rocket were failures, but the 4th launch, the success restored faith in the rocket endeavour (38).