n 1958, Dmitri Kozlov, a close associate of Korolev, was placed in charge of establishing the production facility in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), which lies about 880 km (550 mi) southeast of Moscow on the Volga River. On 23 July 1959, the Serial Production Design Department was officially established at the MZ Progress factory in Kuibyshev, and one year later it was incorporated into OKB-1 as its Kuibyshev branch office. By 1961, all design, engineering, flight testing, and operations responsibility for the boosters had been transferred from OKB-1 in Moscow to Kuibyshev. In 1974, this branch was split out into a separate organization and named Tsentralnoe Spetsializirovannoe KB (TsSKB or Central Specialized Design Bureau), with Dmitri Kozlov as chief designer and Aviation Plant N°1. The KB (TsSKB) was established in Samara as a branch of Sergei Korolev's OKB-1 design bureau, to oversee production of the R-7 missile and related space launch vehicles at the Aviation Plant #1 factory. TsSKB has responsibility for the design of "Soyuz", and also works on recoverable scientific and reconnaissance satellites, communications spacecraft, and other space projects. TsSKB became independent in 1975. The Aviation Plant N°1 became the MZ Progress factory. MZ Progress worked closely with TsSKB on "Soyuz", but has also performed production work for a number of other launch vehicles (including the "Energia" heavy-lift vehicle) and spacecraft. To cooperate more closely to commercialize "Soyuz", TsSKB and the Progress factory have formed the Samara Space Center, which represents both parties. Production of the "Soyuz"-class boosters still takes place at the MZ Progress factory in Samara. Currently, MZ Progress production facilities are shared by RSC Energia and TsSKB.

Production of the "Soyuz" has been very high in the past, peaking at a rate of more than one complete vehicle per week in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the program subcontractors are located in Samara or close by. The RD-107/108 engines are built from an NPO Energomash design at the Frunze factory in Samara. While "Soyuz" production has dropped to about a dozen per year because of decreased government demand, a capacity to build 25-30 vehicles per year is still present.

"Soyuz" launch rates have declined significantly from their peak of more than 60 per year around 1980 to 12 per year in the late 1990s. Still, this is an active schedule by the standards of any other launch vehicle. Engine production facilities can still produce enough engines for 25-30 flights per year, should the need (and sufficient funding) arise. Starsem could, in principle, perform one commercial launch every two weeks from Baikonur. Launch campaigns are roughly one month long, and two can be carried out simultaneously.