Soyuz 2 rocket
Encyclopedia
Soyuz-2, GRAU index 14A14, is the collective designation for the new version of the Russia
n Soyuz rocket
. In its basic form, it is a three-stage carrier rocket for placing payloads into low Earth orbit
. The first stage boosters and two core stages feature uprated engines with improved injection systems, compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz. Digital flight control and telemetry systems allow the rocket to be launched from a fixed launch platform, whereas the launch platforms for earlier Soyuz rockets had to be rotated as the rocket could not perform a roll to change its heading in flight.
Soyuz-2 is often flown with an upper stage, which allows it to lift payloads into higher orbits, such as Molniya
and Geosynchronous orbit
s. The upper stage is equipped with independent flight control and telemetry systems from those used in the rest of the rocket. The NPO Lavochkin manufactured Fregat
is the most commonly used upper stage.
Soyuz-2 rockets are currently launched from LC-31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
, and LC-43
at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
, launch facilities shared with earlier R-7 derived rockets, including the Soyuz-U
and Molniya
.
Commercial Soyuz-2 flights are contracted by Starsem, and are currently launched from LC-31 at Baikonur. These will move to a new site, ELS
(l'Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz), which has been being built at the Guiana Space Centre on the northern coast of South America
. The Soyuz-2 is expected to be able to deliver 2.8-3.5 tonnes to GTO from this site. The first launch was October 21, 2011, for two European space navigation satellites. : three hours and 49 minutes after blast-off, the ESA announced that the two Galileo satellites had successfully reached their final orbit 23,222 kilometres above Earth, and that their launch had been a complete success.
The Soyuz-2 has replaced the Molniya-M
and is starting to replace the Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG
rockets which are currently in service alongside it, as they are expected to be phased out from 2014 onwards.
launcher. The latter is a "light" version without side boosters.
When launched from ELS site, the Soyuz-2 will always be mated with ST-type fairing. This version will be called Soyuz-ST or Soyuz-STK, where additional "K" indicates special measures taken for preparing and launching the rocket in hot and humid conditions.
The 2.1a/ST version is sometimes called Soyuz-STA.
The 2.1b/ST version is sometimes called Soyuz-STB.
. The new launcher will be able to deliver up to 2.8 tonnes in low Earth orbit.
), the first Soyuz-2 carrier rocket, in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration, was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
in Russia
. The rocket followed a sub-orbital trajectory, with the third stage and boilerplate payload re-entering over the Pacific Ocean
.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n Soyuz rocket
Rocket
A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle which obtains thrust from a rocket engine. In all rockets, the exhaust is formed entirely from propellants carried within the rocket before use. Rocket engines work by action and reaction...
. In its basic form, it is a three-stage carrier rocket for placing payloads into low Earth orbit
Low Earth orbit
A low Earth orbit is generally defined as an orbit within the locus extending from the Earth’s surface up to an altitude of 2,000 km...
. The first stage boosters and two core stages feature uprated engines with improved injection systems, compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz. Digital flight control and telemetry systems allow the rocket to be launched from a fixed launch platform, whereas the launch platforms for earlier Soyuz rockets had to be rotated as the rocket could not perform a roll to change its heading in flight.
Soyuz-2 is often flown with an upper stage, which allows it to lift payloads into higher orbits, such as Molniya
Molniya orbit
Molniya orbit is a type of highly elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63.4 degrees, an argument of perigee of -90 degree and an orbital period of one half of a sidereal day...
and Geosynchronous orbit
Geosynchronous orbit
A geosynchronous orbit is an orbit around the Earth with an orbital period that matches the Earth's sidereal rotation period...
s. The upper stage is equipped with independent flight control and telemetry systems from those used in the rest of the rocket. The NPO Lavochkin manufactured Fregat
Fregat
Fregat is a type of rocket stage developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s. Its main engine is a liquid propellant rocket that uses UDMH and N2O4 as propellants.- Specifications :...
is the most commonly used upper stage.
Soyuz-2 rockets are currently launched from LC-31 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome
Baikonur Cosmodrome
The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level...
, and LC-43
Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43
Site 43, also known as SK-3 and SK-4, is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It consists of a two pads, Sites 43/3 and 43/4, and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since the early 1960s....
at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...
, launch facilities shared with earlier R-7 derived rockets, including the Soyuz-U
Soyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....
and Molniya
Molniya (rocket)
Molniya 8K78 was a modification of the well-known R-7 Semyorka rocket and had four stages.This derivative of the original three stage Vostok rocket was especially designed to bring high flying satellites into orbit or to launch probes to other planets. The first launch of this rocket was on...
.
Commercial Soyuz-2 flights are contracted by Starsem, and are currently launched from LC-31 at Baikonur. These will move to a new site, ELS
Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz
The Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz , is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou/Sinnamary, French Guiana...
(l'Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz), which has been being built at the Guiana Space Centre on the northern coast of South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. The Soyuz-2 is expected to be able to deliver 2.8-3.5 tonnes to GTO from this site. The first launch was October 21, 2011, for two European space navigation satellites. : three hours and 49 minutes after blast-off, the ESA announced that the two Galileo satellites had successfully reached their final orbit 23,222 kilometres above Earth, and that their launch had been a complete success.
The Soyuz-2 has replaced the Molniya-M
Molniya-M
The Molniya-M , designation 8K78M, was a Russian carrier rocket derived from the R-7 Semyorka ICBM. First launched in 1964, it had replaced its predecessor, Molniya, by the end of 1965...
and is starting to replace the Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG
Soyuz-FG
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle is an improved version of the Soyuz-U, from the R-7 family of rockets, designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara...
rockets which are currently in service alongside it, as they are expected to be phased out from 2014 onwards.
Variants
Soyuz-2 family includes 2.1a, 2.1b and 2.1v. The first two variants are modifications to the Soyuz-USoyuz-U
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of the original Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the R-7 family of rockets based on the R-7 Semyorka missile. Members of this rocket family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia....
launcher. The latter is a "light" version without side boosters.
When launched from ELS site, the Soyuz-2 will always be mated with ST-type fairing. This version will be called Soyuz-ST or Soyuz-STK, where additional "K" indicates special measures taken for preparing and launching the rocket in hot and humid conditions.
Soyuz 2.1a
The 2.1a version includes conversion from analog to digital flight control system and uprated engines on the booster and the first stage with improved injection systems. The new digital flight control and telemetry systems allow to launch the rocket from a fixed launch platform and adjust its heading in flight. A digital control system also enables to launch larger commercial satellites with wider and longer fairings such as ST-type fairing. These fairings introduce too much aerodynamic instability for the old analog system to handle. This stage continues to use the RD-0110 engine.The 2.1a/ST version is sometimes called Soyuz-STA.
Soyuz 2.1b
The 2.1b version adds an upgraded engine (RD-0124) with improved performance to the second stage.The 2.1b/ST version is sometimes called Soyuz-STB.
Soyuz 2.1v
First draft of the 2.1v version was finished in 2009. It will be a "light" version of the Soyuz-2 without the side boosters (blocks B, V, G and D). Block A engine will be replaced by a more powerful one NK-33-1NK-33
The NK-33 and NK-43 are rocket engines designed and built in the late 1960s and early 1970s by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau. They were intended for the ill-fated Soviet N-1 rocket moon shot. The NK-33 engine achieves the highest thrust-to-weight ratio of any Earth-launchable rocket engine, whilst...
. The new launcher will be able to deliver up to 2.8 tonnes in low Earth orbit.
Suborbital test flight
On 8 November 2004, at 18:30 GMT (21:30 Moscow TimeMoscow Time
Moscow Time is the time zone for the city of Moscow, Russia and most of western Russia, including Saint Petersburg. It is the second westernmost of the nine time zones of Russia. Moscow Time has been UTC+4 year-round since 27 March 2011....
), the first Soyuz-2 carrier rocket, in the Soyuz-2.1a configuration, was launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome
Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:...
in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. The rocket followed a sub-orbital trajectory, with the third stage and boilerplate payload re-entering over the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
.
MetOp-A
The first attempt at launching a Soyuz-2 to orbit, with the MetOp-A satellite, occurred on 17 July 2006. It was scrubbed two hours before the launch by an automatic sequence, after the onboard computer failed to check the launch azimuth. Fuelling of the rocket was underway at the time, and all launch complex equipment and on-board preliminary checks had proceeded without incident. The rocket was left fuelled on the launch pad, for the next attempt on 18 July. Launch was eventually conducted on 19 October.Launch history
| Date | Time (GMT) | Configuration | Launch Site | Result | Payload | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 November 2004 | 18:30 | Soyuz 2.1a | LC-43 Plesetsk Cosmodrome Site 43 Site 43, also known as SK-3 and SK-4, is a launch complex at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. It consists of a two pads, Sites 43/3 and 43/4, and has been used by R-7 derived rockets since the early 1960s.... |
Plesetsk Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome is a Russian spaceport, located in Arkhangelsk Oblast, about 800 km north of Moscow and approximately 200 km south of Arkhangelsk.-Overview:... |
Success | Zenit-8 (boilerplate) | Suborbital test |
| 19 October 2006 | 17:28 | Soyuz 2.1a/ST Fregat | LC-31/6 | Baikonur Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome , also called Tyuratam, is the world's first and largest operational space launch facility. It is located in the desert steppe of Kazakhstan, about east of the Aral Sea, north of the Syr Darya river, near Tyuratam railway station, at 90 meters above sea level... |
Success | MetOp MetOp MetOp is a series of polar orbiting meteorological satellites operated by the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites. The satellites are all part af the EUMETSAT Polar System. It is intended to replace the soon to be retired TIROS network... |
Weather satellite Weather satellite The weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while... |
| 24 December 2006 | 08:34 | Soyuz 2.1a/S Fregat | LC-43 | Plesetsk | Success | Meridian 1 Meridian 1 Meridian 1, also known as Meridian #11L was a Russian communications satellite. It was the first satellite to be launched as part of the Meridian system, which will replace the older Molniya series.... |
Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... |
| 27 December 2006 | 14:28 | Soyuz 2.1b/SL Fregat | LC-31 | Baikonur | Success | COROT Corot Corot may refer to:* Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French landscape painter * COROT, a space mission with the dual aims of finding extrasolar planets and performing asteroseismology* COROT-7, a dwarf star in the Monoceros constellation... |
Astronomy Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth... satellite |
| 26 July 2008 | 18:31 | Soyuz 2.1b | LC-43 | Plesetsk | Success | Kosmos 2441 (Persona Persona (satellite) Persona is a class of Russian reconnaissance satellites, derived from the Resurs DK class of remote sensing satellite, itself derived from the Soviet Yantar reconnaissance satellites... ?) |
Imaging reconnaissance satellite(?) |
| 21 May 2009 | 21:53 | Soyuz 2.1a/ Fregat | LC-43 | Plesetsk | Partial failure | Meridian 2 Meridian 2 Meridian 2 is a Russian communications satellite. It is the second satellite of the Meridian system, which will replace the older Molniya series. It follows on from Meridian 1, which was launched in December 2006.... |
Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... |
| 17 September 2009 | 15:55 | Soyuz 2.1b/ Fregat | LC-31/6 | Baikonur | Success | Meteor M-1 Meteor (satellite) The Meteor craft are weather observation satellites launched by the USSR. The Meteor satellites were designed to monitor atmospheric and sea-surface temperatures, humidity, radiation, sea ice conditions, snow-cover, and clouds.-Meteor 2-21:... Universitetsky-2 Sterkh-2 IRIS UGATUSAT UGATUSAT UGATUSAT is a Russian nanosatellite which was built, and will be operated by Ufa State Aviation Technical University . The satellite will be used as a technology demonstrator, and for Earth observation. The development programme was budgeted at around 155M Roubles... SumbandilaSat SumbandilaSat SumbandilaSat , is a South African micro earth observation satellite, launched 2009-09-17 on a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome... BLITS Blits Black & Lane's Ident Tones for Surround is a way of keeping track of channels in a mixed surround-sound, stereo, and mono world. It was developed by Martin Black and Keith Lane of Sky TV London in 2004. BLITS is used by Sky, the BBC and other European and US broadcasters to identify and lineup 5.1... |
Weather satellite Weather satellite The weather satellite is a type of satellite that is primarily used to monitor the weather and climate of the Earth. Satellites can be either polar orbiting, seeing the same swath of the Earth every 12 hours, or geostationary, hovering over the same spot on Earth by orbiting over the equator while... and small piggyback science satellites |
| 16 October 2010 | 17:11 | Soyuz 2.1a/ Fregat | LC-31/6 | Baikonur | Success | Globalstar-2 Globalstar Globalstar is a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, somewhat similar to the Iridium satellite constellation and Orbcomm satellite systems.-History:... F1 (6 satellites) |
Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... s |
| 2 November 2010 | 00:59 | Soyuz 2.1a/ Fregat | LC-43/4 | Plesetsk | Success | Meridian 3 | Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... |
| 26 February 2011 | 03:07 | Soyuz 2.1b/ Fregat | LC-43/4 | Plesetsk | Success | GLONASS-K GLONASS-K GLONASS-K is the latest satellite design intended as a part of the Russian GLONASS radio-based satellite navigation system. Developed by Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems and first launched on 26 February 2011, it is a substantial improvement of the previous GLONASS-M second-generation... |
Navigation satellite |
| 4 May 2011 | 17:41 | Soyuz 2.1a/ Fregat | LC-43/4 | Plesetsk | Success | Meridian 4 | Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... |
| 13 July 2011 | 02:27 | Soyuz 2.1a/ Fregat | LC-31/6 | Baikonur | Success | Globalstar-2 Globalstar Globalstar is a low Earth orbit satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications, somewhat similar to the Iridium satellite constellation and Orbcomm satellite systems.-History:... F2 (6 satellites) |
Communications satellite Communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite stationed in space for the purpose of telecommunications... s |
| 2 October 2011 | 20:15 | Soyuz 2.1b/ Fregat | LC-43/4 | Plesetsk | Success | GLONASS-M | Navigation satellite |
| 21 October 2011 | 10:30 | Soyuz 2.1b/ST Fregat | ELS | Guiana | Success | IOV-1 & IOV-2 | Navigation satellite |
| 28 November 2011 | 08:25 | Soyuz 2.1b/ Fregat | LC-43 | Plesetsk | Success | GLONASS-M | Navigation satellite |
External links
- Encyclopedia Astronautica article on Soyuz 2.1
- Encyclopedia Astronautica article on Soyuz 2.1/Fregat
- European Space Agency about Soyuz-ST (Russian name Soyuz-STK)
- Soyuz User's Manual, from Starsem
- Soyuz-2 launch vehicle, Russian Federal Space Agency