Function | Orbital carrier rocket |
---|---|
Manufacturer | TsSKB-Progress |
Country of origin | Soviet Union |
Size | |
Height |
|
Diameter | 3 m (9.8 ft) [1] |
Mass |
|
Stages |
|
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | |
Associated rockets | |
Family | R-7 (Soyuz) |
Derivative work | Soyuz-U2 Soyuz-FG |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | |
Total launches | 786 [2] [3] [4] |
Success(es) | 765 [5] |
Failure(s) | 22 [2] [5] |
First flight | 18 May 1973 [6] |
Last flight | 22 February 2017 (Progress MS-05) |
Type of passengers/cargo | Soyuz spacecraft Progress spacecraft |
Boosters – Blok-B,V,G,D [7] | |
No. boosters | 4 |
Height | 19.6 m (64 ft) |
Diameter | 2.68 m (8.8 ft) |
Empty mass | Soyuz: 3,800 kg (8,400 lb) |
Gross mass | 43,400 kg (95,700 lb) |
Powered by | RD-117 |
Maximum thrust | Sea Level: 838.5 kN (188,500 lbf) Vacuum: 1,021.3 kN (229,600 lbf) |
Specific impulse | Sea Level: 262 s (2.57 km/s) Vacuum: 319 s (3.13 km/s) |
Burn time | 118 seconds |
Propellant | LOX/RG-1 |
First stage –Blok-A [7] | |
Height | 27.10 m (88.9 ft) |
Diameter | 2.95 m (9.7 ft) |
Empty mass | Soyuz:6,550 kg (14,440 lb) |
Gross mass | Soyuz:99,500 kg (219,400 lb) |
Powered by | RD-118 |
Maximum thrust | Sea Level: 792.5 kN (178,200 lbf) Vacuum: 990.2 kN (222,600 lbf) |
Specific impulse | Sea Level: 255 s (2.50 km/s) Vacuum: 319 s (3.13 km/s) |
Burn time | 290 seconds |
Propellant | LOX/RG-1 |
Second stage –Blok-I [7] | |
Height | 6.70 m (22.0 ft) |
Diameter | 2.66 m (8.7 ft) |
Empty mass | Soyuz:2,410 kg (5,310 lb) |
Gross mass | Soyuz:25,200 kg (55,600 lb) |
Powered by | RD-0110 |
Maximum thrust | 297.9 kilonewtons (67,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 325 seconds |
Burn time | 270 seconds |
Propellant | LOX/RG-1 |
Upper stage (optional) –Fregat [8] | |
Height | 1.5 m (4.9 ft) |
Diameter | 3.35 m (11.0 ft) |
Empty mass | 930 kg (2,050 lb) |
Propellant mass | 5,250 kg (11,570 lb) |
Powered by | S5.92 |
Maximum thrust | 19.85 kilonewtons (4,460 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 333.2 seconds |
Burn time | 1100 seconds |
Propellant | N2O4/UDMH |
Upper stage (optional) –Ikar [9] | |
Height | 2.56 m (8.4 ft) |
Diameter | 2.72 m (8.9 ft) |
Empty mass | 820 kg (1,810 lb) |
Gross mass | 3,164 kg (6,975 lb) |
Powered by | S5.144/17D61 |
Maximum thrust | 2.94 kN (660 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 307 seconds |
Propellant | N2O4/UDMH |
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle was an improved version of the original Soyuz rocket. Soyuz-U was 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 (now a united company,TsSKB-Progress). The first Soyuz-U flight took place on 18 May 1973,carrying as its payload Kosmos 559,a Zenit military surveillance satellite. [6] The final flight of a Soyuz-U rocket took place on 22 February 2017,carrying Progress MS-05 to the International Space Station.
Soyuz-U was in use continuously for almost 44 years. Production of R-7 derived launch vehicles peaked in the late 1970s-early 1980s at 55–60 a year. Soyuz-U held the world record of highest launch rate in a year in 1979 with 47 flights until this was beaten by SpaceX's Falcon 9 in 2022. [10] [11] Over its operational lifetime,the Soyuz-U variant flew a total of 786 missions,another world record. Soyuz-U has also been one of the most reliable launchers,with a success rate of 97.3%.
The earlier Soyuz 11A511 was the first attempt at creating a standardized R-7 core in place of the numerous variations that had been used up to 1966. Starting that year,the 11A511 Blok I and strap-on boosters were added to the Voskhod (11A57),Vostok-2 (8A92),and Molniya-M (8K78M) vehicles as well as minor R-7 variants flown once or twice for specialized payloads.
The uprated 11A511U core was introduced to the R-7 family in 1973,yielding the carrier rocket variant named Soyuz-U,although adoption across the board was not complete until 1977 when the existing stock of 11A511-derived boosters was used up.
Two versions of Soyuz-U were fitted with an additional upper stage:
An older variant of Soyuz-U,the Soyuz-U2 launcher,first flown in 1982,had the same hardware as the basic Soyuz-U. Instead of standard RP-1,it used a high energy,synthetic version,Syntin,as the first stage fuel. This variant,mainly used to transport crew and cargo to the Mir space station,last flew in 1995,after production of Syntin ended due to cost reasons.
Soyuz-U was the basic platform for the development of the Soyuz-FG variant,which used an all-new first stage and took over crew transport to the ISS in 2002. Since 2013,both Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG are gradually being replaced by the modernized Soyuz-2 launch vehicle.
The first use of a Soyuz-U to launch a crewed mission took place 2 December 1974,when the Soyuz 16 crew was launched in preparation for the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project (ASTP). Soyuz 19,which as part of the ASTP docked with the last Apollo spacecraft ever flown,was also launched by a Soyuz-U rocket. [6]
On 6 July 1976,a Soyuz-U launched Soyuz 21,which took a crew of two to the Salyut 5 space station. Many subsequent space station crews were launched on Soyuz-U launchers. The final crewed mission to use the Soyuz-U was Soyuz TM-34,a Soyuz ferry flight to the International Space Station.
A spectacular accident occurred on 26 September 1983,when the launcher for the Soyuz T-10a mission was destroyed by fire on the launch pad. The crew was saved by activation of the launch escape system a few seconds before the explosion.
From 2000 until its retirement in 2017,Soyuz-U vehicles were used by the Russian Federal Space Agency primarily to launch Progress-M robotic cargo spacecraft on resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS).
Although the Soyuz-U was generally very reliable,occasional failures occurred,such as the October 2002 launch of a Foton satellite which crashed near the pad at Plesetsk after the Blok D strap-on booster suffered an engine malfunction. One person on the ground was killed.
A Soyuz-U mission failed to launch Progress M-12M to the ISS on 24 August 2011,when the upper stage experienced a problem and broke up over Siberia. It was the first time a Progress spacecraft had failed to reach orbit. Another cargo ship,Progress MS-04,was lost on 1 December 2016 shortly after launch,likely due to a problem with the third stage of the Soyuz-U.
In April 2015,Soyuz-U was declared obsolete. Its production was stopped and the rocket was scheduled for retirement after launching the remaining vehicles with Progress cargo ships. [12] The final flight was Progress MS-05,which launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on 22 February 2017,05:58:33 UTC. [13]
The Soyuz programme is a human spaceflight programme initiated by the Soviet Union in the early 1960s. The Soyuz spacecraft was originally part of a Moon landing project intended to put a Soviet cosmonaut on the Moon. It was the third Soviet human spaceflight programme after the Vostok (1961–1963) and Voskhod (1964–1965) programmes.
Soyuz is a family of expendable Russian and Soviet carrier rockets developed by OKB-1 and manufactured by Progress Rocket Space Centre in Samara,Russia. The Soyuz is the rocket with the most launches in the history of spaceflight.
The Progress is a Russian expendable cargo spacecraft. Its purpose is to deliver the supplies needed to sustain a human presence in orbit. While it does not carry a crew,it can be boarded by astronauts when docked to a space station,hence it is classified as crewed by its manufacturer. Progress is derived from the crewed Soyuz spacecraft and launches on the same launch vehicle,a Soyuz rocket.
Human spaceflight programs have been conducted,started,or planned by multiple countries and companies. Until the 21st century,human spaceflight programs were sponsored exclusively by governments,through either the military or civilian space agencies. With the launch of the privately funded SpaceShipOne in 2004,a new category of human spaceflight programs –commercial human spaceflight –arrived. By the end of 2022,three countries and one private company (SpaceX) had successfully launched humans to Earth orbit,and two private companies had launched humans on a suborbital trajectory.
Soyuz-2 is a modernized expendable medium-lift launch vehicle and the seventh major version in the Soyuz family. It includes key enhancements over its predecessors including improved engines along with digital flight control and telemetry systems,enabling launches from fixed platforms and the use of large payload fairings.
The Soyuz-FG launch vehicle was an improved version of the Soyuz-U from the R-7 family of rockets,designed and constructed by TsSKB-Progress in Samara,Russia. Guidance,navigation,and control system was developed and manufactured by "Polisvit" Special Design Bureau.
The RD-107 and its sibling,the RD-108,are a type of rocket engine used on the R-7 rocket family. RD-107 engines are used in each booster and the RD-108 is used in the central core. The engines have four main combustion chambers and either two (RD-107) or four (RD-108) vernier chambers.
The Molniya-M,GRAU designation 8K78M,was a Soviet Union launch vehicle derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Soyuz TMA-18 was a 2010 Soyuz flight to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-18 was the 105th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft since the first crewed flight in 1967.
Soyuz TMA-19 was a crewed spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) and is part of the Soyuz programme. It was launched on 15 June 2010 carrying three members of the Expedition 24 crew to the International Space Station,who remained aboard the station for around six months. Soyuz TMA-19 was the 106th crewed flight of a Soyuz spacecraft,since the first mission which was launched in 1967. The spacecraft remained docked to the space station for the remainder of Expedition 24,and for Expedition 25,to serve as an emergency escape vehicle. It undocked from ISS and landed in Kazakhstan on 26 November 2010. It was the 100th mission to be conducted as part of the International Space Station programme since assembly began in 1998.
The Soyuz was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev,Soviet Union. It was commissioned to launch Soyuz spacecraft as part of the Soviet human spaceflight program,first with 8 uncrewed test flights,followed by the first 19 crewed launches. The original Soyuz also propelled four test flights of the improved Soyuz 7K-T capsule between 1972 and 1974. In total it flew 30 successful missions over 10 years and suffered two failures.
Russia's space industry comprises more than 100 companies and employs 250,000 people. Most of the companies are descendants of Soviet design bureaux and state production companies. The industry entered a deep crisis following the dissolution of the Soviet Union,with its fullest effect occurring in the last years of the 1990s. Funding of the space program declined by 80% and the industry lost a large part of its work force before recovery began in the early 2000s. Many companies survived by creating joint-ventures with foreign firms and marketing their products abroad.
Soyuz TMA-22 was a crewed spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). TMA-22 was the 111th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft,and transported three members of the Expedition 29 crew to the ISS. The spacecraft docked to the ISS on 16 November 2011,and remained docked to serve as an emergency escape vehicle until its undocking on 27 April 2012. Soyuz TMA-22 successfully landed in Kazakhstan on 27 April 2012 11:45 GMT.
Rus-M was a proposed launcher design which was intended to become Russia's main launch vehicle for crewed spaceflight after 2018,and an integral part of the Orel spacecraft being developed to replace the Soyuz.
Progress M-12M,identified by NASA as Progress 44P,was an uncrewed Progress spacecraft that was lost in a launch failure on 24 August 2011,at the start of a mission to resupply the International Space Station. It was the twelfth modernised Progress-M spacecraft to be launched. Manufactured by RKK Energia,the spacecraft was to have been operated by the Russian Federal Space Agency.
The Ikar was a rocket upper stage designed in Russia in 1999 to be used with the Soyuz 11A511U rocket as Soyuz-Ikar. It was derived from the propulsion module of the Yantar spy satellites.
Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre was a European Space Agency (ESA) programme that operated Soyuz-2 launch vehicles at the Guiana Space Centre (CSG). It provided Arianespace with a medium-lift launch vehicle alongside the light-lift Vega and heavy-lift Ariane 5. The rocket was marketed by Starsem a joint venture of ArianeGroup,Arianespace,Progress Rocket Space Centre and Roscosmos.
Progress MS-01,identified by NASA as Progress 62P was a Progress spaceflight operated by Roscosmos to resupply the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015. It was launched on 21 December 2015,to deliver cargo to the ISS. Progress MS-01 is the first vehicle in the Progress-MS series.
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