Proton is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are still in use as of 2022,making it one of the most successful heavy boosters in the history of spaceflight. The components of all Protons are manufactured at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center factory in Moscow and Chemical Automatics Design Bureau in Voronezh,then transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome,where they are assembled at Site 91 to form the launch vehicle. Following payload integration,the rocket is then brought to the launch pad horizontally by rail,and raised into vertical position for launch.
Zenit is a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipro,Ukraine,which was then part of the Soviet Union. Zenit was originally built in the 1980s for two purposes:as a liquid rocket booster for the Energia rocket and,equipped with a second stage,as a stand-alone middle-weight launcher with a payload greater than the 7 tonnes of the Soyuz but smaller than the 20 tonnes payload of the Proton. The last rocket family developed in the USSR,the Zenit was intended as an eventual replacement for the dated Soyuz and Proton families,and it would employ propellants which were safer and less toxic than the Proton's nitrogen tetroxide/UDMH mix. Zenit was planned to take over crewed spaceship launches from Soyuz,but these plans were abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Tsyklon,GRAU index 11K67,was a Soviet-designed expendable launch system,primarily used to put Cosmos satellites into low Earth orbit. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missile designed by Mikhail Yangel and made eight launches,with seven successes and one failure. All of its launches were conducted from LC-90 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. It is sometimes designated Tsyklon-2A,not to be confused with the later Tsyklon-2 rocket. It was introduced in 1967 and was derived from the R-36 ICBM. It was retired in 1969.
The Angara rocket family is a family of launch vehicles being developed by the Moscow-based Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. The launch vehicles are to put between 3,800 kg (8,400 lb) and 24,500 kg (54,000 lb) into low Earth orbit and are intended,along with Soyuz-2 variants,to replace several existing launch vehicles.
The State Space Agency of Ukraine is the Ukrainian government agency responsible for space policy and programs. Along with the Ukrainian Defense Industry and the Antonov Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex,it is a major state complex of the national defense industry of Ukraine.The agency was formed in 1992 based on the Soviet space program infrastructure remaining in Ukraine following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Blok D is an upper stage used on Soviet and later Russian expendable launch systems,including the N1,Proton-K and Zenit.
The Zenit-2 is a Ukrainian,previously Soviet,expendable carrier rocket. First flown in 1985,it has been launched 37 times,with 6 failures. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets and was designed by the Yuzhmash.
This comparison of orbital launch systems lists the attributes of all individual rocket configurations designed to reach orbit. A first list contains rockets that are operational or in development as of 2022;a second list includes all retired rockets. For the simple list of all conventional launcher families,see:Comparison of orbital launchers families. For the list of predominantly solid-fueled orbital launch systems,see:Comparison of solid-fueled orbital launch systems.
The Tsyklon-2 (Cyclone-2),also known as Tsiklon-2 and Tsyklon-M,GRAU index 11K69,was a Soviet,later Ukrainian,orbital carrier rocket used from the 1960s to the late 2000s. The rocket had 106 launches,one suborbital and 105 orbital,with only one failure and 92 consecutive successful launches,from 27 December 1973 with the launch of Kosmos 626 to 25 June 2006 with the final flight of the Tsyklon-2,which makes this launcher most reliable within rocket launched more than 100 times.
The Long March 4A,also known as the Changzheng 4A,CZ-4A and LM-4A,sometimes misidentified as the Long March 4 due to the lack of any such designated rocket,was a Chinese orbital carrier rocket. It was launched from Launch Area 7 at the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center. It was a three-stage rocket,used for two launches in 1988 and 1990. On its maiden flight,on 6 September 1988,it placed the FY-1A weather satellite into orbit. On its second,and final,flight it launched another weather satellite,FY-1B.
The Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency is a private Ecuadorian organization founded in 2007 that conducts research on space and planetary sciences. It is a non-profit non-governmental organization with civilian oversight.
The Tsyklon-4,also known as Tsiklon-4 and Cyclone-4,was a Ukrainian carrier rocket which was being developed for commercial satellite launches. Derived from the Tsyklon-3,it had a new third stage,a larger payload fairing,and a modernised flight control system compared to its predecessor. The control system had been developed by JSC Khartron.
Strictly speaking,a satellite collision is when two satellites collide while in orbit around a third,much larger body,such as a planet or moon. This definition can be loosely extended to include collisions between sub-orbital or escape-velocity objects with an object in orbit. Prime examples are the anti-satellite weapon tests.
Parus,also Tsyklon-B or Tsiklon-B and Tsikada-M,GRAU index 11F627,is a Russian,previously Soviet satellite constellation used for communication and navigation. As of 2010,99 Parus satellites have been launched,starting with Kosmos 700 in 1974. All launches have been conducted using Kosmos-3M carrier rockets,flying from sites 132 and 133 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
NEE-01 Pegaso is an Ecuadorian technology demonstration satellite,and Ecuador's first satellite launched to space. Built by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA),it is a nanosatellite of the single-unit CubeSat class. The spacecraft's instruments include a dual visible and infrared camera which allows the spacecraft to take pictures and transmit live video from space.
This article compares different orbital launcher families. The article is organized into two tables:the first table contains a list of currently active and under-development launcher families,while the second table contains a list of retired launcher families.
The Blok DM-03,GRAU index 11S861-03,is a Russian upper stage used as an optional fourth stage on the Proton-M heavy-lift rocket. Three have been launched,the first in December 2010;the first two launches failed before fourth stage ignition,the first as a result of a problem with the Blok DM's fuel load.
NEE-02 Krysaor is an Ecuadorian technology demonstration satellite,and Ecuador's second satellite launched to space. Built by the Ecuadorian Civilian Space Agency (EXA),it is a single-unit CubeSat nanosatellite. Krysaor is a Pegasus-class spacecraft,a "twin" of Ecuador's first satellite,NEE-01 Pegaso. Like Pegaso,this spacecraft's instruments include a dual visible and infrared camera which allows the spacecraft to take pictures and transmit live video from space.
A medium-lift launch vehicle (MLV) is a rocket launch vehicle that is capable of lifting between 2,000 to 20,000 kg by NASA classification or between 5,000 to 20,000 kilograms by Russian classification of payload into low Earth orbit (LEO). An MLV is between small-lift launch vehicles and heavy-lift launch vehicles.
Sich-1M is a Ukrainian spacecraft,an artificial satellite of Earth,constructed for remote sensing of Earth.
