Soyuz (russian: Союз, meaning "union",

GRAU index The Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (), commonly referred to by its transliterated Russian acronym GRAU (), is a department of the Russian Ministry of Defense. It is subordinate to the ...

11A511) is a family of expendable Russian and Soviet carrier rockets developed by

OKB-1 PAO S. P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia (russian: Ракетно-космическая корпорация «Энергия» им. С. П. Королёва, Raketno-kosmicheskaya korporatsiya "Energiya" im. S. P. Korolyov ...

and manufactured by

Progress Rocket Space Centre The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...

Samara Samara ( rus, Сама́ра, p=sɐˈmarə), known from 1935 to 1991 as Kuybyshev (; ), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with ...

, Russia. With over 1,900 flights since its debut in 1966, the Soyuz is the most frequently used launch vehicle in the world as of 2021. For nearly a decade, between the final flight of the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

program in 2011 and the 2020 first crewed mission of

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

Falcon 9 Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX. The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and payl ...

rocket, Soyuz rockets were the only launch vehicles able and approved for transporting astronauts to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...

. The Soyuz vehicles are used as the launcher for the crewed

Soyuz spacecraft Soyuz () is a series of spacecraft which has been in service since the 1960s, having made more than 140 flights. It was designed for the Soviet space program by the Korolev Design Bureau (now Energia). The Soyuz succeeded the Voskhod spacecraf ...

as part of the

Soyuz programme The Soyuz programme ( , ; russian: link=no, Союз , meaning "Union") 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 So ...

, as well as to launch uncrewed Progress supply spacecraft to the International Space Station and for commercial launches marketed and operated by

Starsem Starsem is a French-Russian company that was created in 1996 to commercialise the Soyuz launcher internationally. Starsem is headquartered in Évry, France (near Paris) and has the following shareholders: * ArianeGroup (35%) * Arianespace (1 ...

and

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...

. All Soyuz rockets use

RP-1 RP-1 (alternatively, Rocket Propellant-1 or Refined Petroleum-1) is a highly refined form of kerosene outwardly similar to jet fuel, used as rocket fuel. RP-1 provides a lower specific impulse than liquid hydrogen (LH2), but is cheaper, is st ...

and

liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen—abbreviated LOx, LOX or Lox in the aerospace, submarine and gas industries—is the liquid form of molecular oxygen. It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an applica ...

(LOX) propellant, with the exception of the

Soyuz-U2 The Soyuz-U2 ( GRAU index 11A511U2) was a Soviet, later Russian, carrier rocket. It was derived from the Soyuz-U, and a member of the R-7 family of rockets. It featured increased performance compared with the baseline Soyuz-U, due to the use ...

, which used

Syntin Syntin is a hydrocarbon with the molecular formula C10H16 used as a rocket fuel. It is a mixture of four stereoisomers (see below). It has a density of 0.851 g/mL, and a boiling point of 158 °C. Due to the presence of three strained cycl ...

, a variant of RP-1, with LOX. The Soyuz family is a subset of the

R-7 family The R-7 family of rockets (russian: Р-7) is a series of rockets, derived from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, the world's first ICBM. More R-7 rockets have been launched than any other family of large rockets. When Soviet nuclear warheads became li ...

History

A space workhorse

The Soyuz launcher was introduced in 1966, deriving from the

Vostok Vostok refers to east in Russian but may also refer to: Spaceflight * Vostok programme, Soviet human spaceflight project * Vostok (spacecraft), a type of spacecraft built by the Soviet Union * Vostok (rocket family), family of rockets derived from ...

launcher, which in turn was based on the 8K74 or R-7a

intercontinental ballistic missile An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

. It was initially a three-stage rocket with a Block I upper stage. The first four test launches were all failures, but eventually it worked. Later a Molniya variant was produced by adding a fourth stage, allowing it to reach the highly elliptical

Molniya orbit A Molniya orbit ( rus, Молния, p=ˈmolnʲɪjə, a=Ru-молния.ogg, "Lightning") is a type of satellite orbit designed to provide communications and remote sensing coverage over high latitudes. It is a highly elliptical orbit with an ...

. A later variant was the

Soyuz-U 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 cons ...

. While the exact model and variant designations were kept secret from the west, the Soyuz launcher was referred to by either the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

designation of SL-4, or the Sheldon designation of A-2 (developed by Charles S. Sheldon, an analyst with the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

). Both systems for naming Soviet rockets stopped being used as more accurate information became available. The production of Soyuz launchers reached a peak of 60 per year in the early 1980s. It has become the world's most used space launcher, flying over 1700 times, far more than any other rocket. Despite its age and perhaps thanks to its simplicity, this rocket family has been notable for its low cost and high reliability.

Soyuz / Fregat

In the early 1990s plans were made for a redesigned Soyuz with a

Fregat Fregat (russian: Фрегат, ''frigate'') is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s, which is used in some Soyuz and Zenit launch vehicles, but is universal and can be used as a part of a medium and heavy class launch vehicles ...

upper stage. The Fregat engine was developed by

NPO Lavochkin NPO Lavochkin (russian: НПО Лавочкина, OKB-301, also called Lavochkin Research and Production Association or shortly Lavochkin Association, LA) is a Russian aerospace company. It is a major player in the Russian space program, being th ...

from the propulsion module of its Phobos interplanetary probes. Although endorsed by the

Roscosmos The State Space Corporation "Roscosmos" (russian: Государственная корпорация по космической деятельности «Роскосмос»), commonly known simply as Roscosmos (russian: Роскосмос) ...

and the

Russian Ministry of Defence The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (russian: Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России, informally abbreviated as МО, МО РФ or Minoboron) is the govern ...

in 1993 and designated "Rus" as a Russification and modernisation of Soyuz, and later renamed Soyuz-2, a funding shortage prevented implementation of the plan. The creation of

in July 1996 provided new funding for the creation of a less ambitious variant, the Soyuz-Fregat or Soyuz-U/Fregat. This consisted of a slightly modified

combined with the Fregat upper stage, with a capacity of up to 1350 kg to

geostationary transfer orbit A geosynchronous transfer orbit or geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) is a type of geocentric orbit. Satellite, Satellites that are destined for geosynchronous orbit, geosynchronous (GSO) or geostationary orbit (GEO) are (almost) always put into ...

. In April 1997,

obtained a contract from the

European Space Agency , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (1205 ...

(ESA) to launch two pairs of Cluster II plasma science satellites using the Soyuz-Fregat. Before the introduction of this new model, Starsem launched 24 satellites of the

Globalstar Globalstar, Inc. is an American satellite communications company that operates a low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation for satellite phone and low-speed data communications. The Globalstar second-generation constellation consists of 24 l ...

constellation in 6 launches with a restartable Ikar upper stage, between 22 September 1999 and 22 November 1999. After successful test flights of Soyuz-Fregat on 9 February 2000 and 20 March 2000, the Cluster II satellites were launched on 16 July 2000 and 9 August 2000. Another Soyuz-Fregat launched the ESA's

Mars Express ''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ''Mars Express'' mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally ref ...

probe from Baikonur in June 2003. Now the Soyuz-Fregat launcher is used by Starsem for commercial payloads.

ISS crew transport

Between 1 February 2003 and 26 July 2005 with the grounding of the United States

fleet, Soyuz was the only means of transportation to and from the International Space Station. This included the transfer of supplies, via Progress spacecraft, and crew changeovers. After the retirement of the Space Shuttle fleet in 2011, the

United States space program The United States has developed many space programs since the beginning of the spaceflight era in the mid-20th century. The United States Government delivers space program solutions from three primary agencies: NASA for civil space; DoD for Mil ...

was without any means to take astronauts into orbit, and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

was dependent on the Soyuz to send crew into space until 2020. NASA resumed crewed flights from the United States in 2020 through the

Commercial Crew Development Development of the Commercial Crew Program began in the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which was rescoped from a technology development program for human spaceflight to a competitive development program that woul ...

program.

Recent incidents

A long string of successful Soyuz launches was broken on 15 October 2002 when the uncrewed

launch of the Photon-M satellite from

Plesetsk Plesetsk (russian: Плесе́цк) is an urban locality (a work settlement) and the administrative center of Plesetsky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, situated about northeast of Moscow and south of Arkhangelsk. Municipally, it is t ...

fell back near the launch pad and exploded 29 seconds after lift-off. One person from the ground crew was killed and eight were injured. Another failure occurred on 21 June 2005, during a

Molniya Molniya (Russian for ''lightning'') may refer to: * Molniya (satellite), a Soviet military communications satellite ** Molniya orbit * Molniya (explosive trap), a KGB explosive device * Molniya (rocket), a variation of the Soyuz launch vehicle * OKB ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

launch from the Plesetsk launch site, which used a four-stage version of the rocket called

Molniya-M The Molniya-M (russian: Молния, meaning "lightning"), designation 8K78M, was a Soviet Union (later Russian) launch vehicle derived from the R-7 Semyorka Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The original 8K78 booster had been the ...

. The flight ended six minutes after the launch because of a failure of the third stage engine or an unfulfilled order to separate the second and third stages. The rocket's second and third stages, which are identical to the Soyuz, and its payload (a Molniya-3K satellite) crashed in the Uvatsky region of

Tyumen Tyumen ( ; rus, Тюмень, p=tʲʉˈmʲenʲ, a=Ru-Tyumen.ogg) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas indu ...

(

Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...

). On 24 August 2011, an uncrewed Soyuz-U carrying cargo to the International Space Station crashed, failing to reach orbit. On December 23, 2011, a Soyuz-2.1b launching a

Meridian 5 Meridian 5 ( rus, Меридиан-5), also known as Meridian No.15L, was a communications satellite launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency which was lost in a launch failure in December 2011. The fifth Meridian spacecraft to be launched, ...

military communications satellite failed in the 7th minute of launch because of an anomaly in the third stage. On 11 October 2018, the

Soyuz MS-10 Soyuz MS-10 was a crewed Soyuz MS spaceflight that aborted shortly after launch on 11 October 2018 due to a failure of the Soyuz-FG launch vehicle boosters. MS-10 was the 139th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. It was intended to transport two mem ...

mission to the

failed to reach orbit after an issue with the main booster. The

launch escape system A launch escape system (LES) or launch abort system (LAS) is a crew-safety system connected to a space capsule that can be used to quickly separate the capsule from its launch vehicle in case of an emergency requiring the abort of the launch, suc ...

was used to pull the Soyuz spacecraft away from the malfunctioning rocket. The two crew, Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague, followed a ballistic trajectory and landed safely over 400 km downrange from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...

Soyuz-2 and Guiana spaceport

The venerable Soyuz launcher was gradually replaced by a new version, named

Soyuz-2 Soyuz-2 (GRAU index 14A14) is a modernized version of the Soviet Soyuz rocket. In its basic form, it is a three-stage launch vehicle for placing payloads into low Earth orbit. Compared to the previous versions of the Soyuz, the first-stage bo ...

or Soyuz/ST, which has a new digital guidance system and a highly modified third stage with a new engine. The first development version of Soyuz-2 called Soyuz-2-1a, which is equipped with the digital guidance system, but is still propelled by an old third stage engine, started on 4 November 2004 from

on a suborbital test flight, followed by an orbital flight on 23 October 2006 from Baikonur. The fully modified launcher (version Soyuz-2-1b) flew first on 27 December 2006 with the

CoRoT CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly th ...

satellite from the

. On 19 January 2005, the

(ESA) and the

agreed to launch Soyuz/ST rockets from the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

. The equatorial launch site allows the Soyuz to deliver 2.7 to 4.9 tonnes into

sun-synchronous orbit A Sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), also called a heliosynchronous orbit, is a nearly polar orbit around a planet, in which the satellite passes over any given point of the planet's surface at the same local mean solar time. More technically, it is ...

, depending on the third-stage engine used. Construction of a new pad started in 2005 and was completed in April 2011. The pad used vertical loading common at

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, unlike the horizontal loading used at the

. A simulated launch was conducted in early May 2011. The first operational launch happened on 21 October 2011, bearing the first two satellites in

Galileo Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642) was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a polymath. Commonly referred to as Galileo, his name was pronounced (, ). He was ...

global positioning system The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

. The

and

Soyuz-FG 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 "Polisv ...

rockets are gradually being replaced by

from 2014 onwards. Soyuz-U was retired in 2017, while Soyuz-FG carried astronaut crews to the

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (J ...

until September 2019 (final flight

Soyuz MS-15 Soyuz MS-15 was a Soyuz spaceflight launched on 25 September 2019, transporting two members of the Expedition 61 crew and a short duration visiting crew member to the International Space Station. Soyuz MS-15 was the 143rd flight of a Soyuz spac ...

25 September 2019). Image:RocketLaunch2018-08.jpg, Soyuz-2.1b (2018) Image:"Soyuz" launch vehicles model series on MAKS-2021.jpg, From left: Soyuz-2.1v, Soyuz-2.1a, Soyuz-2.1b and Soyuz-5)

Variants

Soyuz Soyuz is a transliteration of the Cyrillic text Союз ( Russian and Ukrainian, 'Union'). It can refer to any union, such as a trade union (''profsoyuz'') or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Сою́з Сове́тских Социалис ...

11A511 (1966-1975) *

Soyuz-L The Soyuz-L (russian: Союз, meaning "union"), GRAU index 11A511L was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was created to test the LK lunar lander in low ...

11A511L (1970-1971) *

Soyuz-M The Soyuz-M (russian: Союз, meaning ''"Union"''), GRAU index 11A511M was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Samara, Russia. It was originally built to launch crewed Soyuz ...

11A511M (1971-1976) *

11A511U (1973-2017) *

11A511U2 or 11A511K (1982-1995) *

11A511U-FG (2001-2019) *

14A14 (2006-present) The

(1964-2010) was also derived from the Soyuz family.

Assembly

The rocket is assembled horizontally in the Assembly and Testing Building. The assembled rocket is transported to the launch site in its horizontal state and then raised. This is different from the vertical assembly of, for example, the

Saturn V Saturn V is a retired American super heavy-lift launch vehicle developed by NASA under the Apollo program for human exploration of the Moon. The rocket was human-rated, with multistage rocket, three stages, and powered with liquid-propellant r ...

, and is one of the features that makes Soyuz cheaper to prepare for launch. Assembling a horizontally positioned rocket is relatively simple as all modules are easily accessible. Assembling the rocket in vertical position would require a windproof high-rise hangar, which was not considered financially feasible at the time the rocket was designed, due to the failing economy of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Prelaunch

The entire rocket is suspended in the launch system by the load-bearing mechanisms on the strap-on boosters where they are attached to the central core. The latter rests on the nose sections of the strap-on boosters. This scheme resembles flight conditions when the strap-on boosters push the central core forward. The concept of suspending the rocket was one of the novelties introduced with the R-7/Soyuz. Since the launch pad has been eliminated, the bottom portion of the rocket is lowered. The launch system trusses bear the wind loads. Resistance to high wind is an important feature of the launch system, as the Kazakhstan steppes, where the Baikonur launch site is located, are known for windstorms.

Launch

The engines are ignited by electrically initiated pyrotechnic flares, mounted on birch poles, which are ignited at approximately T-20 seconds, a few seconds before fuel components are introduced into the combustion chamber. This sequence rarely fails due to its simplicity. During launch, the support booms track the movement of the rocket. After the support boom heads emerge from the special support recess in the nose sections of the strapons, the support booms and trusses disconnect from the rocket airframe, swiveling on the support axes and freeing the way for the rocket to lift off. During launch, the rocket and the launch facility form a single dynamic system. When the strapon booster engines stop, the boosters fall away, providing nonimpact separation. If the skies are clear, ground observers can see a Korolev cross formed by the falling boosters.

Fairings used for uncrewed missions

The Soyuz

launch vehicle A launch vehicle or carrier rocket is a rocket designed to carry a payload (spacecraft or satellites) from the Earth's surface to outer space. Most launch vehicles operate from a launch pad, launch pads, supported by a missile launch contro ...

is used for various Russian uncrewed missions and is also marketed by Starsem for commercial satellite launches. Presently the following fairing types are used: Progress is the cargo spacecraft for uncrewed missions to the ISS and previously to

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

. The spacecraft uses a dedicated platform and fairing and can be launched with either Soyuz-U, Soyuz-FG or Soyuz-2. A-type fairing is used for commercial launches. S-type fairing is used for commercial launches by Starsem. The fairing has external diameter of 3.7 m and a length of 7.7 m. The Fregat upper stage is encapsulated in the fairing with the payload and a payload adapter/dispenser. S-type fairing along with Fregat upper stage were used to launch the following spacecraft:

Galaxy 14 A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar medium, interstellar gas, cosmic dust, dust, dark matter, bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the ...

, GIOVE A,

AMOS-2 AMOS-2 is an Israeli commercial second generation communication satellite, part of the AMOS series of satellites. The satellite was positioned at 4° West longitude in the geostationary orbit. Transmission and communication services given by ...

Venus Express ''Venus Express'' (VEX) was the first Venus exploration mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). Launched in November 2005, it arrived at Venus in April 2006 and began continuously sending back science data from its polar orbit around Venus. ...

Cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Asteroid cluster, a small asteroid family * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study t ...

. SL-type fairing is used for commercial launches by Starsem. The fairing has external diameter of 3.7 m and a length of 8.45 m. The Fregat upper stage is encapsulated in the fairing with the payload and a payload adapter/dispenser. SL-type fairing along with Fregat upper stage were used to launch the following spacecraft:

. ST-type fairing is used for commercial launches by Starsem. Its external diameter is 4.1 m and its length is 11.4 m. It can be used with the Soyuz-2 only, because older analog control system cannot cope with aerodynamic instability introduced by a fairing this large. This carbon-plastic fairing is based on the proven configuration used for Arianespace's

Ariane 4 The Ariane 4 was a European expendable space launch system, developed by the '' Centre national d'études spatiales'' (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Ari ...

vehicles, with its length increased by approximately one additional meter. The fairing has been developed and is being manufactured by

TsSKB-Progress The Progress Rocket Space Centre (russian: Ракетно-космический центр «Прогресс»), formerly known as TsSKB-Progress (russian: ЦСКБ-Прогресс), is a Russian joint-stock company under the jurisdiction ...

in accordance with the requirements of a customer (

). This is the only fairing type offered by Starsem/Arianespace for launches from Kourou.

Progress M-UM Progress M-UM (), was a specially modified Progress M 11F615A55, Russian production No.303, developed by Roscosmos to deliver the ''Prichal'' module to the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) of the International Space Station (ISS). It was launc ...

is the only Progress Spacecraft that was launched while being enclosed in a ST fairing.

Stages

First stage

The first stage of Soyuz rockets consists of four identical conical liquid booster rockets, strapped to the second stage core. Each booster has a single rocket motor with four combustion chambers, two vernier combustion chambers, and one set of turbopumps. Statistics (each of 4 boosters) * Gross mass: 44.5

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...

(98,100 lb) * Propellant: 39.2 tonne (86,400 lb) * Dry mass: 3784 kg (8,342 lb) * Diameter: 2.68 m (8 ft 10 in) * Length: 19.6 m (64 ft 4 in) * Burn time: 118 seconds * Engines: ** Soyuz and Soyuz-U models ***

RD-107 The RD-107 and its sibling, the RD-108, are a type of rocket engine initially used to launch R-7 Semyorka missiles. RD-107 engines were later used on space launch vehicles based on the R-7. , very similar RD-107A and RD-108A engines are used to la ...

**** Thrust 813 kN (183 klb_f) at liftoff **** Thrust 991 kN (223 klb_f) in vacuum ****

Specific impulse Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine (a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel) creates thrust. For engines whose reaction mass is only the fuel they carry, specific impulse i ...

at liftoff **** Specific impulse in vacuum **** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi) ** Soyuz-ST models *** RD-107A (14D22) **** Thrust 838 kN (188 klb_f) at liftoff **** Thrust 1021 kN (230 klb_f) in vacuum **** Specific impulse at liftoff (estimed) **** Specific impulse in vacuum (estimed) **** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi) ** Soyuz-FG *** RD-107A (14D22) **** Thrust 775 kN (174 klb_f) at liftoff **** Specific impulse in vacuum

Second stage

The second stage of the Soyuz booster is a single, generally cylindrical stage with one motor at the base and is activated with the first stage. Like each of the first-stage rockets, it also has four combustion chambers and one set of turbopumps, but four (instead of two) vernier combustion chambers. The second stage tapers toward the bottom to allow the four first-stage rockets to fit more closely together. * Gross mass: 105.4 tonne (232,400 lb) * Propellant: 95.4 tonne (210,000 lb) * Propellant (Soyuz-U2 with

propellant): 96.4 tonne (212,000 lb) * Dry mass: 6875 kg (15,160 lb) * Length: 28 m (91 ft 10 in) * Diameter: 2.95 m (9 ft 8 in) * Burn time: 290 seconds * Engines: ** Soyuz and Soyuz-U models *** RD-108 **** Thrust 779 kN (175 klb_f) at liftoff **** Thrust 997 kN (224 klb_f) in vacuum **** Specific impulse at liftoff **** Specific impulse in vacuum **** Chamber pressure 5.1 MPa (740 psi) ** Soyuz-U2 model with Syntin fuel *** RD-108 **** Thrust 811 kN (182 klb_f) at liftoff **** Thrust 1009 kN (227 klb_f) in vacuum **** Specific impulse at liftoff **** Specific impulse in vacuum **** Chamber pressure 5.1 MPa (740 psi) ** Soyuz-ST models *** RD-118 (11D512) **** Thrust 792 kN (178 klb_f) at liftoff **** Thrust 990 kN (222 klb_f) in vacuum **** Specific impulse at liftoff (est) **** Specific impulse in vacuum (est) **** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi)

Third stage

Soyuz 19 (Apollo Soyuz Test Project) spacecraft

There are two variant upper stages in use, the Block I and Improved Block-I (used in Soyuz-2-1b). * Gross mass: 25.2 tonne (55,600 lb) * Propellant: 21.4-22.9 tonne (47,200 – 50,500 lb) * Dry mass: 2355 kg (5190 lb) * Length: 6.7 m (22 ft) * Diameter: 2.66 m (8 ft 9 in) * Burn time: 240 seconds * Engine: ** Block I ***

RD-0110 The RD-0110 (or RO-8 , RD-0108 , RD-461 ) is a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene in a gas generator combustion cycle. It has four fixed nozzles and the output of the gas generator is directed to four secondary vernier nozzles to s ...

*** Thrust 298 kN (67.0 klb_f) *** Specific impulse *** Chamber pressure 6.8 MPa (986 psi) ** Improved Block I ***

RD-0124 The RD-0124 (GRAU Index 14D23) is a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene in a staged combustion cycle. RD-0124 engines are used on the Soyuz-2.1b and Soyuz-2-1v. A slight variation of the engine, the RD-0124A, is used on the Angara ...

(11D451) *** Thrust 294 kN (66 klb_f) *** Specific impulse *** Chamber pressure 16.2 MPa (2350 psi)

References

External links

Starsem

Soyuz-U/Fregat

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040122234055/http://home.comcast.net/~rusaerog/boosters/R-7.html Soyuz Booster Family
Soyuz User's Manual - Arianespace
{{R-7 rockets . Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union Soviet inventions R-7 (rocket family) 1967 in spaceflight 1968 in spaceflight 1969 in spaceflight 1970 in spaceflight 1971 in spaceflight 1972 in spaceflight 1973 in spaceflight Projects established in 1967 Russian inventions Space launch vehicles of Russia 1960s in the Soviet Union 1970s in the Soviet Union