The Cyclone-4M is a

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

carrier rocket 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 pads, supported by a launch control center and syste ...

which is being developed for commercial satellite launches.

History

The Cyclone-4M is derived from the

Tsyklon-4 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 fl ...

, which started its life as an all-

hypergolic A hypergolic propellant is a rocket propellant combination used in a rocket engine, whose components spontaneously ignite when they come into contact with each other. The two propellant components usually consist of a fuel and an oxidizer. T ...

three-stage-to-orbit expendable launch vehicle planned for launch from a proposed site at the

Alcântara Launch Center Alcantara, Alcântara ( Portuguese), Alcántara ( Spanish), Alcàntara, Alcàntera, El-Qantarah and (El) Kantara are all transliterations of the Arabic word ''al qantara'' (القنطرة), meaning "the bridge". Alcantara may refer to: People * ...

in Brazil. However, Brazil backed out of the partnership with Ukraine in 2015, citing concerns over the project budget, the ongoing financial situation in both countries, and the future of the commercial launch market. In March 2017, Canadian company

Maritime Launch Services Maritime Launch Services (MLS) is a Canadian space transport services company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Nova Scotia, Canada. MLS will rely on Ukrainian Cyclone-4M rockets by Pivdenne to launch polar and sun synchronous orbit from Cans ...

announced plans to begin launching a modified version, the Cyclone-4M, which features a Zenit-derived LOX

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 s ...

first stage in place of the originally planned R-36 ICBM-based first- and second-stage. In November 2021, Maritime Launch Services CEO Stephen Matier stated that Nanoracks was to be the first client to fly a payload on the Cyclone-4M.

Design

This new first-stage design would use four kerolox engines derived from the

RD-120 The RD-120 (GRAU Index 11D123) is a liquid upper stage rocket engine burning RG-1 (refined kerosene) and LOX in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle with an O/F ratio of 2.6. It is used in the second stage of the Zenit family of launch ve ...

used on the second stage of the Zenit. The standard RD-120, however, while manufactured in Ukraine, uses a number of Russian-made components which would have to be replaced with Ukrainian-made equivalents. It is also planned to fit each of these engines with a gimballing mechanism for steering (in the Zenit second stage the RD-120 is fixed to the frame while an

RD-8 The RD-8 (Russian: and GRAU Index: 11D513) is a Soviet / Ukrainian liquid propellant rocket engine burning LOX and RG-1 (a rocket grade kerosene) in an oxidizer rich staged combustion cycle. It has a four combustion chambers that provide th ...

four-nozzle vernier engine takes care of the steering). Cyclone-4M is planned for launch from a site in Canso,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. Construction was originally scheduled to begin in 2018, but repeated delays have pushed the start of construction to no earlier than late 2021. The second stage completed qualification tests in October 2019. Construction at Canso finishes in 2024 or 2025; as of December 2022, the maiden flight of Cyclone-4M will take place in 2025. It is planned to launch up to 8 times per year.

References

External links

* {{Expendable launch systems Space launch vehicles of Ukraine Proposed space launch vehicles Yuzhmash space launch vehicles