The Tsyklon-2 (Cyclone-2), also known as Tsiklon-2 and Tsyklon-M (known as SL-11 by the United States
DoD),
GRAU
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 ...
index 11K69, was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, later
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 ...
,
orbit
In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as ...
al
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 ...
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.
History
A derivative of the
R-36 ICBM
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 ...
, and a member of the
Tsyklon
The Tsyklon (Циклон, "Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), 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 mi ...
family, the Tsyklon-2 made its maiden flight on 6 August 1969, and conducted 106 flights, the last one occurring on 24 June 2006. It was the most reliable Soviet/Russian carrier rocket ever used,and launched more than 100 times having failed only once, and the second most reliable carrier rocket overall, behind the
Atlas II
Atlas II was a member of the Atlas family of launch vehicles, which evolved from the successful Atlas missile program of the 1950s. The Atlas II was a direct evolution of the Atlas I, featuring longer first stage tanks, higher-performing engine ...
that was launched only 63 times. Along with other
R-36 family member
Tsyklon-3
The Tsyklon-3, also known as Tsiklon-3 and Cyclone-3 (known as SL-14 by the United States DoD), GRAU index 11K68, was a Soviet, and subsequently Ukrainian orbital carrier rocket. Tsyklon 3 rocket body debris accounts for more than 500 pieces o ...
, the Tsyklon-2 was retired in favor of new-generation and all-Russian carrier rockets, such as the
Angara
The Angara ( Buryat and mn, Ангар, ''Angar'', "Cleft"; russian: Ангара́, ''Angará'') is a major river in Siberia, which traces a course through Russia's Irkutsk Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai. It drains out of Lake Baikal and is ...
and Soyuz-2.
Description
Like the Tsyklon-3, the Tsyklon-2 was derived from the R-36 ''Scarp'' ICBM. However, it did not had third stage, like the Tsyklon-3 did, also it was slightly shorter and had a lower weight mass when fueled.
See also
*
List of Tsyklon launches
*
Angara rocket
The Angara rocket family (Russian: Ангара) 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 and into low Earth orbit and are ...
*
Dnepr rocket
*
Tsyklon
The Tsyklon (Циклон, "Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon), 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 mi ...
External links
Encyclopedia Astronautica- Tsyklon 2
References
Yuzhmash space launch vehicles
1973 in spaceflight
Space launch vehicles of the Soviet Union
Space launch vehicles of Ukraine
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