The Tsyklon-4, also known as Tsiklon-4 and Cyclone-4, was 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 which was being developed for commercial satellite launches. Derived from the Tsyklon-3, it had a new third stage, a larger

payload fairing A payload fairing is a nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere. An additional function on some flights is to maintain the cleanroom envi ...

, and a modernised flight control system compared to its predecessor. The control system had been developed by JSC Khartron.

Specifications

Tsyklon-4 was a

three-stage-to-orbit A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...

expendable launch system An expendable launch system (or expendable launch vehicle/ELV) is a launch vehicle that can be launched only once, after which its components are either destroyed during reentry or discarded in space. ELVs typically consist of several multistage ...

, built on the successful Tsyklon-3 rocket and using improved versions of that rocket's first two stages. The new features were mostly in the newly developed third stage: * The third stage has three times the propellant capacity of Tsyklon-3 * The new rocket engine

RD-861 The RD-861 is a Soviet liquid propellant rocket engine burning UDMH and nitrogen tetroxide in a gas generator combustion cycle. It has a main combustion chamber, with four vernier nozzles fed by the gas generator output. It can be reignited a ...

K with multiple ignition capability (3 to 5 times) * A modern western-like control system capable of precise orbit injections * A new fairing derived from Ariane 4 is under development. It has a diameter of , with controlled temperature and cleanness conditions inside Tsyklon-4 would have improved the fuelling system, allowing safe capture of toxic vapours from the vehicle's

hypergolic propellant 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. The ...

system. The launch system would have been able to deliver up to to a orbit, to a orbit, or to a

geosynchronous orbit A geosynchronous orbit (sometimes abbreviated GSO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an orbital period that matches Earth's rotation on its axis, 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds (one sidereal day). The synchronization of rotation and orbita ...

Development history

Development began in 2002, with the maiden flight aimed for 2006. Following a series of production delays, this launch date slipped, and was estimated to occur some time after 2015. Tsyklon-4 had been planned to launch from a proposed launch pad 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, which would have given the rocket access to all orbital regimes. 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. Yuzhnoye began developing a two-stage derivative of Tsyklon-4, the Cyclone-4M, for

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 ...

, a Canadian launch service provider. The new rocket was originally scheduled to be in service by 2020, though this date has been repeatedly pushed due to construction delays at the Canso launch site. Construction is currently estimated to be complete by 2024 or 2025. The first flight of Cyclone-4M is currently expected to take place at Canso in 2023.

References

External links

Tsyklon-4
at Yuzhnoye.com
RD-861K
at Yuzhnoye.com

at Encyclopedia Astronautica {{Expendable launch systems Space launch vehicles of Ukraine Yuzhmash space launch vehicles Cancelled space launch vehicles

Specifications

Development history

See also

References

External links