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Soyuz-U
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article contains information regarding a rocket which is either currently in the process of launching, or is scheduled to launch within the next 4 days. Details may change as the countdown and ascent progress. |
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| Soyuz-U (Soyuz-U/Ikar; Soyuz-U/Fregat; Soyuz-U2) | |
| Fact sheet | |
|---|---|
| Function | Orbital carrier rocket |
| Manufacturer | TsSKB-Progress |
| Country of origin | Russia |
| Size | |
| Height | 51.1 m for Soyuz-U; 47.3 m for Soyuz-U/Ikar; 46.7 m for Soyuz-U/Fregat and 51.1 m for Soyuz-U2 |
| Diameter | 10.3 m |
| Mass | 313,000 kg (Soyuz-U and Soyuz-U2); 308,000 kg (Soyuz-U/Ikar and Soyuz-U/Fregat) |
| Stages | 2 (Soyuz-U and Soyuz-U2) or 3 (Soyuz-U/Ikar and Soyuz-U/Fregat) |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | 6,900 kg from Baikonur and 6,700 kg from Plesetsk |
| Launch History | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | LC-1 & LC-31, Baikonur; LC-16 & LC-43 Plesetsk |
| Total launches | 712 |
| Successes | 693 |
| Failures | 19 |
| Maiden flight | 18 May 1973 |
The Soyuz-U launch vehicle is an improved version of Soyuz LV in R-7 family of rockets, designed by TsSKB design bureau and constructed by Progress Factory in Samara (now united company TsSKB-Progress). It performed its maiden flight on 18 May 1973, carrying Kosmos 559 satellite as a payload.
The Soyuz-U vehicle replaced earlier Soyuz launch vehicle variants and the Voskhod rocket, all of which were closely related vehicles derived from the Soviet R-7 ICBM. The Soyuz-U is a unified, single vehicle capable of launching manned and unmanned payloads.
Soyuz-U is still in use today, making several launches a year. Lately it has been used by Russian Federal Space Agency mostly with Progress-M robotic cargo spacecrafts to resupply the International Space Station. Its last flight occurred on 14 September 2007, bringing Foton-M N3 scientific spacecraft to orbit. As of September 2007, a total of 712 Soyuz-U launch vehicles were launched, with 19 launch failures and 693 successes, making it one of the most reliable LVs ever made.
Soyuz-U/Ikar is version of Soyuz-U, using Ikar as its 3rd stage, produced by the same company, TsSKB-Progress. Ikar is used to impove capabilities of Soyuz-U and deliver various payloads with mass 750 kg to 3920 kg to heights 250 km to 1400 km. Ikar's performance is lower than that of Fregat, but it is more precise in maneuvring and autonomously it can operate longer than Fregat.
Another version of Soyuz-U is Soyuz-U/Fregat with Fregat as its 3rd stage, developed and produced by Lavochkin Association in Khimki.
There was also one variant of Soyuz-U, the Soyuz-U2 launcher. It had the same hardware as the basic Soyuz-U, but used a high energy, synthetic kerosene Syntin instead of normal kerosene as the first stage fuel. This variant last flew in 1996, after production of Syntin ended.
Soyuz-U became a basic platform for development of Soyuz-FG launch vehicle, which uses all-new first stage. However, in future both Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG will be replaced by Soyuz-2 LV.
- (PDF) Soyuz Launch Vehicle Users Manual
- Astronautix.com entry on Soyuz-U / 11A511U
- Astronautix.com entry on Soyuz-U2 / 11A511U2
- Russian Federal Space Agency about Soyuz-U
- Russian Federal Space Agency about Soyuz-U/Ikar
- Russian Federal Space Agency about Soyuz-U/Fregat
- Russian Federal Space Agency about Soyuz-U2
- LV's manufacturer TsSKB-Progress about Soyuz-U (in Russian)