Dictionary of Meaning
<<Back
Please select a letter:
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
F |
G |
H |
I |
J |
K |
L |
M |
N |
O |
P |
Q |
R |
S |
T |
U |
V |
W |
X |
Y |
Z |
0-9
Click here for Shopping
Soyuz launch vehicle
*** Shopping-Tip: Soyuz launch vehicle
{{inappropriate tone}}
Image:Soyuz rocket ASTP.jpg thumb|200px|Soyuz rocket on launch pad.
The '''Soyuz launch vehicle''' (Western designation: A-2) is an
expendable launch system designed and manufactured by the
Korolev Design Bureau in
Samara, Russia. As well as being used as the launcher for the manned
Soyuz spacecraft, as part of the
Soyuz program, it is now used to launch
Progress spacecraft Progress supply spacecraft to the
International Space Station and commercial launches marketed and operated by
TsSKB-Progress and the
Starsem company. There were 11 Soyuz launches in 2001 and 9 in 2002. Currently Soyuz vehicles are launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in
Kazakhstan and the
Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwest
Russia, starting 2008 Soyuz launch vehicles will also be launched from the
Centre Spatial Guyanais in
French Guiana.
History
The launcher was introduced in
1966, deriving from the
Vostok rocket Vostok launcher, which in turn was based on the 8K74 or
R-7a rocket R-7a intercontinental ballistic missile. It was initially a three-stage rocket with a Block I upper stage. Later a Molniya variant was produced by adding a fourth stage, allowing it to reach highly elliptical orbits. A later variant was the
Soyuz-U.
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 850 times, far more than any other rocket. It is a very old basic design, but is notable for low cost and very high reliability, both of which appeal to commercial clients.
Image:Soyuz rocket engines.jpg thumb|220px|left|Soyuz rocket engines
In the early
1990s plans were made for a redesigned Soyuz with a Fregat upper stage. The Fregat engine was developed by
NPO Lavochkin from the propulsion module of its Phobos interplanetary probes. Although endorsed by the
Russian Space Agency and the
Russian Ministry of Defence 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
Starsem 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 Soyuz U combined with the Fregat upper stage, with a capacity of up to 1,350 kg to
geostationary transfer orbit. In April 1997, Starsem obtained a contract from the
European Space Agency to launch two pairs of Cluster 2 plasma science
satellites using the Soyuz-Fregat. Before the introduction of this new model, Starsem launched 24 satellites of the Globalstar constellation in 6 launches with a restartable Ikar upper stage, between
September 22,
1999 and
November 22,
1999. After successful test flights of Soyuz-Fregat on
February 9,
2000 and
March 20,
2000, the Cluster 2 satellites were launched on
July 16,
2000 and
August 9,
2000. Another Soyuz-Fregat launched the ESA's
Mars Express probe from Baikonur in June 2003. Now the Soyuz-Fregat launcher is used by Starsem for commercial payloads. It is due to be replaced by the new launcher, now named Soyuz/ST (or Soyuz-2), which will have a new digital guidance system and a strongly modified third stage with a new engine. The first development version of Soyuz-2 called Soyuz-2-1a, which is already equipped with the digital guidance system and a modified third stage, but is still propelled by an old engine, started on
November 4,
2004 from Plesetsk on a suborbital test flight. The fully modified launcher (version Soyuz-2-1b) is planned to fly first in the spring of
2006 from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome.
A long string of successful Soyuz launches was broken on
October 15,
2002 when the unmanned Soyuz U launch of the Photon-M satellite from Plesetsk exploded 29 seconds after lift-off. One person was killed and eight injured. Another failure occurred on
June 21,
2005, during a
Molniya military communications satellite launch from the Plesetsk launch site, which used a four-stage version of the Soyuz rocket called Molniya-M. 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 Uvatski region of
Tyumen (
Siberia) [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050621/40556511.html]. However, under this designation of Molniya-M launcher, other 274 unmanned Soyuz launches have been successful.
Between
February 1,
2003 and
July 26,
2005 with the grounding of the
USA US Space Shuttle 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.
Soyuz (in the new version Soyuz/ST) is also planned to be brought into
European Space Agency ESA service in
2007 under a Russo-European joint venture. It is planned to build a new launch pad in
French Guiana.
Stages
Image:Soyuz rocket assembly.jpg thumb|280px|Soyuz rocket assembly - the first and second stages are mated together and can be seen in the background, third stage is in the lower left corner of the image. Soyuz spaceship, covered by its launch shroud, is in the lower right corner
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 (four combustion chambers, two vernier combustion chambers, one set of turbopumps).
Statistics (each of 4 boosters)
* Gross mass: 44.5 metric tons (98.1 klb)
* Propellant: 39.2 metric tons (86.4 klb)
* Dry mass: 3,784 kg (8,342 lb)
* Diameter: 2.68 meters (8 ft 10 in)
* Length: 19.6 meters (64 ft 4 in)
* Engines:
** Soyuz and Soyuz-U models
*** RD-107
**** Thrust 813
kilonewton kN (183
pound-force klbf) at liftoff
**** Thrust 991 kN (223 klbf
f) in vacuum
**** Specific impulse 245 kgf·s/kg (2.40 kN·s/kg) at liftoff
**** Specific impulse 310 kgf·s/kg (3.04 kN·s/kg) in vacuum
**** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi)
** Soyuz-ST models
*** RD-117
**** Thrust 838 kN (188 klb
f) at liftoff
**** Thrust 1021 kN (230 klb
f) in vacuum
**** Specific impulse 245 kgf·s/kg (2.40 kN·s/kg) at liftoff (est)
**** Specific impulse 310 kgf·s/kg (3.04 kN·s/kg) in vacuum (est)
**** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi)
Second stage
The second stage of the Soyuz booster is a single, generally cylindrical stage with one motor (four combustion chambers, four vernier combustion chambers, one set of turbopumps) at the base. The stage gets somewhat wider near the top.
* Gross mass: 105.4 metric tons (232.4 klb)
* Propellant: 95.4 metric tons (210 klb)
* Propellant (Soyuz-U2 with Syntin propellant): 96.4 metric tons (212 klb)
* Dry mass: 6,875 kg (15,160 lb)
* Length: 28 meters (91 ft 10 in)
* Diameter: 2.95 meters (9 ft 8 in)
* 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 264 kgf·s/kg (2.59 kN·s/kg) at liftoff
**** Specific impulse 311 kgf·s/kg (3.05 kN·s/kg) 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 264 kgf·s/kg (2.59 kN·s/kg) at liftoff
**** Specific impulse 311 kgf·s/kg (3.05 kN·s/kg) in vacuum
**** Chamber pressure 5.1 MPa (740 psi)
** Soyuz-ST models
*** RD-118
**** Thrust 792 kN (178 klb
f) at liftoff
**** Thrust 990 kN (222 klb
f) in vacuum
**** Specific impulse 264 kgf·s/kg (2.59 kN·s/kg) at liftoff (est)
**** Specific impulse 311 kgf·s/kg (3.05 kN·s/kg) in vacuum (est)
**** Chamber pressure 5.85 MPa (848 psi)
Third stage
There are two variant upper stages in use, the '''Block I''' and '''Improved Block-I''' (used in Soyuz-2-1b).
* Gross mass: 25.2 metric tons (55.6 klb)
* Propellant: 21.4-22.9 metric tons (47.2–50.5 klb)
* Dry mass: 2355 kg (5190 lb)
* Length: 6.7 meters (22 ft 0 in)
* Diameter: 2.66 meters (8 ft 9 in)
* Engine:
** Block I
*** RD-0110
*** Thrust 298 kN (67.0 klb
f)
*** Specific impulse 330 kgf·s/kg (3.24 kN·s/kg)
*** Chamber pressure 6.8 MPa (986 psi)
** Improved Block I
*** RD-0124
*** Thrust 294 kN (66 klb
f)
*** Specific impulse 359 kgf·s/kg (3.52 kN·s/kg)
*** Chamber pressure 16.2 MPa (2350 psi)
External links
{{commons|Soyuz (rocket)}}
-
R-7 missile family page
-
Starsem
-
Soyuz launch log at Starsem
-
Soyuz U/Fregat
References
* ''International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems, Third Edition'', Iaskowitz, Hopkins, and Hopkins ed., 1999, Reston, Virginia, AIAA Publications. ISBN 1-56347-353-4
Category:Space launch vehicles
Category:Soyuz programme
de:Sojus (Rakete)
he:סויוז (טיל)
id:Soyuz (roket)
it:Lanciatore Soyuz
nl:Sojoez (raket)
ru:Союз (Ð Ð?)
fi:Sojuz-kantoraketti
*** Shopping-Tip: Soyuz launch vehicle
