Soyuz-2 LV Credit - TsSKB

Uprated Soyuz booster designed for commercial customers. Upgraded engines, modern digital avionics, reduced non-Russian content. Can be used with either Ikar or Fregat upper stages. The 'FG' was the military version.

Also known as the Soyuz 2, it was a modernisation of the Soyuz launcher that increased general performance. The basic launch vehicle design remained the same. Changes were limited to:

• The first and second stage engines featured improved performance with new injectors and mixture ratio.
• The third stage engine performance was increased.
• The launch vehicle was equipped with a new control system allowing in-flight orbital plane change (whereas all earlier R-7 derived vehicles flew a fixed trajectory, with the launch table rotated before launch to the appropriate azimuth).
• A new digital telemetry system provided for launch vehicle monitoring.
• A new, larger-diameter fairing (3.65 meters in diameter) was used.

The standard fourth stage was the Fregat orbital module.

Manufacturer: Korolev. Launches: 2. Success Rate: 100.00%. First Launch Date: 2004-11-08. Last Launch Date: 2006-10-19. LEO Payload: 7,800 kg (17,100 lb). to: 240 km Orbit. at: 51.80 degrees. Liftoff Thrust: 4,144.700 kN (931,766 lbf). Total Mass: 310,000 kg (680,000 lb). Core Diameter: 2.95 m (9.67 ft). Total Length: 43.40 m (142.30 ft). Launch Price $: 40.000 million. in: 1999 price dollars. Cost comments: $ 30 to 50 million price per launch quoted ca. 1999 by Starsem.

• Stage Number: 0. 4 x Stage: Soyuz ST-0. Gross Mass: 44,400 kg (97,800 lb). Empty Mass: 3,810 kg (8,390 lb). Thrust (vac): 1,021.097 kN (229,552 lbf). Isp: 310 sec. Burn time: 120 sec. Isp(sl): 264 sec. Diameter: 2.68 m (8.79 ft). Span: 2.68 m (8.79 ft). Length: 19.60 m (64.30 ft). Propellants: Lox/Kerosene. No Engines: 1. Engine: RD-117. Status: In production. Gross mass includes 1190 kg of hydrogen peroxide and 280 kg of liquid nitrogen expended during ascent but not contributing to propulsion.

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x Stage: Soyuz ST-1. Gross Mass: 105,400 kg (232,300 lb). Empty Mass: 6,875 kg (15,156 lb). Thrust (vac): 999.601 kN (224,719 lbf). Isp: 311 sec. Burn time: 286 sec. Isp(sl): 245 sec. Diameter: 2.95 m (9.67 ft). Span: 2.95 m (9.67 ft). Length: 27.80 m (91.20 ft). Propellants: Lox/Kerosene. No Engines: 1. Engine: RD-118. Status: In production. Gross mass includes 2600 kg of hydrogen peroxide and 520 kg of liquid nitrogen expended during ascent but not contributing to propulsion.

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x Stage: Soyuz ST-2. Gross Mass: 25,200 kg (55,500 lb). Empty Mass: 2,355 kg (5,191 lb). Thrust (vac): 294.000 kN (66,093 lbf). Isp: 359 sec. Burn time: 300 sec. Diameter: 2.66 m (8.72 ft). Span: 2.66 m (8.72 ft). Length: 6.74 m (22.11 ft). Propellants: Lox/Kerosene. No Engines: 1. Engine: RD-0124. Status: In production.

2004 November 8 - 18:30 GMT - Launch Site: Plesetsk. Launch Complex: LC43/4. Launch Vehicle: Soyuz ST. LV Configuration: Soyuz 2-1A s/n 001.

• Soyuz 2 flight test. Nation: Russia. Payload: Oblik dummy mass. Mass: 6,450 kg (14,210 lb). Spacecraft: Zenit-8. First flight test of a modernized version of the Soyuz ST equipped with a digital control system. Suborbital launch; carried an obsolete Zenit-8 reconnaisance satellite as a mass model and impacted in the Pacific Ocean. Launch delayed from October 15 and 29, November 6.

• Metop-A Nation: Europe. Mass: 4,093 kg (9,023 lb). Class: Earth. Type: Weather. Spacecraft: Metop. Perigee: 817 km (507 mi). Apogee: 817 km (507 mi). Inclination: 98.70 deg. Period: 101.00 min. COSPAR: 2006-044A. USAF Sat Cat: 29499. European polar weather satellite equipped with high-resolution visible and infrared cameras, a microwave sounder, ozone monitors, a GPS atmospheric sounding device, a wind scatterometer, and a search and rescue package. First launch of the Soyuz 2 version of the venerable Soyuz launch vehicle. The main change in this first version of the new booster was a digital control system. Problems with this system delayed the launch repeatedly.

• Corot Nation: France. Mass: 640 kg (1,410 lb). Class: Astronomy. Spacecraft: Corot. Agency: CNES. Manufacturer: Alcatel Alenia Space. Perigee: 900 km (550 mi). Apogee: 902 km (560 mi). Inclination: 90.00 deg. COSPAR: 2006-063A. USAF Sat Cat: 29678. European COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits satellite, designed to detect transits of planets down to earth size as they pass in front of their stars, and convection currents on stellar surfaces. The satellite was to use its 27-cm-diameter telescope to scan 120,000 stars during its 30-month mission. This was the first flight of the Soyuz-2 booster with the improved RD-0124 third stage engine.

• Isakowitz, Steven J, Hopkins, Joshua B, and Hopkins, Joseph P, International Reference to Space Launch Systems, AIAA, Washington DC, 2004. ISBN: 156347591X. The best reference on launch vehicles ever produced. More at amazon.com...