Soyuz-U is a middle-class Soviet three - stage launch vehicle (LV) from the R-7 family. It was intended for launching into the near-earth orbit of spacecraft of the national economic, scientific research (Resurs-F, Photon) and special purposes (satellites of the Cosmos series), as well as manned and cargo spacecraft of the Soyuz and Progress series [3] . It was a modification of the Soyuz launch vehicle developed on the basis of previous versions of the R-7A rocket, in 1973 . The difference between the Soyuz-U launch vehicle and its predecessors was the use of engines of the first and second stages with increased energy characteristics.
| Soyuz-U | |
|---|---|
 Launch of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle | |
| General information | |
| A country |
|
| Family | R-7 |
| Index | 11A511U |
| Appointment | booster |
| Developer | CSKB |
| Manufacturer | GNP RCC "TsSKB-Progress" |
| Main characteristics | |
| Number of steps | 3 |
| Length (with GP) | 47.3-51.1 m |
| Diameter | 10.3 m |
| Starting weight | 308 000-313 000 kg |
| Launch history | |
| condition | operation completed |
| Launch locations | Baikonur ; Plesetsk |
| Number of starts | 793 (Soyuz-U) + 72 (Soyuz-U2) |
| • successful | 771 (Soyuz-U) + 72 (Soyuz-U2) |
| • unsuccessful | 22 (Soyuz-U) |
| First start | May 18, 1973 |
| Last run | May 17, 2012 [1] (Plesetsk) February 22, 2017 (Baikonur) |
| The first stage - Blocks B, C, D, D | |
| Sustainer engine | RD-117 |
| Thrust | 83 tf [2] |
| Specific impulse | 256 s [2] |
| Working hours | 118 s [3] |
| Fuel | kerosene |
| Oxidizing agent | liquid oxygen |
| Second stage - Block A | |
| Sustainer engine | RD-118 |
| Thrust | 76 tf [2] |
| Specific impulse | 248 s [2] |
| Working hours | 280-290 s [3] |
| Fuel | kerosene |
| Oxidizing agent | liquid oxygen |
| Third Stage - Block I | |
| Sustainer engine | RD-0110 |
| Thrust | 30.4 tf |
| Specific impulse | 326 s |
| Working hours | 240 s [3] |
| Fuel | kerosene |
| Oxidizing agent | liquid oxygen |
Soyuz-U, which replaced the Voskhod launch vehicle, became the base missile for launching spacecraft (SC) for various purposes (Earth remote sensing satellites , spacecraft for material science experiments, as well as Soyuz and Progress spacecraft).
Content
History
The first launch took place on May 18, 1973 .
The last launch from the Plesetsk cosmodrome [4] was carried out on May 17, 2012 with the Cosmos-2480 payload.
The last launch from the Baikonur cosmodrome of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle, which launched the Progress MS-05 transport cargo ship into orbit, took place on February 22, 2017 [5] .
Soyuz-U2
A modification of the Soyuz-U launch vehicle, in which syntin was used instead of kerosene as fuel on block A, for the rest, both versions of the carrier rocket are the same. The payload of the modified LV is 200 kg more than the usual Soyuz-U. The first launch was made in December 1982, the last - July 1, 1993 . Flights were discontinued due to the cessation of the production of synthetic fuel used in this launch vehicle.
Statistics
In total, more than 800 launches of Soyuz-U launch vehicles (including Soyuz-U2) were made, of which 22 were emergency, taking into account the confirmed Soyuz-U operational reliability indicator of 97.3% [6] .
Notes
- ↑ Head of the Plesetsk cosmodrome: Soyuz-U launch vehicle discontinued , TASS (04/12/2015).
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 RD-107/108 . NPO Energomash.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Soyuz-U launch vehicle . Roscosmos.
- ↑ EKO troops will no longer launch Soyuz-U rockets , RIA Novosti (05/17/2012).
- ↑ Roscosmos. The last launch of the Soyuz-U LV was successful . Roscosmos.
- ↑ Roscosmos in late February will launch the last-ever Soyuz-U rocket , TASS (02/13/2017). Date of treatment February 13, 2017.
Links
- Launch vehicle Soyuz-U . RCC Progress.
- Launch of the Soyuz-U rocket launcher with the Progress MS-05 TPK . Roscosmos television studio (02.22.2017).