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Home , Angara (rocket family), Baikonur Cosmodrome, Diamant, Dnepr (rocket), Fregat, Glavkosmos

RUSSIAN THROUGH THE AGES The R-7 that led to the family of Soyuz launching today lifted off for the first time onFeb. 17, 1959. The last launch, on Dec. 27, 2018, was number 1,898.

Irene Klotz and Maxim Pyadushkin anufactured by the Rocket Space Center in Sama- Evolution of Soyuz-Family Launch Vehicles ra, , the medium-lift expendable originally was used for Soviet-era human space missions and later became the R-7 Soyuz Soyuz-L workhorse for the country’s civilian and military space programs. M 1957 First launch of the ICBM (SS-6 1966-76 (32 launches, 1970-71 (three launches, Sapwood) that served as a basis for including 30 successful, all successful, The first rocket officially named Soyuz was launched in Soviet/Russian launch vehicles from ) from Baikonur) 1966 and has since flown 1,050 times, of which 1,023 were including the Soyuz family successful. Production of Soyuz peaked in the early Soyuz at about 60 vehicles per year. Medium-Class Launch Russia began offering Soyuz launch services internationally in the mid-1980s through , a commercial entity set up to sell Soviet rocket and space technologies. Manufacturer: Progress Rocket Space Soyuz-U/-U2 Soyuz-M Center, , Russia In 1996, Russia created Starsem, a joint venture (35% ArianeGroup, 25% , 25% RKTs Progress, 15% 1991 Breakup of the 1973-2017 1971-76 (eight launches, , (859 launches, including all successful, from Plesetsk) Dimensions ) that had exclusive rights to provide commercial launch services on Soyuz launch vehicles. The agreement end of the 837 successful, from Baikonur and Length...... 51 .1 m (167 .6 ft .) expired in December 2017. Plesetsk) Diameter ...... 10 .3 m (33 .8 ft .) In 2002, Russia teamed with Arianespace to sell Soyuz Number of Stages...... 3 launch services via Arianespace from the Guiana Space Cen- Liftoff Mass. . . . . 313,000 kg (690,000 lb .) ter in , . In 2017, GK Launch Services—a joint venture of Glavkosmos Fuel (now a subsidiary of Roscosmos) and Kosmotras, an operator First Stage...... LOX/kerosene of launch vehicles—was created to provide commercial Soyuz-FG launch services with the Soyuz from Russia’s leased facility Second Stage...... LOX/kerosene 2001-present at the in and from the Soyuz-2.1a/b/v Soyuz-ST Third Stage...... LOX/kerosene Soyuz-FG new Vostochny in Russia’s Far East. Kosmotras is 2006-present 2011-present Upper Stage:. /UDMH (67 launches, (61 launches, (20 launches, a joint venture among Russia, and Kazakhstan that including 66 successful including 59 successful, all successful, was established in 1997. from Baikonur) for Soyuz-2 .1a with Fregat Upper Stage: from Baikonur, Plesetsk and from French Russia’s Khrunichev and Production Cen- Vostochny) Guiana) 4,200 kg (9,260 lb .) to -Synchronous ter is the parent company of Reston, Virginia-based Interna- tional Launch Services, or ILS, which was established in 1995 Launch Price: from $48 .5 million for commercial sales of Russia’s and launch vehicles. c Total for Soyuz-family launches: 1,050, including 1,023 successful.

PHOTO CREDITS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: HERIBERTO ARRIBASABATO/WIKIMEDIA, ADIUDIN/WIKIPEDIA, BILL INGALS/NASA/WIKIPEDIA, ARIE/WIKIPEDIA, ARIANESPACE Rockets come and gone (by lift capability, small to heavy) ROCKET ILLUSTRATIONS: COLIN THROM/AW&ST ILLUSTRATIONS: ROCKET Soyuz family family Tskylon-3 II family family (Soviet/Russian) (SpaceX) (French) (Soviet/Ukraine) (Soviet/Russian) (Soviet/Ukraine) (U.S.) (Soviet) (U.S.) (U.S.) (Soviet) (Soviet) (U.S.) 1957-present 2006-2009 1965-1975 1967-2010 1960-1991 1977-2009 1989-2018 1963-1976 1959-2005 1981-2011 1987-1988 1969-1972 1966-1973

44 AVIATION WEEK & /JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 10, 2019 AviationWeek.com/awst AviationWeek.com/awst AVIATION WEEK & SPACE TECHNOLOGY/JANUARY 28-FEBRUARY 10, 2019 45