Zenit (rocket Family)
Zenit-2 rocket (Baikonur, 10 December 2001) |
|
| Function | Medium expendable Carrier rocket |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Yuzhnoye Design Bureau |
| Country of origin | Zenit-2: Ukraine, USSR
|
| Size | |
| Height | 57-59.6 m (187-195 ft) |
| Diameter | 3.9 m (12.7 ft) |
| Mass | 444,900 -462,200 kg (1,011,700 - 1,038,000 lb lb) |
| Stages | 2 or 3 |
| Capacity | |
| Payload to LEO | Zenit 2 - 13,740 kg (30,290lb) |
| Payload to SSO |
Zenit 2 - 5,000 kg (11,000 lb) |
| Payload to GTO |
Zenit 3SL - 5,250 kg (11,570 lb) |
| Launch history | |
| Status | Active |
| Launch sites | LC-45, Baikonur Cosmodrome Ocean Odyssey |
| Total launches | 78 37 Zenit 2 32 Zenit 3SL 2 Zenit 2M 5 Zenit 3SLB 2 Zenit 3F |
| Successes | 66 29 Zenit 2 29 Zenit 3SL 2 Zenit 2M 4 Zenit 3SLB 2 Zenit 3F |
| Failures | 9 7 Zenit 2 2 Zenit 3SL |
| Partial failures | 3 1 Zenit 2 1 Zenit 3SL 1 Zenit 3SLB |
| First flight | Zenit 2: 13 April 1985 Zenit 3SL: 28 March 1999 Zenit 2M: 29 June 2007 Zenit 3SLB: 28 April 2008 Zenit 3F: 20 January 2011 |
| First Stage | |
| Engines | 1 RD-171 |
| Thrust | 8,180 kilonewtons (1,840,000 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 337 sec |
| Burn time | 150 seconds |
| Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
| Second Stage | |
| Engines | 1 RD-120 1 RD-8 |
| Thrust | 912 kilonewtons (205,000 lbf) 79,500 newtons (17,900 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 349 sec |
| Burn time | 315 seconds |
| Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
| Third Stage (Zenit-3SL/3SLB) - Block DM-SL | |
| Engines | 1 RD-58M |
| Thrust | 84,900 newtons (19,100 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 352 sec |
| Burn time | 650 seconds |
| Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
| Third Stage (Zenit-3F) - Fregat-SB | |
| Engines | 1 S5.92 |
| Thrust | 19,600 newtons (4,400 lbf) |
| Specific impulse | 327 sec |
| Burn time | 877 seconds |
| Fuel | N2O4/UDMH |
Zenit (Ukrainian: Зеніт, Russian: Зени́т; meaning Zenith) is a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine. Zenit was built in the 1980s for two purposes: as a liquid rocket booster for the Energia rocket and, equipped with a second stage, as a stand-alone rocket. Moreover Zenit was planned to take over manned spaceship launches from Soyuz, but these plans were abandoned after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Zenit-3SL is launched by the Sea Launch consortium's floating launch platform in the Pacific Ocean and Zenit-2 is launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The engines of the Zenit's first and second stages as well as the upper stage of the Zenit-3SL rocket are supplied by Russia. There are plans to use an improved Zenit-3SLB rocket for commercial launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome beginning in April 2008. This service is marketed as "Land Launch."
Zenit-3SL has launched 30 times with 27 successes, one partial success, and two failures. The first failure, the launch of a Hughes-built communications satellite owned by ICO Global Communications, occurred during the second commercial launch on March 12, 2000 and was blamed on a software error that failed to close a valve in the second stage of the rocket. The second failure occurred on January 30, 2007 when the rocket exploded on the Ocean Odyssey launch platform, seconds after engine ignition. The NSS-8 communication satellite on board was destroyed.
However on September 24, 2011 Zenit-3SL launched successfully from the Ocean Odyssey launch platform under renewed Sea Launch project. The rocket delivered the European communication satellite Atlantic Bird 7 to its planned orbit.
In a study of 16 launchers, the Zenit-2 was, as of March 18, 2001, the lowest cost vehicle for achieving LEO in terms of payload weight per launch ($1,167-1,667 per pound or 2,567-3,667 per kg), and one of the lowest in terms of total costs per launch ($35–$50 million).
Read more about Zenit (rocket Family): Production