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![]() Launch of a Proton-K carrying the Zvezda module of the International Space Station | |
Function | Heavy-lift launch vehicle |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Khrunichev |
Country of origin | USSR Russia |
Size | |
Height | 50 metres (160 ft) |
Diameter | 7.4 metres (24 ft) |
Stages | 3 or 4 |
Capacity | |
Payload to LEO | |
Mass | 19,760 kg (43,560 lb) Record: 22,776 kg (50,212 lb) with Zvezda[1] |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Universal Rocket |
Derivative work | Proton-M |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | Baikonur Sites 81 & 200 |
Total launches | 310 |
Success(es) | 275 (89%) |
Failure(s) | 24 |
Partial failure(s) | 11 |
First flight | 10 March 1967[2] |
Last flight | 30 March 2012 |
First stage | |
Height | 21.2 metres (70 ft) |
Diameter | 7.4 metres (24 ft) |
Empty mass | 31,100 kilograms (68,600 lb) |
Gross mass | 450,510 kilograms (993,200 lb) |
Powered by | 6 RD-253-14D48 |
Maximum thrust | 10,470 kilonewtons (2,350,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 316 sec |
Burn time | 124 seconds |
Propellant | N2O4/UDMH |
Second stage – 8S811K | |
Height | 14 metres (46 ft) |
Diameter | 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) |
Empty mass | 11,715 kilograms (25,827 lb) |
Gross mass | 167,828 kilograms (369,997 lb) |
Powered by | 4 RD-0210 |
Maximum thrust | 2,399 kilonewtons (539,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 327 sec |
Burn time | 206 seconds |
Propellant | N2O4/UDMH |
Third stage | |
Height | 6.5 metres (21 ft) |
Diameter | 4.15 metres (13.6 ft) |
Empty mass | 4,185 kilograms (9,226 lb) |
Gross mass | 50,747 kilograms (111,878 lb) |
Powered by | 1 RD-0212 |
Maximum thrust | 613.8 kilonewtons (138,000 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 325 sec |
Burn time | 238 seconds |
Propellant | N2O4/UDMH |
The Proton-K, also designated Proton 8K82K after its GRAU index or SL-12 after its model number, 8K82K, was a Russian, previously Soviet, carrier rocket derived from the earlier Proton. It was built by Khrunichev, and launched from sites 81 and 200 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The maiden flight on 10 March 1967 carried a Soyuz 7K-L1 as part of the Zond program. During the so-called Moon Race these Proton/Soyuz/Zond flights consisted of several uncrewed test flights of Soyuz spacecraft to highly elliptical or circumlunar orbits with the unrealized aim of landing Soviet cosmonauts on the Moon.
It was retired from service in favour of the modernised Proton-M, making its 310th and final launch on 30 March 2012.