Zenit (rocket family)

This article is about the orbital carrier rocket family. For other uses, see Zenit (disambiguation).
Zenit
Zenit-2 rocket (Baikonur, 10 December 2001)
FunctionMedium-lift expendable carrier rocket
Manufacturer
Country of origin
Size
Height57–59.6 m (187–196 ft)
Diameter3.9 m (13 ft)
Mass444,900–462,200 kg (980,800–1,019,000 lb)
Stages2 or 3
Capacity
Payload to LEO
MassZenit-2: 13,740 kg (30,290 lb)
Payload to SSO
MassZenit-2: 11,380 kg (25,090 lb)
Payload to GTO
MassZenit-3SL: 6,000 kg (13,000 lb)
Launch history
StatusSuspended
Launch sites
Total launches
  • 84
  • 36 Zenit 2
  • 36 Zenit 3SL
  • 2 Zenit 2M
  • 6 Zenit 3SLB
  • 4 Zenit 3F
Success(es)
  • 71
  • 28 Zenit 2
  • 32 Zenit 3SL
  • 2 Zenit 2M
  • 5 Zenit 3SLB
  • 4 Zenit 3F
Failure(s)
  • 10
  • 7 Zenit 2
  • 3 Zenit 3SL
Partial failure(s)
  • 3
  • 1 Zenit 2
  • 1 Zenit 3SL
  • 1 Zenit 3SLB[1]
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
Last flight
  • Zenit 2: 10 June 2004
  • Zenit 3SL: 26 May 2014
  • Zenit 2M: 8 November 2011
  • Zenit 3SLB: 31 August 2013
  • Zenit 3F: 26 December 2017
First stage
Powered by1 RD-171
Maximum thrust8,180 kilonewtons (1,840,000 lbf)
Specific impulse337 seconds (3.30 km/s)
Burn time150 seconds
PropellantRP-1 / LOX
Second stage
Powered by1 RD-120
1 RD-8
Maximum thrust912 kilonewtons (205,000 lbf)
79,500 newtons (17,900 lbf)
Specific impulse349 seconds (3.42 km/s)
Burn time315 seconds
PropellantRP-1/LOX
Third stage (Zenit-3SL/3SLB) – Block DM-SL
Powered by1 RD-58M
Maximum thrust84,900 newtons (19,100 lbf)
Specific impulse352 seconds (3.45 km/s)
Burn time650 seconds
PropellantRP-1 / LOX
Third stage (Zenit-3F) – Fregat-SB
Powered by1 S5.92
Maximum thrust19,600 newtons (4,400 lbf)
Specific impulse327 seconds (3.21 km/s)
Burn time877 seconds
PropellantN2O4 / UDMH
[edit on Wikidata]

Zenit (Ukrainian: Зеніт, Russian: Зени́т; meaning Zenith) was a family of space launch vehicles designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in Dnipro, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Zenit was originally 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 middle-weight launcher with a payload greater than the 7 tonnes of the Soyuz but smaller than the 20 tonnes payload of the Proton. The last rocket family developed in the USSR, the Zenit was intended as an eventual replacement for the dated Soyuz and Proton families, and it would employ propellants which were safer and less toxic than the Proton's nitrogen tetroxide/UDMH mix. Zenit was planned to take over crewed spaceship launches from Soyuz, but these plans were abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Many of components of the Zenit rockets were produced in Russia. The Ukrainian space industry was highly integrated with that of Russia due to its Soviet heritage, but that cooperation was interrupted by the Russo-Ukrainian War beginning in 2014, which has effectively led to a hiatus in the Zenit program.[2] The subsequent Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 saw damage to its manufacturing facilities due to Russian missile strikes, and what survived those strikes pivoted to producing military weapons.[3]

Zenit-3SL was launched by the Sea Launch consortium's floating launch platform in the Pacific Ocean and Zenit-2 was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. RD-171M engines of the Zenit's first and second stages as well as the upper stage of the Zenit-3SL rocket were supplied by Russia. An improved Zenit-3SLB rocket was used for commercial launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome beginning in April 2008, marketed as Land Launch.[4]

Zenit-3SL was launched 36 times with 32 successes, one partial success, and three 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 Odyssey launch platform, seconds after engine ignition. The NSS-8 communication satellite on board was destroyed.[5]

On September 24, 2011 Zenit-3SL launched successfully from the Odyssey launch platform under a renewed Sea Launch project with RSC Energia as the majority stakeholder. The rocket delivered the European communication satellite Atlantic Bird 7 to its planned orbit. On February 1, 2013, another Zenit-3SL failed while launching the Intelsat 27 satellite.[6]

  1. ^ Израиль корит Роскосмос за невыполненные обязательства (in Russian). Izvestia. 2008-05-06. Archived from the original on May 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-09.
  2. ^ Bodner, Matthew (June 6, 2016). "How Crimea's annexation hurt Ukraine's space program". SpaceNews. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  3. ^ Pultarova, Tereza (2023-08-27). "Lost partnerships destroying Ukraine's space sector faster than Russian missiles, former space chief says". Space.com. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  4. ^ "Land Launch User's Guide Revision B" (PDF). Space International Services. 1 October 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 June 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  5. ^ Harvey, Brian (2007). The Rebirth of the Russian Space Program. Chichester, UK: Praxis. pp. 167–175.
  6. ^ Bergin, Chris (1 February 2013). "Sea Launch Zenit 3SL with Intelsat 27 fails during first stage flight". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved 1 February 2013.