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)
Function	Medium expendable Carrier rocket
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye Design Bureau
Country of origin	Zenit-2: USSR Zenit-3SL: USSR, Ukraine, Russia
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)
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 Odyssey (launch platform)
Total launches	83 36 Zenit 2 36 Zenit 3SL 2 Zenit 2M 6 Zenit 3SLB 3 Zenit 3F
Successes	70 28 Zenit 2 32 Zenit 3SL 2 Zenit 2M 5 Zenit 3SLB 3 Zenit 3F
Failures	10 7 Zenit 2 3 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 seconds (3.30 km/s)
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 seconds (3.42 km/s)
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 seconds (3.45 km/s)
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 seconds (3.21 km/s)
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 Soviet Union, and since the early 1990s by the same design bureau but now a part 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 up-middle launcher greater than 7-ton payload Soyuz and smaller than 20-ton payload Proton. Moreover Zenit was planned to take over manned spaceship launches from Soyuz, but these plans were abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

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 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.

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.

History

In February 2015, following a year of strained relations as a result of a Russian military intervention into Ukraine, Russia announced that it would discontinue its "joint program with Ukraine to launch Dnepr rockets and [was] no longer interested in buying Ukrainian Zenit boosters, deepening problems for [Ukraine's] space program and its struggling Yuzhmash factory."

Strained relations between Ukraine and Russia after 2014 have led to Russian Federal Space Agency intending to purchase no more of the Zenit first-stage boosters made by Yuzhmash (powered by Russian engines). However 2 Zenit rockets that have been delivered to Russia for Russian Federal Space Agency missions will still be used; another Zenit rocket for launching an Ukrainian satellite has been completed but without engines due to lack of funding for payments.

Specifications

Overview

	Zenit-2	Zenit-3SL
Stages	2	3
Total length	57 m	59.6 m
Total empty mass	37,600 kg	40,320 kg
Total gross mass	444,900 kg	462,200 kg
Payload	13.74 tonne to LEO	≈6 tonne to GTO
Launch site	Baikonur Cosmodrome	Sea Launch ocean platform
Launches	21 (6 failed) as of 10 June 2004	31 (3 failed, 1 partial success) as of 1 February 2013
Success ratio	71.4%	91.1%
Price per launch	~$45 million	~$90 million

Payload capacities

Two stage version (Zenit-2)

Payload to LEO		13,740 kg
Payload to PEO		5,000 kg
Payload to GEO		Not designed for GEO

Three stage version (Zenit-3SL)

Payload to LEO		6,100 kg, 3rd stage structural limitation
Payload to MEO		3,965 kg (10,000 km, 45°)
Payload to GEO		1,840 kg
Payload to GTO		5,250 kg (upgraded to 6,000+ kg)

Production

The first and the second stages of the Zenit were designed by Yuzhnoye and are manufactured by Yuzhmash.

Variants

Zenit-2

Main article: Zenit-2

The Zenit-2 was the first Zenit to be designed for use as an orbital carrier rocket. It consists of two stages. The first uses an RD-171 engine, and an RD-120 engine powers the second stage. It first flew on 13 April 1985, two years before the Energia, due to delays relating to the Energia's development. Zenit-2 would be certified for manned launches and placed in specially built launch pad at Baykonur spaceport, carrying the new manned partially reusable Zarya spacecraft that developed in end of the 1980s but was canceled. Also in the 1980s Vladimir Chelomey's firm proposed never realised 15-ton Uragan spaceplane launched by Zenit-2.

Energia booster

Main article: Energia

The Zenit first stage was used as a strap-on booster rocket for the Energia carrier rocket. Four Zenit first stages were attached to the core vehicle to produce extra thrust at lift-off, in the same way that Solid Rocket Boosters are used on the US Space Shuttle. Energia made two flights before the programme was abandoned.

Zenit-3SL

Main article: Zenit-3SL

Zenit-3SL is a three stage carrier rocket developed for and used by the Sea Launch consortium.

It combines:

• two-stage Zenit-2S built by Ukraine's SDO Yuzhnoye/PO Yuzhmash
• Block DM-SL upper stage, provided by Russia's Energia
• nose-cone enclosure for protection of payload during launch, provided by Boeing.

Rockets used by Sea Launch are assembled in Long Beach, California. Launches occur from the Ocean Odyssey offshore launch platform, situated at the equator. Ocean Odyssey is also used to transport rockets to the launch site. The 25th launch of a Zenit-3SL occurred on January 15, 2008.

Zenit 2M and 2SLB

Main article: Zenit-2M

Zenit 2M is a new version of the Zenit 2 with an upgraded control system and modernized engines. The first Zenit 2M was launched on June 29, 2007, carrying a classified Russian military Tselina-2 satellite. The Zenit-2SLB designation applies to commercial launches through the Land Launch subsidiary of Sea Launch, which began satellite launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome in 2008.

Zenit-3F

Main article: Zenit-3F

The Zenit-3F, also known as the Zenit-2SB/Fregat, is a 3-stage derivative of the Zenit-2M, using a Fregat upper stage, as already used on the Soyuz, to propel spacecraft to higher orbits. It made its maiden flight in January 2011, with the Elektro-L No.1 spacecraft for the Russian government. Later the same year, another launch carried Spektr-R, a 5,000-kilogram (11,000 lb) space telescope, into an orbit with a perigee of 10,000 kilometres (6,200 mi) and an apogee of 390,000 kilometres (240,000 mi).

Zenit 3M and 3SLB

Main article: Zenit-3SLB

The Zenit-3M is a Zenit-2M with the Block-DM upper stage used on the Zenit-3SL. It is launched from Baikonur. The maiden flight was launched on 28 April 2008. Land Launch commercially market the Zenit-3M under the designation Zenit 3SLB.

Launches

Main article: List of Zenit launches

See also

• Comparison of orbital launchers families
• Tsyklon-4
• National Space Agency of Ukraine

External links

• Zenit Family
• Information at Encyclopedia Astronautica
• Information at National Space Agency of Ukraine
• Information at Buran web site
• Information at Orbital Report News Agency