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Soyuz-ST
The Soyuz-ST-A and ST-B were modified versions of the Soyuz-2 rocket, designed to launch from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. Developed as part of a European Space Agency (ESA) programme to add a medium-lift launch vehicle to complement the light-lift Vega and heavy-lift Ariane 5 rockets. A collaborative effort between Russia and Europe, the project involved constructing the Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz (ELS; ) at the CSG and adapting the Soyuz 2 to the tropical climate. The first launch of a Soyuz ST-B occurred on 21 October 2011, while the first ST-A launch occurred on 17 December 2011. The Soyuz-ST-A and ST-B were four-stage rockets designed for low Earth orbit missions. Notably, their stage numbering differs from that of some rockets, with the boosters considered the first stage and the central core the second. Unlike the standard Soyuz-2, the Fregat upper stage was mandatory for the ST variants. Between 2011 and 2022, 27 Soyuz-ST rockets were launched f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ensemble De Lancement Soyouz
Ensemble de Lancement Soyouz (ELS, ) is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Currently inactive, the complex was first used in October 2011 in support of the Soyuz-ST rocket and the Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre programme. History The first launch to use the complex occurred on 21 October 2011, when a Soyuz ST-B launched the first two Galileo In Orbit Validation spacecraft. The site's equatorial latitude allows a greater payload mass to be delivered into geosynchronous transfer orbit compared to existing Soyuz launch facilities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. ELS is fifteen kilometres north-west of the launch facilities used by Ariane rockets. It consists of a single launch pad, with a horizontal assembly and processing facility, or MIK, located 700 metres away. As with the Soyuz launch complexes at Baikonur and Plesetsk, the pad is connected to the MIK by means of a wide gauge railway, along which the rocket is transported before e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fregat
Fregat () is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin for universal compatibility with a wide range of medium- and heavy-lift launch vehicles. Fregat has been used primarily with Soyuz and Zenit rockets, and entered operational service in February 2000. Fregat uses a liquid-propellant engine burning unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide () oxidizer, a pair of hypergolic propellants that ignite on contact. With a success rate of 97.3%, including two failures and one partial failure, Fregat is among the most reliable upper stages in operation. It has deployed more than 300 payloads into a variety of orbits and is capable of placing three or more spacecraft into distinct orbits during a single mission, owing to its ability to restart up to seven times and operate for a total burn duration of up to 1,350 seconds. Description The Fregat upper stage is a versatile and autonomous vehicle designed to inject large payloads into a range of orbits ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RD-107
The RD-107 () and its sibling, the RD-108, are a type of rocket engine used on the R-7 rocket family. RD-107 engines are used in each booster and the RD-108 is used in the central core. The engines have four main combustion chambers (each with a nozzle) and either two (RD-107) or four (RD-108) vernier chambers. The engines were first developed in the mid-1950s to launch the R-7 Semyorka, the first intercontinental ballistic missile. The R-7 was later adapted into space launch vehicles and the engines have been improved over several generations. The most recent versions are the RD-107A and RD-108A engines are used to launch the Soyuz-2, which is in active service . Design The RD-107 was designed under the direction of Valentin Glushko at the Experimental Design Bureau (OKB-456) between 1954 and 1957. It uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants operating in a gas-generator cycle. As was typical by all the descendants of the V-2 rocket technology, the turbine is drive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soyuz-2
Soyuz2 (; GRAU index: 14A14) is a Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicle and the seventh major iteration of the Soyuz rocket family. Compared to its predecessors, Soyuz-2 features significant upgrades, including improved engines and a digital flight control system that enables launches from fixed platforms and supports larger payload fairings. Developed by the Progress Rocket Space Centre (RKTs Progress) in Samara, Soyuz-2 is used to place payloads into low Earth orbit in standard configuration but can also support missions to higher orbits using an additional upper stage, most commonly the Fregat, though the smaller Volga is available as a less expensive option. Since its introduction in 2004, Soyuz-2 has gradually replaced earlier Soyuz variants and is launched from the facilities of its R-7 derived predecessors: Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Sites 43/3 and 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, and, since 2016, Site ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progress Rocket Space Centre
Rocket and Space Centre "Progress" (), commonly known as RKTs Progress (), is a Russian joint-stock company under Roscosmos. It is responsible for building and operating the Soyuz (rocket family), Soyuz family of rockets, which serve as the primary launch vehicles for the Russian space program. The company traces its origins to the Soviet-era State Aviation Factory No. 1, established in Samara in 1941, which came to be known as "Progress." In 1974, the Central Specialized Design Bureau (TsSKB) was established to refine the R-7 rocket’s design. In 1996, these two entities merged to form the company TsSKB-Progress. History The company traces its origins to the Dux Factory, established in Moscow in 1894 as a small bicycle manufacturer. At the start of the 20th century, the Dux Factory transitioned from bicycles to producing cars and airships. By 1910, its focus shifted to aircraft manufacturing. During World War I, Dux supplied the Russian Army with various aircraft, including ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
R-7 (rocket Family)
The R-7 () rocket family is a series of launch vehicles descended from the Soviet R-7 Semyorka, developed in the 1950s as the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). While the R-7 proved impractical as a weapon, it became a cornerstone of the Soviet and subsequent Russian space programs. Over time, its design was largely standardized into the Soyuz rocket, which continues to operate in its modernized form, the Soyuz-2. More R-7 rockets have been launched than any other family of orbital rockets. Background The R-7, developed by OKB-1 in Kaliningrad, a Soviet design bureau led by rocket pioneer Sergey Korolyov, was the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Initially designed to deliver nuclear warheads to American targets, it was first successfully tested on 21 August 1957. The R-7's basic design comprises a central core stage (Block A) and four strap-on boosters (Block B, V, G, and D), fueled by refined kerosene ( RG-1), mixed with cryo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soyuz (rocket Family)
Soyuz (, GRAU index: 11A511) is a family of Soviet and later Russian expendable Medium-lift launch vehicle, medium-lift launch vehicles initially developed by the OKB-1 design bureau and manufactured by the Progress Rocket Space Centre factory in Samara, Russia. It holds the record for the most launches in the history of spaceflight. Soyuz rockets are part of the R-7 (rocket family), R-7 rocket family, which evolved from the R-7 Semyorka, the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. As with many Soviet rockets, the names of recurring payloads became associated with the launch vehicle itself. Consequently, the Soyuz rockets are best known as the launch vehicles for crewed Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spacecraft under the Soyuz programme, as well as for uncrewed Progress (spacecraft), Progress cargo spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Despite this recognition, the majority of Soyuz launches have been dedicated to deploying satellites for both governmental a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre (; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximately north of the equator at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968, it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its near equatorial location and open sea to the east and north. At CSG, space launches are conducted by several European private companies and government agencies working together. The CSG land itself is managed by CNES, the French national space agency. The launch infrastructure built on the CSG land is owned by the European Space Agency. The private company Arianespace operates the launches including planning missions, handling customer relationships and overseeing the team at CSG that integrates and prepares vehicles for launch. The rockets themselves are designed and produced by other companies, ArianeGroup f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UDMH
Unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (abbreviated as UDMH; also known as 1,1-dimethylhydrazine, heptyl or Geptil) is a chemical compound with the formula H2NN(CH3)2 that is primarily used as a rocket propellant. At room temperature, UDMH is a colorless liquid, with a sharp, fishy, ammonia-like smell typical of organic amines. Samples turn yellowish on exposure to air and absorb oxygen and carbon dioxide. It is miscible with water, ethanol, and kerosene. At concentrations between 2.5% and 95% in air, its vapors are flammable. It is not sensitive to shock. Symmetrical dimethylhydrazine (1,2-dimethylhydrazine) also exists, but it is not as useful. UDMH can be oxidized in air to form many different substances, including toxic ones. Synthesis In 1875, UDMH was first prepared by Emil Fischer, who discovered and named the class of hydrazines, by reducing N-Nitrosodimethylamine with zinc in boiling acetic acid. Fischer's student Edward Renouf later studied UDMH more extensively as part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RD-0124
The RD-0124 (, GRAU index: 14D23) is a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene in an oxygen-rich staged combustion cycle, developed by the Chemical Automatics Design Bureau in Voronezh. RD-0124 engines are used on the Block I stage used on Soyuz-2.1b and Soyuz-2.1v. A variant of the engine, the RD-0124A, is used on the Angara rocket family's URM-2 upper stage. Design RD-0124 engines use a multi-stage turbopump powered by pre-combustion of the engine propellants in the preburner. The kerosene fuel is used for regenerative cooling of the engine. Vehicle attitude control during ascent is provided by gimbaling the engine in two planes. The propellant tanks are helium-pressurized. Four combustion chambers are fed by a single turbopump system. The engine operates at a high chamber pressure and, for the type of propellants used, achieves a very high specific impulse of nearly 360 seconds in vacuum. History The inaugural flight of a launch vehicle using an RD-0124 engin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RD-0110
The RD-0110 (, and its derivatives, the RO-8, RD-0108, RD-461) is a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and kerosene in a gas generator combustion cycle. It has four fixed nozzles and the output of the gas generator is directed to four secondary vernier nozzles to provide attitude control for the stage. It has an extensive flight history with its initial versions having flown more than . History OKB-154 of S.A. Kosberg was tasked with developing an engine for the unmanned Molniya Block-I stage. Thus, the RD-0107 was developed in the 1960 to 1961 period, based on the RD-0106 (GRAU Index: 8D715) engine that powered the SS-8 Sasin ICBM, also designed by OKB-154. It also leveraged the experience in the field from the Vostok Block-E RD-0105/ RD-0109 development. The engine had its debut flight on 10 October 1960, and the last Molniya flight was on 22 October 1967. For the crewed carrying Voskhod Block-I, a version of the engine that complied with the human rating 3K Regulat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Composante Spatiale Optique
Composante Spatiale Optique (CSO; English: Optical Space Component) is a French military Reconnaissance satellite program of third generation. It replaces the Helios 2 satellites. It is sometimes referred to as the MUltinational Space-based Imaging System for Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Observation ( MUSIS program). Program history Since the launch of Helios 1A in 1995, France has developed a series of military Earth observation programs. Due to the limited lifetime of satellites, a program was launched to replace the currently operational Helios 2 satellites. This program started as a French contribution to the larger pan-European MUSIS program, and eventually became a mostly French program. French Finance Law for 2013 : Defence : Equipment An agreement between France and |
