Zenit rocket Totally Explained

Everything about Zenit Rocket totally explained

For other uses, see Zenit (disambiguation).}}
The Zenit rocket (Ukrainian: Зеніт, Russian: Зени́т; meaning Zenith) is a space launch vehicle 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.
   Zenits are launched from Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, and by the Sea Launch consortium's floating launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. 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. Since the Zenit isn't built in Russia, it's planned to be replaced in that service by the new and yet unflown Angara rocket, although Russia does still use the Zenit. 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 25 times with 22 successes, 2 failures, and 1 partial success as of January 2007. The first failure, of a Hughes-built communications satellite owned by ICO Global Communications, occurred on 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 onboard was destroyed.
   In the study entitled The Military Use of Space: A Diagnostic Assessment (csbaonline.org for copies), data compiled by Greg Lucas and Charles Murphy in Appendix 4 of the study shows that among the 16 launchers surveyed, the Zenit 2 is currently the lowest cost vehicle for achieving LEO in terms of payload weight per launch ($1167-1667 per pound), and one of the lowest in terms of total costs per launch ($35-$50 million). (External Link

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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 2004-06-10	23 (2 failed, 1 partial success) as of 2007-01-30
Success ratio	71.4%	91.3%
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, 3^rd 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

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.

Energia booster

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

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. The first Zenit 2M was launched on June 29, 2007, carrying a classified Russian military Cosmos 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 2M/Fregat

The Zenit-2M/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 is scheduled to make its maiden flight in late 2008, with the Elektro-L-1 spacecraft for the Russian government.

Zenit 3M and 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.

Further Information

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