The
Soyuz-U launch
vehicle (LV) is an improved version of the original
Soyuz LV. Soyuz-U is part of the
R-7 family of rockets based on the
R-7 Semyorka missile.
Members of this rocket
family were designed by the TsSKB design bureau and constructed at
the Progress Factory in Samara, Russia
. (These two are now a united company, TsSKB-Progress
). The first Soyuz-U flight took place on 18
May, 1973, carrying as its payload
Kosmos 559, a
Zenit military surveillance
satellite.
The Soyuz-U vehicle replaced earlier Soyuz launch vehicle variants
and the
Voskhod rocket, all of
which were closely related vehicles derived from the Soviet
R-7 ICBM. The Soyuz-U is a unified,
single vehicle capable of launching manned and unmanned
payloads.
Soyuz-U is still in use today, making several launches a
year.
Versions
Soyuz-U/Ikar is version of
Soyuz-U, using Ikar as its 3rd stage, produced
by the same company, TsSKB-Progress. Ikar is used to impove capabilities of
Soyuz-U and deliver various payloads with masses of 750
kg to 3920
kg to heights
250
km to 1400
km.
Ikar's performance is
lower than that of
Fregat, but it is more
precise in maneuvring and it can operate longer autonomously than
Fregat.
Another
version of Soyuz-U is Soyuz-U/Fregat with Fregat as its 3rd stage, developed and produced by
Lavochkin Association in Khimki
.
There was also one variant of Soyuz-U, the
Soyuz-U2 launcher. It had the same hardware as the
basic Soyuz-U, but used a high energy, synthetic kerosene
Syntin instead of normal kerosene as the first stage fuel.
This variant last flew in
1996, after
production of Syntin ended.
Soyuz-U became a basic platform for development of
Soyuz-FG launch
vehicle, which uses all-new first stage. However, in future
both Soyuz-U and Soyuz-FG will be replaced by the
Soyuz-2 launch vehicle.
Launches of human spaceflight missions
The first use of a Soyuz-U to launch a
human spaceflight mission took place 2
December 1974, when the
Soyuz 16 crew was
launched in preparation for the
Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP).
Soyuz 19, which as part of the ASTP docked
with the last
Apollo spacecraft
ever flown, was also launched by a Soyuz-U rocket.
On 6 July 1976 a Soyuz-U launched
Soyuz 21,
which took a crew of two to the
Salyut 5
space station. Many subsequent space station crews were launched on
Soyuz-U launchers. The final human spaceflight mission to utilize
the Soyuz-U was
Soyuz TM-34, a
Soyuz ferry flight to the
International Space
Station.
Recent missions
Lately Soyuz-U vehicles have been used by the
Russian Federal Space Agency
mostly with
Progress-M robotic
cargo spacecraft to resupply the
International Space Station
(ISS).
The most recent Soyuz-U mission launched Progress M-67 to the ISS
on 24 July 2009.
Its most recent non-Progress launch was on 14 November 2008, when a
Soyuz-U was used to carry the spacecraft to orbit. As of February
2008, a total of 714 Soyuz-U launch vehicles were launched, with 19
launch failures and 695 successes, making it one of the most
reliable LVs ever made.
References
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