Soyuz (rocket family)
The first Soyuz launcher touched down in 1966 after a series of four failed test flights. This vehicle emerged from the R-7 Semyorka, which served as the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile. Early Soviet engineers adapted this military hardware into a three-stage design featuring the Block I third stage. The transition from Cold War weaponry to space exploration began with the Vostok launcher before evolving further. By the early 1980s, production rates peaked at approximately 60 units per year. A four-stage variant known as Molniya later enabled launches into highly elliptical orbits. The Soyuz-U became the definitive workhorse of the family during these decades.
More than 1,700 flights have cemented the Soyuz rocket as the most frequently used space launcher in history. Between 2003 and 2005, it stood as the sole means of transportation to the International Space Station following the grounding of the US Space Shuttle fleet. NASA relied on these vehicles to send crew into orbit until 2020 when SpaceX Crew Dragon resumed American flights. Despite its age, the family remains in service due to comparatively low costs and high reliability. Commercial entities like Starsem utilized the Soyuz-Fregat configuration for European satellite launches starting in 1997. The vehicle delivered payloads ranging from Globalstar constellation satellites to Mars Express probes.
A long streak of successful launches ended on the 15th of October 2002 when a Soyuz-U launch of the Photon-M satellite exploded 29 seconds after lift-off. One ground crew member died while eight others suffered injuries near the Plesetsk launch site. Another failure occurred on the 21st of June 2005 involving a Molniya military communications satellite that crashed in the Uvatsky region of Tyumen. On the 11th of October 2018, the Soyuz MS-10 mission failed to reach orbit due to an issue with a main booster. The launch escape system successfully pulled astronauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague away from the malfunctioning rocket. They landed safely over 400 kilometers downrange from the Baikonur Cosmodrome.
The venerable Soyuz-U launcher gradually gave way to the new Soyuz 2 family featuring digital guidance systems. A development version called Soyuz 2.1a started its suborbital test flight on the 4th of November 2004 from Plesetsk. The fully modified Soyuz 2.1b flew for the first time on the 27th of December 2006 carrying the CoRoT satellite. Production of older models ceased between 2014 and 2019 as the fleet transitioned to newer standards. The Soyuz-U retired in 2017 while the Soyuz-FG carried crews until September 2019. This final flight was designated Soyuz MS-15 and departed on the 25th of September 2019.
Starsem established itself in July 1996 to provide funding for a less ambitious variant known as Soyuz-Fregat. This configuration combined a slightly modified Soyuz-U with the Fregat upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin. An April 1997 contract secured launches for two pairs of Cluster II plasma science satellites for the European Space Agency. Starsem launched 24 Globalstar constellation satellites in six separate missions between September and November 1999. Construction of a new launch pad at the Guiana Space Centre began in 2005 and finished in April 2011. The first operational launch from this site occurred on the 21st of October 2011 carrying Galileo global positioning system satellites.
Engineers assemble the entire rocket horizontally within the Assembly and Testing Building before transport to the launch site. This method differs significantly from the vertical assembly used by vehicles like the Saturn V. Four identical conical liquid booster rockets strap onto the second stage core during construction. These boosters carry names such as Blok-B, V, G, and D. Each engine features four main combustion chambers plus two vernier thruster combustion chambers for attitude control. Liquid oxygen and kerosene serve as propellants throughout most variants except the Soyuz-U2 which used Syntin fuel.
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Common questions
When did the first Soyuz rocket family launcher successfully fly?
The first Soyuz launcher touched down in 1966 after a series of four failed test flights. This vehicle emerged from the R-7 Semyorka which served as the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.
How many total flights has the Soyuz rocket completed to become the most used space launcher?
More than 1,700 flights have cemented the Soyuz rocket as the most frequently used space launcher in history. Between 2003 and 2005 it stood as the sole means of transportation to the International Space Station following the grounding of the US Space Shuttle fleet.
What happened during the Soyuz-U launch failure on the 15th of October 2002?
A Soyuz-U launch of the Photon-M satellite exploded 29 seconds after lift-off on the 15th of October 2002 near the Plesetsk launch site. One ground crew member died while eight others suffered injuries during this incident.
Which Soyuz variant retired in 2017 and when was the final crewed flight designated Soyuz MS-15 launched?
The Soyuz-U retired in 2017 while the Soyuz-FG carried crews until September 2019. This final flight was designated Soyuz MS-15 and departed on the 25th of September 2019.
When did Starsem begin using the Soyuz-Fregat configuration for European satellite launches?
Commercial entities like Starsem utilized the Soyuz-Fregat configuration for European satellite launches starting in 1997. An April 1997 contract secured launches for two pairs of Cluster II plasma science satellites for the European Space Agency.