Zenit-2

	Zenit-2 at Site 45/1
Function	Carrier rocket
Manufacturer	Yuzhmash
Country of origin	Soviet Union; (Ukraine)
Size
Height	57 metres (187 ft)
Diameter	3.9 metres (13 ft)
Mass	460,000 kilograms (1,010,000 lb)
Stages	Two
Capacity
Payload to LEO
Mass	13,740 kilograms (30,290 lb); 11,420 kilograms (25,180 lb) (ISS orbit)
Payload to SSO
Mass	5,000 kilograms (11,000 lb)
Associated rockets
Family	Zenit
Derivative work	Zenit-2M; Zenit-3SL
Launch history
Status	Retired
Launch sites	Baikonur Site 45
Total launches	36
Success(es)	28
Failure(s)	7
Partial failure(s)	1
First flight	13 April 1985
Last flight	10 June 2004
First stage
Powered by	1 RD-171
Maximum thrust	8,180 kilonewtons (1,840,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	337 s
Burn time	150 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Powered by	1 RD-120; 1 RD-8
Maximum thrust	912 kilonewtons (205,000 lbf); 79.5 kilonewtons (17,900 lbf)
Specific impulse	349 s
Burn time	315 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

The Zenit-2 was a Ukrainian, previously Soviet, expendable carrier rocket. First flown in 1985, it has been launched 37 times, with 6 failures. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets and was designed by the Yuzhmash.

History

With 13–15 ton payload in LEO, it was intended as up-middle-class launcher greater than 7-ton-payload middle Soyuz and smaller than 20-ton-payload heavy Proton. Zenit-2 would be certified for crewed launches and placed in specially built launch pad at Baykonur spaceport, carrying the new crewed partially reusable Zarya spacecraft that developed in end of the 1980s but was cancelled. Also in the 1980s Vladimir Chelomey's firm proposed the never realised 15-ton Uragan spaceplane, which would have been launched by Zenit-2.

A modified version, the Zenit-2S, is used as the first two stages of the Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket.^[3] Launches of Zenit-2 rockets are conducted from Baikonur Cosmodrome Site 45/1. A second pad, 45/2, was also constructed, but was only used for two launches before being destroyed in an explosion.^[4] A third pad, Site 35 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome was never completed, and work was abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.^[5]

The Zenit-2 had its last flight in 2004; it has been superseded by the Zenit-2M, which incorporates enhancements made during the development of the Zenit-3SL. The Zenit-2 has a fairly low flight rate, as the Russian government usually avoids flying national-security payloads on Ukrainian rockets. Zenit-2M itself flew only twice: in 2007 and 2011.

During the late 1990s, the Zenit-2 was marketed for commercial launches. Only one such launch was conducted, with a group of Globalstar satellites, which ended in failure after a computer error resulted in the premature cutoff of the second stage.

The second stage, called the SL-16 by western governments, along with the second stages of the Vostok and Kosmos launch vehicles, makes up about 20% of the total mass of launch debris in Low Earth Orbit (LEO).^[6] An analysis that determined the 50 “statistically most concerning” debris objects in low Earth orbit determined that the top 20 were all SL-16 upper stages.^[7]

Launch history

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Zenit-2". Roscosmos (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
^ Krebs, Gunter. "Zenit-2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2016-05-16.
^ "The Rocket – Zenit-3SL". Sea Launch. Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
^ Wade, Mark. "Zenit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on August 28, 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
^ Wade, Mark. "Plesetsk". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
^ Liou, J-C (April 2011). "An Update on LEO Environment Remediation with Active Debris Removal" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 15 (2): 5. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
^ Foust, Jeff (13 October 2020). "Upper stages top list of most dangerous space debris". Space News. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

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[roscosmos-zenit-2-1] "Zenit-2". Roscosmos (in Russian). Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2016.

[2] Krebs, Gunter. "Zenit-2". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2016-05-16.

[SL-3] "The Rocket – Zenit-3SL". Sea Launch. Archived from the original on 2009-04-04. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

[EA_Zenit-4] Wade, Mark. "Zenit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on August 28, 2003. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

[EA_Plesetsk-5] Wade, Mark. "Plesetsk". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2007-12-29. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

[6] Liou, J-C (April 2011). "An Update on LEO Environment Remediation with Active Debris Removal" (PDF). Orbital Debris Quarterly News. 15 (2): 5. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

[7] Foust, Jeff (13 October 2020). "Upper stages top list of most dangerous space debris". Space News. Retrieved 12 December 2022.

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v t e Ukrainian launch vehicles
Cyclone (Tsyklon)	Tsyklon-1M Tsyklon-2 Tsyklon-3 Tsyklon-4 Cyclone-4M
Zenit	Zenit-2 Zenit-2M Zenit-3SL Zenit-3SLB Zenit-3F
Mayak	Mayak
Dnipro (Dnepr)	Dnipro
International projects	Antares VEGA Skyrora Firefly Aerospace
Space agency

v t e Orbital launch systems
List of orbital launch systems Comparison of orbital launch systems
Current	Angara 1.2 A5 Ariane 6 Atlas V Ceres 1 1S Chollima-1 Electron Falcon 9 Block 5 Falcon Heavy Firefly Alpha Gravity-1 GSLV H-IIA H3 Hyperbola-1 Jielong 1 3 KAIROS^† Kaituozhe 2 Kinetica 1 Kuaizhou 1 1A 11 Long March 2C 2D 2F 3A 3B/E 3C 4B 4C 5 5B 6 6A 7 7A 8 11 11H LVM3 Minotaur I IV V C Nuri OS-M1^† Pegasus XL Proton-M PSLV Qaem 100 Qased RS1^† Shavit 2 Simorgh SLS Block 1 Soyuz-2 2.1a / STA 2.1b / STB 2-1v SSLV Starship Tianlong-2 Unha Vega C Vulcan Centaur Zhuque 2
In development	Antares 330 Bloostar Cyclone-4M Deca Epsilon S Eris Gravity-2 Hyperbola-2 Irtysh Kuaizhou 21 31 Long March 9 10 12 Miura 5 MLV Neutron New Glenn New Line 1 NGLV Nova OS-M 2 4 Orbex Prime Pallas-1 Red Dwarf SLS Block 1B Block 2 Soyuz-7 Terran R Tianlong-3 VLM Vega E Zero Zhuque 3 Zuljanah
Retired	Antares 110 120 130^† 230 230+ Ariane 1 2 3 4 5 ASLV Athena I II Atlas B D E/F G H I II III LV-3B SLV-3 Able^† Agena Centaur Black Arrow Conestoga^† Delta A B C D E G J L M N 0100 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 II III IV IV Heavy Diamant Dnepr Energia Epsilon Europa I^† II^† Falcon 1 Falcon 9 v1.0 v1.1 v1.2 "Full Thrust" Feng Bao 1 GSLV Mk I H-I H-II H-IIB Juno I Juno II Kaituozhe-1 Kosmos original 1 2/2I 3 3M Lambda 4S LauncherOne Long March 1 1D^† 2A 2E 3 3B 4A Mu 4S 3C 3H 3S 3SII V N1^† N-I N-II Naro-1 Paektusan^† Pilot-2^† R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original FG L M U U2 Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna^† Rocket 3 Safir 1 1A 1B Saturn I IB V Scout X-1 Blue Scout II^† X-2^† X-2M X-3 X-3M X-4 X-2B^† B A B-1 D-1 A-1 E-1 F-1 G-1 Shavit original 1 SLV Space Shuttle SPARK^† Sparta SS-520 Start-1 Terran 1^† Thor Able Ablestar 1 2 Agena A B D Burner 1 2 Delta DSV-2U Thorad-Agena SLV-2G SLV-2H Titan II GLV IIIA IIIB IIIC IIID IIIE 34D 23G CT-3 IV Tsyklon R-36-O original 2 3 Universal Rocket UR-500 Proton Proton-K Rokot Strela Vanguard Vega original VLS-1^† Zenit 2 2M 2FG 3SL 3SLB 3F Zhuque 1^†
Classes	Sounding rocket Small-lift launch vehicle Medium-lift launch vehicle Heavy-lift launch vehicle Super heavy-lift launch vehicle
This Template lists historical, current, and future space rockets that at least once attempted (but not necessarily succeeded in) an orbital launch or that are planned to attempt such a launch in the future Symbol ^† indicates past or current rockets that attempted orbital launches but never succeeded (never did or has yet to perform a successful orbital launch)