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| Tsyklon (Cyclone) launch vehicle family Overview of the Tsyklon rocket family:
Specifications of the Tsyklon-2 and -3 rockets:
R-16 development cooperation:
Tsyklon-4 project Industrial investigation of the Tsyklon-3 failure concludes RD-861 2001 Dec. 21: After a two-day delay, a Ukrainian-builtTsyklon-2 booster successfully delivered a Russian electronic intelligence spacecraft on Friday. A 182-ton two-stage rocket blasted off from Site 90 inBaikonur at 07:00 Moscow Time on December 21. The rocket was carrying aUS-PU satellite built by the KB Arsenal development center in St. Petersburg and designed to provide electronic intelligence and missile guidance information to the Russian Navy. The rocket successfully inserted the spacecraft into a transfer orbit with an apogee of 400 kilometers. The satellite, officially designated Kosmos-2383, was then expected to use its own propulsion system to reach a final orbit around 07:48 Moscow Time on December 21. This was the first launch of theUS-type spacecraft since December 1999 and the 104th launch of theTsyklon-2 booster. 2001 Dec. 27 (EST): In the lastspace launch of 2001, a Ukrainian-built rocket delivered a sextet of communications satellites into orbit after an early-morning blastoff from Russia’s northern cosmodrome inPlesetsk. The three-stage Tsyklon-3 booster took off from Launch Complex 32 in Plesetsk at 06:24 Moscow Time on December 28. The rocket was carrying six satellites, including threeGonets D1 (“Messenger”) spacecraft intended to replenish a low-orbital communications network. Remaining three satellites onboard the rocket belonged to the Russian Ministry of Defense and in an accordance with the standard practice for themilitary spacecraft were identified as Kosmos-2384, -2385 and -2386. The third stage of the Tsyklon-3 rocket normally inserts the entire cluster of six spacecraft into circular orbits with an altitude of about 1,400 kilometers and an inclination of 82.6 degrees toward the Equator. A previous attempt to launch a Gonest/Strela cluster ended in a failure a year ago. (The latest launch was previously planned for December 22 and December 26, 2001). A Tsyklon-3 rocket carrying the Sich-1M spacecraft along with the KS5MF2 micro-satellite was launched from Site 32 inPlesetsk at 14:20 Moscow Time on December 24, 2004. The remote-sensingSich-1M spacecraft was supposed to be delivered into a 681 by 640-kilometer orbit with an inclination of 82.5 degrees toward the Equator, however initial radar observations by NORAD found the third stage of the launch vehicle and both payloads in the 281 by 639-kilometer orbit. It could be an indication that the second burn of the Tsyklon-3's third stage failed, leaving the spacecraft in a useless and unstable orbit. The second ignition of the third stage engine to circularize the orbit was expected to take place 39 minutes after the launch. In the meantime, the official press release from KB Yuzhnoe in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, which built both the launcher and the payload, stated that the mission successfully reached its intended orbit. Only 48 hours after the launch, Russian sources confirmed that the payload had not reached its intended orbit due to abnormal performance of the third stage and the orbital life span of both satellites will be cut short as a result. Sich-1M might work only one year instead of three, while KS5MF2 could reenter after six months. Unofficial reports from Ukraine also indicated that after separation from the third stage, both satellites tumbled in space, thus greatly reducing power supply from solar panels. Russian mission control supported this launch, however Ukranian ground control station took over the responsibility for both payloads after they reached orbit. 2006 June 25:A Tsyklon-2 rocket, blasted off from Site 90 inBaikonur Cosmodrome on June 25, 2006, at 08:00 Moscow Time. The official statement of the Russian space agency, Roskosmos, said only that the launch vehicle carried a payload for the Ministry of Defense and the flight proceeded nominally. It is known that launches of this type carry electronic intelligence satellites from theUS-P/US-PU family. The previous spacecraft of this type was deorbited on April 28, 2006. This launch was previously expected on June 22, 2006. 2009 Jan. 30, at 16:30 Moscow Time: The Tsyklon-3 rocket lifted off fromSite 32 in Russia’s northern cosmodrome inPlesetsk, carrying the 1,900-kilogramKoronas-Foton satellite. According to Russian space officials, the spacecraft separated from the third stage of the launch vehicle at 17:14 Moscow Time, as planned. The first radio-measurement of the satellite's orbit was expected at 18:02 Moscow Time. This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak All rights reserved Last update: February 27, 2020 | A scale model of the Tsyklon-2 launcher. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
Scale models of rockets developed by Yuzhnoe design bureau. Form left to right: R-16; two versions of R-36 ICBM, which became a base for Tsyklon-2 and 3 launchers; Tsyklon-2 launcher, R36M ICBM and MR-UR-100 ICBM. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
The RD-861 engine, which powered the third stage of the Tsyklon rocket. Copyright © 2001 Anatoly Zak
A production line of Tsyklon rockets at the Yuzmash production plant in Ukraine.
Tsyklon-3 rocket launches the SM-KF (Koronas-F) spacecraft on July 31, 2001. Credit: KB Yuzhnoe
The third stage of the Tsyklon rocket. Credit: KB Yuzhnoe
Monument to the Tsyklon-3M vehicle. Copyright © 2017 Anatoly Zak |
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