Soyuz 2-1V Light Launch Vehicle

Russian space truck "Progress-M", launched mainly by means of rockets "Soyuz-U", after the spring of 2016 will be able to switch to other carriers - "Soyuz-2.1a,". RCC "Progress" Alexander Kirilin recalled that the first launch of "Soyuz-2.1a" with "Progress-M" took place in October 2014, before all Russian trucks launched to the ISS using the "Soyuz-U". Kirilin noted that "progress" is the only payload for the "Soyuz-U", so that after the transition to a new model of the need for this modification disappeared.

The cycle had been completed flight tests of the launch vehicle of the middle class "Soyuz-2.1a", and now the decision about putting it into operation, end flight tests launcher middle class "Soyuz-2.1b." Also successfully completed the retrofit and conducted comprehensive tests launch and technical complexes preparation of a new launch vehicle of light class "Soyuz-2.1V." Flight tests of the rocket successfully launched in 2013.

Soyuz-2 - the new booster rocket, which will replace the boosters in the future," Soyuz-U "," Soyuz-FG "and" Molniya-M "single launch vehicle. The launch vehicle" Soyuz-2 "in conjunction with the "Fregat" upper stage will make it possible to output spacecrafts to various types of orbits: low, medium, high-elliptical, solar-synchronous, geo-transient and geostationary.

The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle was developed on the basis of the Soyuz carrier rocket in two stages (Phases 1A and 1B). The rocket carrier "Soyuz-2" is designed to provide military spacecraft launches Wow, an economic and social purpose. The creation and flight tests of the upgraded Soyuz-2 missile are an important step in optimizing the domestic fleet of launch vehicles and providing guaranteed, completely independent access to space for solving defense, scientific and socio-economic problems.

The key features of the new representative of the most massive and reliable family of missiles created on the basis of R-7 are the use of exclusively domestic components, as well as the possibility of removing all existing and planned payloads of the middle class from the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome.

The main developer and manufacturer of the Soyuz-2 rocket is the State Research and Production Space Center "TsSKB-Progress" (Samara), and the state customers are the Federal Space Agency and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Space Forces). The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle was developed on the basis of the Soyuz-U serial rocket successfully operated since 1973. The new carrier with improved tactical and technical characteristics is completely created by enterprises located on the territory of Russia and allows to significantly expand the range of output spacecraft of the middle and light classes. "Soyuz-2" is designed both for direct induction and for the use of the "Fregat" upper stage.

The Soyuz-2 launch vehicle is being created in two stages. At stage 1a, a new digital control system is installed on the rocket, which provides a high-precision deduction of payloads, engines with improved nozzle heads at the first and second stages, and a new telemetry system is introduced. At the second stage of modernization (stage 16), a new engine with increased specific characteristics is installed at the third stage.

One of the modifications of Soyuz-2 will also be used to launch payloads from the Guiana Space Center (Kourou, French Guiana) as part of a joint project of the Federal Space Agency, FSUE TsSKB-Progress, FSUE TsENKI, Starsem, EADS and Arianespace.

Observers noted a number of disadvantages of the Soyuz-2 family. The presence of a number of atavisms in the design led to less mass perfection (the ratio of the payload mass to the launch mass) than that which could be achieved using more modern technical solutions. The use of hydrogen peroxide for the operation of turbo-pump aggregates of engines of the first and second stages, instead of using the same components as the LPRE itself uses. The use of heavy nitrogen (rather than helium) to pressurize the tanks. At the same time, the helium supercharging of the tanks was realized at the first and second stages of the Soyuz-2.1v LV, as well as the third stage of the Soyuz-2.1b and Soyuz-ST-B LVs. The use of open cycle LPREs that have a lower efficiency than a closed cycle LPRE. At the same time, open cycle LREs are considered safer because of the slower development of emergency situations, which is an undoubted advantage when using LV for manned missions.

Because of the historical use of the turntable, the lack of automation of operations for refueling, manual docking of electrical and pneumatic connections when launching a launch vehicle, which requires a large number of maintenance personnel and increases the impact of human errors in preparation for launching the launch vehicle. In this case, the presence of a turntable for the Soyuz-2 LV is not required, since Soyuz-2 makes a turn at the initial section of the trajectory of the launch. The launch complex of the MCC is devoid of a turning circle, which allowed the process of preparation to be automatized as much as possible.

The Soyuz-2.1v was specifically built for Russian launches. However, considering the large demand for launching small satellites, Russia has received a number of requests from potential international customers about the possibility of using the rocket for launching commercial payloads. The rocket can carry up to 2,800 kg of payload into orbit, features a brand new upper stage, and is powered by rocket engines left over from the Soviet Union’s lunar program. Russia also launches smaller payloads on rockets made from decommissioned nuclear missiles.

By April 2011 the Progress Factory of Samara, Russian Federation, for the Federal Space Agency was in the final stages of pre final assembly of the core two stages Soyuz 2-1V also called the Soyuz-1 medium lift carrier rocket. The booster has replaced the core Soyuz booster RD-108 center engine with the Kuznetsov, NK-33 engine while it retains the uprated standard second stage of the Soyuz 2-1B booster. The NK-33 is the engines used in the Soviet era N1 manned lunar landing program first stage design of the early 1970’s. The strap-on boosters have been eliminated from this booster first stage configuration. Soyuz-1 is capable of placing 2.85 metric tons (6,300 pounds) into a 200 kilometer orbit. At that time the first flight test was expected in the last quarter of 2011 or early in the first quarter of 2012. It can be launched from the Plesetsk and Baikonur cosmodromes with their upgraded pad structures.

The first Soyuz-2.1v rocket lifted off from Russia’s northern Plesetsk space center on 28 December 2013. It performed flawlessly in launching a pair of radar calibration spheres and the small student satellite Aist. The maiden mission of a new Russian lightweight rocket was a “huge success,” the director of the factory that built the launcher said 13 January 2014. “This is the first modern Russian rocket in the lightweight class with liquid rocket engines,” Alexander Kirilin said in an address to workers at the Progress Factory in the Volga city Samara.