Tsyklon
The Tsyklon (Циклон, "Cyclone") is a Soviet/Ukrainian-designed expendable launch system, primarily used to put Cosmos and Meteor class satellites into low earth orbit. It is based on the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missile and of its more than 100 launches since 1967, there have been only two failures.
There are two major variants of the Tsyklon: the Tsyklon-2 and Tsyklon-3, known respectively as the SL-11 and SL-14 by the US Department of Defense. The two stage Tsyklon-2 was first launched October 27, 1967, while the Tsyklon-3, which features a restartable third stage, first launched June 24, 1977.
The Tsyklon-2 is 35.5 to 39.7 meters long with a fueled mass of 182 tonnes. The Tsyklon-3 is 39.27 meters long with a fueled mass of 186 to 190 tonnes.
Tsyklon launch vehicles are designed by the Yuzhnoe Design Bureau and manufactured by Yuzhmash (both in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine). They are launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia and are still in service as of March 2006.
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