Zenit-2

	Zenit-2 at Site 45/1
Function	Carrier rocket
Manufacturer	Yuzhnoye
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	37
Success(es)	31
Failure(s)	6
First flight	13 April 1985
First stage
Powered by	1 RD-171
Maximum thrust	8,180 kilonewtons (1,840,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	337 sec
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 sec
Burn time	315 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

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

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 manned launches and placed in specially built launch pad at Baykonur spaceport, carrying the new manned partially reusable Zarya spacecraft that developed in end of the 1980s but was canceled. Also in the 1980s Vladimir Chelomey's firm proposed never realised 15-ton Uragan spaceplane launched by Zenit-2.

A modified version, the Zenit-2S, is used as the first two stages of the Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket.^[2] 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.^[3] A third pad, Site 35 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome was never completed, and work was abandoned after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.^[4]

The Zenit-2 is currently being replaced by the Zenit-2M, which incorporates enhancements made during the development of the Zenit-3SL, and it is unclear whether any remain to be launched. The Zenit-2 has a fairly low flight rate as the Russian government usually avoids flying national security payloads on Ukrainian rockets.

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.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Zenit-2". Roscosmos (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2016.
^ "The Rocket – Zenit-3SL". Sea Launch. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
^ Wade, Mark. "Zenit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
^ Wade, Mark. "Plesetsk". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

This space- or spaceflight-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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[roscosmos-zenit-2-1] "Zenit-2". Roscosmos (in Russian). Retrieved 7 April 2016.

[SL-2] "The Rocket – Zenit-3SL". Sea Launch. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

[EA_Zenit-3] Wade, Mark. "Zenit". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

[EA_Plesetsk-4] Wade, Mark. "Plesetsk". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Retrieved 2009-04-14.

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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)