Soyuz-2.1a
Glavkosmos
Modernized medium-lift Soyuz launch vehicle with digital flight control, flown from Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny.
Key figurescomparable across the catalogue
- Mass
- 312,000 kg
- Payload capacity
- 7,000 kg
Normalised to common units so this product can be compared with others in its category. The supplier's own wording is below.
As published by the supplier
- Stages
- 3 (4 liquid boosters + core + third stage); optional Fregat upper stage
- Height
- 46.3 m
- Diameter
- 2.95 m (core); 10.3 m booster span
- Launch mass
- ~312,000 kg
- Propellant
- RP-1 / LOX (all stages)
- Booster/core engines
- RD-107A (boosters) + RD-108A (core), upgraded injectors
- Third stage engine
- RD-0110
- Payload capacity
- ~7,000 kg to LEO (Baikonur); ~4,400 kg to SSO with Fregat
- Launch sites
- Baikonur, Plesetsk, Vostochny
- Flight heritage
- In service since 2004; flies Progress cargo and crewed Soyuz MS to the ISS
- First flight
- 2004
About
The Soyuz-2.1a is the modernized baseline of the legendary Soyuz launch vehicle family, developed and manufactured by RKTs Progress (Samara). Compared with the Soyuz-U it replaces the analog control system with a fully digital flight control and telemetry system, allowing flight from a fixed launch table, larger payload fairings and improved orbital insertion accuracy. The four first-stage boosters and the core stage use upgraded RD-107A and RD-108A engines with improved injector heads, while the third stage is powered by the RD-0110. For missions beyond low Earth orbit the vehicle is paired with the Fregat upper stage (Soyuz-2.1a/Fregat configuration). The rocket launches from Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny, carrying Progress cargo vehicles and, since 2020, crewed Soyuz MS spacecraft to the ISS, as well as commercial and government satellites marketed internationally through GK Launch Services. First flown in 2004, the Soyuz-2.1a has accumulated an extensive flight record and remains one of the workhorses of the Russian launch fleet.
Documentation
- Soyuz User's Manual (Baikonur, Fregat) PDF source: newspacemarket.com ↗
- Datasheet PDF source: www.georing.biz ↗
Need the full ICD, test reports or a specific revision? Ask the supplier directly.