Tsyklon

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Tsyklon-3 rocket launching Meteor-3 weather observation satellite (Plesetsk, Aug. 15, 1991)

The Tsyklon (Циклон, "Cyclone", also known as Tsiklon) 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 designed by Mikhail Yangel and of its more than 100 launches since 1967, there have been only two failures. On December 27, 2000, A Tsiklon 3 light booster failed in its attempt to carry six Russian satellites into orbit, plummeting to the earth. An electrical failure in the rocket's third stage was the suspected cause.

This rocket was first introduced in 1966 and was derived from the R-36 ICBM (NATO designation of SS-9, Scarp). The first flight of the Tsiklon 2 was October 27, 1967, launching from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The first flight of the Tsiklon 3, a Tsiklon 2 with a restartable third stage, first flew on June 27, 1977 from Plesetsk.

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.

[edit] External links

• Tsyklon at Russian Space Web

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