Vostok-2M rocket |
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Function | Carrier rocket |
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Manufacturer | OKB-1 |
Country of origin | Soviet Union |
Size | |
Stages | Two |
Capacity | |
Payload to SSO |
3,800 kilograms (8,400 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | R-7 |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | Baikonur Site 31/6 Plesetsk Site 41/1 & 43 |
Total launches | 93 |
Successes | 92 |
Failures | 1 |
Maiden flight | 28 August 1964 |
Last flight | 29 August 1991 |
Notable payloads | Meteor Resurs Tselina-D |
Boosters (Stage 0) | |
No boosters | 4 |
Engines | 1 RD-107-8D74K |
Thrust | 995.3 kilonewtons (223,800 lbf) |
Burn time | 120 seconds |
Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
First Stage | |
Engines | 1 RD-108-8D75K |
Thrust | 940.4 kilonewtons (211,400 lbf) |
Burn time | 305 seconds |
Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
Second Stage | |
Engines | 1 RD-0109 |
Thrust | 54.52 kilonewtons (12,260 lbf) |
Burn time | 400 seconds |
Fuel | RP-1/LOX |
The Vostok-2M (Russian: Восток meaning "East"), GRAU index 8A92M was an expendable carrier rocket used by the Soviet Union between 1964 and 1991. Ninety-three were launched, of which one failed. Another was destroyed before launch.[1] It was originally built as a specialised version of the earlier Vostok-2, for injecting lighter payloads into higher sun-synchronous orbits. It was a member of the R-7 family of rockets, and the last Vostok.
The Vostok-2M made its maiden flight on 28 August 1964, from Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, successfully placing Kosmos 44, a Meteor weather satellite into orbit. Its only launch failure occurred on 1 February 1969, when the launch of a Meteor failed due to an upper stage problem.
At 16:01 GMT on 18 March 1980, a Vostok-2M exploded during fuelling Plesetsk Site 43/4, ahead of the launch of a Tselina-D satellite, killing 48 people who were working on the rocket at the time. The cause of the explosion was later established to have been a design fault in the rocket's hydrogen peroxide filter system.
Vostok-2M launches occurred from Site 31/6 at Baikonur, and Sites 41/1 and 43 at Plesetsk. It is unclear if any were launched from Site 1/5 at Baikonur. The Vostok-2M was retired in 1991, in favour of standardisation on the Soyuz-U and U2 rockets. The final flight was conducted on 29 August, and carried the IRS-1B satellite for the Indian Space Research Organisation.
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