Tsyklon
Soviet expendable launch system derived from the R-36 ICBM.
The Tsyklon (Циклон, also known as Tsiklon), GRAU index 11K67, was a Soviet expendable launch system introduced in 1967 and retired in 1969. Derived from the R-36 intercontinental ballistic missile designed by Mikhail Yangel, it was used primarily to place Kosmos satellites into low Earth orbit. Its eight launches, all from LC-90 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, resulted in seven successes and one failure.
Quick Facts
- Function
- Medium-lift launch vehicle
- Manufacturer
- Yuzhmash
- Country-origin
- Soviet Union
- Height
- 39.7 m / 130 ft
- Diameter
- 3 m / 9 ft 10 in
- Mass
- 182 t / 401,241 lb
- Stages
- 2
- Sites
- Baikonur Cosmodrome, LC-90
Facts from the source article.
Derivatives
The Tsyklon rocket family produced two main variants: the Tsyklon-2 and Tsyklon-3, called the SL-11 and SL-14 by the U.S. Department of Defense. The two-stage Tsyklon-2, measuring 39.7 meters long and weighing 182 tonnes when fueled, first flew on August 6, 1977, from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with its final mission in 2006. The Tsyklon-3, which had a restartable third stage, made its debut on June 24, 1977, from Plesetsk Cosmodrome. It was 39.27 meters long, had a fueled mass between 186 and 190 tonnes, and was developed partly to simplify the Soviet launch vehicle fleet, taking over from the smaller R-12-based Kosmos booster and some R-7 variants. On December 27, 2000, a Tsyklon-3 carrying six Russian satellites failed and crashed, likely due to an electrical issue in its third stage. The Tsyklon-3 was retired after launching the Koronas-Foton satellite on January 30, 2009. The planned Tsyklon-4, an upgraded version of the Tsyklon-3, was canceled for economic and market reasons. A related design, the Cyclone-4M, was in development as of 2019 for Canada’s Maritime Launch Services, but it uses no booster stages from the original Tsyklon series.
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