Vostok-2M

Vostok-2M
	Vostok-2M rocket
Function	Carrier rocket
Manufacturer	OKB-1
Country of origin	USSR
Size
Stages	Two
Capacity
Payload to SSO
Mass	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
Success(es)	92
Failure(s)	1
First flight	28 August 1964
Last flight	29 August 1991
Type of passengers/cargo	Meteor; Resurs; Tselina-D
Boosters
No. boosters	4
Powered by	1 RD-107-8D74K
Maximum thrust	995.3 kilonewtons (223,800 lbf)
Burn time	120 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
First stage
Powered by	1 RD-108-8D75K
Maximum thrust	940.4 kilonewtons (211,400 lbf)
Burn time	305 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Powered by	1 RD-0109
Maximum thrust	54.52 kilonewtons (12,260 lbf)
Burn time	400 seconds
Propellant	RP-1/LOX
	[edit on Wikidata]

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.^[1] Another was destroyed before launch.^[2] 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 was similar to the Vostok-2 booster but the adapter portion of the Blok E stage remained attached to the payload and the guidance system was modified specially to assist in putting payloads in sun-synchronous orbits. Vehicles flown in 1967 and later used the 8D74M engines or the 11D511 in 1973 and later.

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. A total of 93 were launched from 1964 to '91. 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 fueling at 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. A filter in a hydrogen peroxide tank of the third stage had accidentally been soldered with lead instead of tin, with the catalytically active lead solder on the filter causing the explosion upon contact hydrogen peroxide.^[3] As a consequence, the H₂O₂ broke down, overheated, and melted the solder, causing pieces to fall into the H₂O₂ storage tank and cause a runaway chemical reaction. This led to a fire inside the third stage and eventual explosion which resulted in the complete destruction of the launch vehicle and severe pad damage (LC-43 did not host another launch for three years).

Vostok-2M launches occurred from Site 31/6 at Baikonur, and Sites 41/1, 16, and 43 at Plesetsk.^[1] The Vostok-2M was retired in 1991 in favour of standardization 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 Organization.

References

^ ^a ^b "Vostok-2M (8A92M)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-10-23.
^ Wade, Mark. "Vostok 8A92M". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-04-15.
^ Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (2006-06-01). Rockets and People: Creating a rocket industry (PDF). Government Printing Office. pp. 636–640. ISBN 9780160766725.

[:0-1] "Vostok-2M (8A92M)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 2023-10-23.

[EA-2] Wade, Mark. "Vostok 8A92M". Encyclopedia Astronautica. Archived from the original on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-04-15.

[3] Boris Yevseyevich Chertok (2006-06-01). Rockets and People: Creating a rocket industry (PDF). Government Printing Office. pp. 636–640. ISBN 9780160766725.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Soviet and Russian launch vehicles
Active	Angara 1.2 A5 Soyuz-2 2.1a 2.1b 2-1v UR Proton-M
In development	Amur Irtysh Yenisei
Retired	Dnepr Energia Kosmos 1 2I 3 3M N1 R-7 Luna Molniya M L Polyot Soyuz original L M U U2 FG Soyuz/Vostok Sputnik Voskhod Vostok L K 2 2M R-29 Shtil' Volna Start-1 Tsyklon original 2 3 UR UR-500 Proton-K Rokot Strela Zenit 2 2M 3SL 3SLB 3F
Cancelled (no launch attempts)	Tsyklon-4 Proton Light Medium

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)