Dnepr-1

Dnepr (Dnipro/Konversiya)

Function	Orbital carrier rocket
Manufacturer	Yuzhny Machine-Building Plant
Country of origin	Soviet Union (Ukraine)
Size
Height	34.3 metres (113 ft)
Diameter	3 metres (9.8 ft)
Mass	211,000 kilograms (470,000 lb)
Stages	3 (4 or 5 with SpaceTug upper stages)
Capacity
Payload to LEO	4,500 kilograms (9,900 lb)
Payload to the ISS	3,200 kilograms (7,100 lb)
Payload to TLI	550 kilograms (1,200 lb) (with ST-1)
Launch history
Status	Active
Launch sites	Site 109/95, Baikonur LC-13, Yasny
Total launches	17
Successes	16
Failures	1
Maiden flight	21 April 1999
First Stage
Engines	1 RD-264
Thrust	4,520 kilonewtons (1,020,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	318 s
Burn time	130 seconds
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
Second Stage
Engines	1 RD-0255
Thrust	755 kilonewtons (170,000 lbf)
Specific impulse	340 sec
Burn time	190 seconds
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
Third Stage
Engines	1 RD-869
Thrust	18.6 kilonewtons (4,200 lbf)
Specific impulse	317 sec
Burn time	1,000 seconds
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH
Fourth Stage (Optional) - SpaceTug 1
Engines	1 Solid
Thrust
Fuel	Solid
Fourth or Fifth Stage (Optional) - SpaceTug 3
Engines	1 Liquid
Thrust
Fuel	N2O4/UDMH

The Dnepr rocket (Ukrainian: Дніпро, Dnipró; Russian: Днепр, Dnepr) is a space launch vehicle named after the Dnieper River. It is a converted ICBM used for launching artificial satellites into orbit, operated by launch service provider ISC Kosmotras. The first launch, on April 21, 1999, successfully placed UoSAT-12, a 350 kg demonstration mini-satellite, into a 650 km circular Low Earth orbit.^[1][2]

Converted missile

The Dnepr is based on the R-36MUTTH ICBM – called the SS-18 Satan by NATO – designed by the Yuzhnoe Design Bureau in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine. Its control system developed and produced by the JSC "Khartron", Kharkiv. The Dnepr is three-stage rocket using storable hypergolic liquid propellants. The launch vehicles used for satellite launches are withdrawn from service with the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces and stored for commercial use. A group of 150 ICBMs can be converted for use and are available until 2020. The Dnepr can be launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and a newly created Cosmodrome at the Dombarovsky launch base, near Yasny, in the Orenburg region of Russia.

Performance

The Dnepr launch vehicle has only a small number of modifications compared to the R-36M ICBM in service. The main difference is the payload adapter located in the space head module and modified flight-control unit. This baseline version can lift 3,600 kg into a 300 km low earth orbit at an inclination of 50.6°, or 2,300 kg to a 300 km sun-synchronous orbit at an inclination of 98.0°. On a typical mission the Dnepr deploys a larger main payload and a secondary payload of Miniaturized satellites and CubeSats. A number of Space Tugs are under development which will be placed inside the space head module, thereby sacrificing volume and payload but enabling orbits requiring more energy, including planetary escape orbits.

Launch history

Before the Dnepr entered commercial service it was in service with the Strategic Rocket Forces which launched the ICBM version over 160 times with a reliability of 97%. The rocket has been used fourteen times for commercial purposes with a single failure.

Flight	Date	Payload	Orbit	Site
1	April 21, 1999	UoSAT-12	650 km circular LEO at 65˚ inclination	Baikonur
2	September 26, 2000	MegSat-1 (Italy)/UniSat (Italy)/TiungSat-1 (Malaysia)/ SaudiSat-1A & SaudiSat 1B (Saudi Arabia)	650 km circular LEO at 65˚ inclination	Baikonur
3	December 20, 2002	LatinSat 1 & LatinSat 2 (Argentina)/SaudiSat-1S (Saudi Arabia)/UniSat 2 (Italy)/Rubin 2 (Germany)/TrailBlazer Test (USA)	650 km circular LEO at 65˚ inclination	Baikonur
4	June 29, 2004	Demeter (France)/ Saudicomsat-1, Saudicomsat 2 & Saudisat 2 (Saudi Arabia)/ LatinSat C & LatinSat D (Argentina)/ Unisat-3 (Italy)/ Amsat Echo (USA)	700 km × 850 km Sun-synchronic orbit at 98˚ inclination	Baikonur
5	August 24, 2005	OICETS & INDEX (Japan)	600 km × 50 km Sun-synchronic orbit at 98˚ inclination	Baikonur
6	July 12, 2006	Genesis I (USA)	560 km circular LEO at 65˚ inclination	Yasny
7	July 26, 2006	BelKA (Belarus)/ UniSat-4 & PiCPoT (Italy)/ Baumanets ( Russia)/ AeroCube-1, CP1, CP2, ICEcube-1, ICEcube-2, ION, KUTESat, Merope, Rincon 1, Mea Huaka`i (Voyager) & SACRED (USA)/HAUSAT-1 (South Korea)/Ncube-1 (Norway)/SEEDS (Japan)	failed to reach orbit	Baikonur
8	17 April 2007	EgyptSat 1/SaudiSat 3/SaudiComSat 3-7 /AKS 1/AKS 2/Cal Poly Picosatellite Project 3 &4/CAPE 1/Libertad 1(Colombia)/AeroCube 2/CubeSat TestBed 1/MAST	692 km × 665 km Sun synchronous orbit at 98˚ inclination[3]	Baikonur
9	15 June 2007	TerraSAR-X	514 km circular LEO at 97˚ inclination[4]	Baikonur
10	28 June 2007	Genesis II	560 km circular LEO at 65˚ inclination	Yasny
11	29 August 2008	RapidEye 1/2/3/4/5	[5]	Baikonur
12	1 October 2008	THEOS	SSO	Yasny
13	July 29, 2009	DubaiSat-1/Deimos-1/UK-DMC 2/Nanosat 1B/AprizeSat-3/AprizeSat-4	SSO	Baikonur
14	8 April 2010	Cryosat-2	Polar	Baikonur
15	15 June 2010	Prisma, Picard, BPA-1	SSO	Yasny
16	21 June 2010	TanDEM-X	LEO	Baikonur
17	17 August 2011	Sich-2, NigeriaSat-2, NX, Rasat, EduSat, AprizeSat-5, AprizeSat-6, BPA-2	LEO	Yasny
Planned launches

Flight	Date	Payload	Orbit	Site
18	September 2011	Kompsat-5	LEO	Yasny
19	Fourth quater 2011	Lomonosov	LEO	Yasny
20	Fourth quater 2011	STSAT-3	LEO	Yasny

Launch failure

The committee investigating the failed launch on July 26, 2006 concluded that the failure was caused by a malfunctioning of the pumping hydraulic drive of combustion chamber #4. The control malfunctioning brought about the disturbances, which led to the roll instability, excessive dispersions of the yaw and pitch angles. Thrust termination occurred at 74 seconds after lift off. The crash site was located 150 km from the launch pad in an unpopulated area of Kazakhstan. Toxic propellants did pollute the crash site, forcing Russia to pay US$1.1m in compensation.^[6] The rocket used for this launch was more than twenty years old. Procedures for launch have been changed to prevent future malfunctions of this kind.

References

1. ^ "The Dnepr launcher". RussianSpaceWeb.com. http://www.russianspaceweb.com/dnepr.html. 
2. ^ "UoSAT-12 Integrates with Dnepr for Launch on 21 April". Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. http://www.sstl.org/index.php?loc=27&id=151. 
3. ^ "EgyptSat 1/Saudisat-3 launch details" (in Russian). Roskosmos. http://www.federalspace.ru/Start1Show.asp?STARTID=623. 
4. ^ "TerraSAR-X launch details" (in Russian). Roskosmos. http://www.federalspace.ru/Start1Show.asp?STARTID=626. 
5. ^ "Five RapidEye remote sensing satellites launched". Spaceflight Now. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0808/29dneprrapideye/. 
6. ^ "Russia to pay Kazakhstan over US$1 million in compensation for damage from rocket crash". International Herald Tribune. 2006-10-03. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/03/news/AS_GEN_Kazakhstan_Russia_Space.php. 

External links

• "Kosmotras launch service provider". http://www.kosmotras.ru/. 
• "DNEPR User's guide" (PDF). MIT. November 2001. http://snebulos.mit.edu/projects/reference/launch_vehicles/DNEPR/Dnepr_User_Guide.pdf. 
• "Astronautix entry - R-36M2". http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/r36m2.htm. 
• "Space Calendar (JPL)". NASA. http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/calendar/. 
• "Riding the strangest rocket in the world". BBC. March 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/jonathanamos/2010/03/riding-the-strangest-rocket-in.shtml.