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Zenit-3SL

Zenit-3SL
Zenit-3SL.svg
Zenit-3SL
Function Carrier rocket
Manufacturer Yuzhnoye (Zenit)
RKK Energia (Block-DM)
Boeing (fairing)
Country of origin Ukraine
Size
Height 59.6 metres (196 ft)
Diameter 3.9 metres (13 ft)
Mass 462,200 kilograms (1,019,000 lb)
Stages Three
Capacity
Payload to GTO 6,160 kilograms (13,580 lb)
Associated rockets
Family Zenit
Derivatives Zenit-3SLB
Launch history
Status Active
Launch sites Ocean Odyssey
Total launches 36
Successes 32
Failures 3
Partial failures 1
First flight 28 March 1999 (test flight)
Last flight 26 May 2014 (Eutelsat 3B)
First stage
Engines 1 RD-171
Thrust 8,180 kilonewtons (1,840,000 lbf)
Specific impulse 337 sec
Burn time 150 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX
Second stage
Engines 1 RD-120
1 RD-8
Thrust 912 kilonewtons (205,000 lbf)
79.5 kilonewtons (17,900 lbf)
Specific impulse 349 sec
Burn time 315 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX
Third stage - Block DM-SL
Engines 1 RD-58M
Thrust 84.9 kilonewtons (19,100 lbf)
Specific impulse 352 sec
Burn time 650 seconds
Fuel RP-1/LOX

The Zenit-3SL is an expendable carrier rocket operated by Sea Launch. First flown in 1999, it has been launched 36 times, with three failures and one partial failure. It is a member of the Zenit family of rockets, and is built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau. RKK Energia produces the Block DM-SL upper stage, whilst the payload fairing is produced by Boeing. Launches are conducted from the Ocean Odyssey platform anchored on the equator in the Pacific Ocean, at a point with 154°W longitude, about 370 kilometres east of Kiritimati.

The Zenit-3SL design began in the late 1980s as the Zenit-3, a proposed replacement for the Proton-K, which would have used a Zenit-2 rocket with a Block D upper stage. This proposal was shelved after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, as Russia inherited the space programme, however the Zenit was manufactured in Ukraine. Boeing became involved in the programme in 1994. The design was subsequently modified, with a modified version of the Block DM replacing the Block D.

Sea Launch integrates the rockets in California, and transfers them to Odyssey via the Sea Launch Commander for transportation to the launch site. Once at the launch site, the rocket is erected on the platform, and a three-day countdown is initiated. The countdown is fully automated, and personnel are evacuated from the launch platform to Commander prior to launch.


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