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Fregat

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Fregat
Model of Fregat at MAKS Airshow, 2013
ManufacturerNPO Lavochkin
Country of originRussia
Used onCurrent: Soyuz-2
Retired: Soyuz-FG, Soyuz-ST, Soyuz-U, Zenit-3F
Launch history
StatusActive
Total launches111
Successes
(stage only)
108
Failed2
Other1 (partial failure)
First flight2 February 2000
General characteristics[1]
HeightFregat: 1.875 m (6 ft 1.8 in)
Fregat-MT: 1.945 m (6 ft 4.6 in)
Fregat-SB: 2.435 m (7 ft 11.9 in)
DiameterFregat: 3.44 m (11.3 ft)
Fregat-MT: 3.8 m (12 ft)
Fregat-SB: 3.875 m (12.71 ft)
Empty massFregat: 945 kg (2,083 lb)
Fregat-MT: 1,035 kg (2,282 lb)
Fregat-SB: 1,080 kg (2,380 lb)
Gross massFregat: 6,235 kg (13,746 lb)
Fregat-MT: 7,640 kg (16,840 lb)
Fregat-SB: 11,680 kg (25,750 lb)
Propellant massFregat: 5,307 kg (11,700 lb)
Fregat-MT: 6,650 kg (14,660 lb)
Fregat-SB: 10,330 kg (22,770 lb)
Powered by1 × S5.92
Maximum thrust19.85 kN (4,460 lbf) (high)
13.93 kN (3,130 lbf) (low)
Specific impulse333.2 s (3.268 km/s) (high)
320 s (3.1 km/s) (low)
Burn timeUp to 1,350 seconds (up to 7 starts)
PropellantN2O4/UDMH

Fregat (Russian: Фрегат, lit.'frigate') is an upper stage developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s. It has been used in some Soyuz and Zenit launch vehicles, but it is universal. It can be used as a part of any medium and heavy class launch vehicles. Fregat became operational in February 2000.

Its liquid propellant engine uses unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4) oxidizer, two hypergolic propellants that spontaneously ignites on contact with each other. With a success rate of 97.3%—including two failures and one partial failure—the Fregat is among the most reliable upper stages worldwide. It has successfully deployed over 300 payloads into various orbits and is the only upper stage capable of placing payloads into three or more distinct orbits in a single launch.

Description

[edit]

The Fregat upper stage is a versatile and autonomous vehicle designed to inject large payloads into a range of orbits, including low, medium, and geosynchronous. Additionally, it serves as an escape stage for sending space probes on interplanetary missions, such as the Venus Express and Mars Express.

Developed by NPO Lavochkin in the 1990s, the Fregat features six spherical tanks—four for propellants and two for avionics—arranged in a circle. Its main engine is centrally positioned, allowing for a compact design with a diameter larger than its height. Structural support is provided by eight struts passing through the tanks, which also transfer thrust loads to the launcher. Fregat operates independently from the lower stages of its launch vehicle, with its own guidance, navigation, attitude control, tracking, and telemetry systems.[2]

The Fregat’s design was largely based on the spacecraft bus used in the Soviet Phobos program of the late 1980s, itself based on the architecture used for the Soviet lunar probes developed at NPO Lavochkin in the 1960s.[3] Fregat also integrated several flight-proven subsystems and components from previous spacecraft and rockets. This approach ensured high reliability and accelerated development. Fregat was flight-qualified in February 2000 and successfully completed four missions that same year.[4]

Currently used as the fourth stage on Soyuz launch vehicles, the Fregat’s S5.92 engine is capable of up to 25 ignitions,[3] with seven demonstrated during flight. This allows it to execute complex mission profiles that would be impossible for the launch vehicle alone.[5] The stage provides both three-axis and spin stabilization for spacecraft payloads.[6] Fregat uses storable, hypergolic propellants—unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as fuel and dinitrogen tetroxide (N2O4, also called NTO or amyl) as the oxidizer, which ignite spontaneously upon contact. To date, Fregat has successfully deployed over 300 payloads into various orbits and remains the only upper stage capable of placing payloads into three or more distinct orbits in a single launch.[7]

Fregat upper stage launch statistics

[edit]
Date Number Modification Mission Launch vehicle Payload Result
1 2000/02/09 1001 Fregat ST07 Soyuz-U Russia Full-size satellite layout,
Russia Inflatable Braking Device
Success
2 2000/03/20 1002 Fregat ST08 Soyuz-U Russia Dumsat Success
3 2000/07/16 1003 Fregat ST09 Soyuz-U European Union Cluster FM6,
European Union Cluster FM7
Success
4 2000/08/09 1004 Fregat ST10 Soyuz-U European Union Cluster FM5,
European Union Cluster FM8
Success
5 2003/06/02 1005 Fregat ST11 Soyuz-FG European Union Mars Express,
European Union Beagle 2
Success
6 2003/12/27 1006 Fregat ST12 Soyuz-FG Israel AMOS-2 Success
7 2005/08/13 1007 Fregat ST13 Soyuz-FG United States Galaxy 14 Success
8 2005/11/09 1010 Fregat ST14 Soyuz-FG European Union Venus Express Success
9 2005/12/28 1009 Fregat ST15 Soyuz-FG European Union GIOVE-A Success
10 2006/10/19 1011 Fregat ST16 Soyuz-2.1a European Union MetOp-A Success
11 2006/12/24 1012 Fregat Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 11L Success
12 2006/12/27 1013 Fregat ST17 Soyuz-2.1b European Union CoRoT Success
13 2007/05/29 1016 Fregat ST18 Soyuz-FG United States Globalstar M065,
United States Globalstar M069,
United States Globalstar M071,
United States Globalstar M072
Success
14 2007/10/20 1015 Fregat ST19 Soyuz-FG United States Globalstar M066,
United States Globalstar M067,
United States Globalstar M068,
United States Globalstar M070
Success
15 2007/12/14 1015-2 Fregat ST20 Soyuz-FG Canada RADARSAT-2 Success
16 2008/04/26 1008 Fregat ST21 Soyuz-FG European Union GIOVE-B Success
17 2009/05/21 1018 Fregat Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 12L Success
18 2009/09/17 1014 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meteor-M № 1,
Russia Sterkh,
Russia Universitetsky-Tatyana-2,
Russia UGATUSAT,
Russia BLITS,
India IRIS,
South Africa Sumbandila
Success
19 2010/10/19 1023 Fregat-M ST22 Soyuz-2.1a United States Globalstar M073,
United States Globalstar M074,
United States Globalstar M075,
United States Globalstar M076,
United States Globalstar M077,
United States Globalstar M079
Success
20 2010/11/02 1022 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 13L Success
21 2011/01/20 2001 Fregat-SB Zenith-3SLBF Russia Elektro-L No.1 Success
22 2011/02/26 1035 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-K № 11L Success
23 2011/07/13 1024 Fregat-M ST23 Soyuz-2.1a United States Globalstar M081,
United States Globalstar M083,
United States Globalstar M085,
United States Globalstar M088,
United States Globalstar M089,
United States Globalstar M091
Success
24 2011/07/18 2002 Fregat-SB Zenith-3SLBF Russia Spektr-R Success
25 2011/10/02 1045 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 742 Success
26 2011/10/21 1030 Fregat-MT VS01 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 1,
 European Union Galileo 2
Success
27 2011/11/28 1046 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 746 Success
28 2011/12/17 1021 Fregat VS02 Soyuz-ST-A France Pleiades-1A,
France ELISA W11,
France ELISA E12,
France ELISA W23,
France ELISA E24,
Chile SSOT
Success
29 2011/12/23 1042 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meridian № 15L Success
30 2011/12/28 1027 Fregat-M ST24 Soyuz-2.1a United States Globalstar M080,
United States Globalstar M082,
United States Globalstar M084,
United States Globalstar M086,
United States Globalstar M090,
United States Globalstar M092
Success
31 2012/07/22 1019 Fregat Soyuz-FG Russia Kanopus-V № 1,
Russia Zond-PP,
Belarus BKA,
Canada exactView-1,
Germany TET-1
Success
32 2012/09/17 1037 Fregat-M ST25 Soyuz-2.1a European Union MetOp-B Success
33 2012/10/12 1031 Fregat-MT VS03 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 3,
European Union Galileo 4
Success
34 2012/11/14 1034 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 16L Success
35 2012/12/02 1020 Fregat VS04 Soyuz-ST-A France Pléiades-1B Success
36 2013/02/06 1029 Fregat-M ST26 Soyuz-2.1a United States Globalstar M078,
United States Globalstar M093,
United States Globalstar M094,
United States Globalstar M095,
United States Globalstar M096,
United States Globalstar M097
Success
37 2013/04/26 1047 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-K № 747 Success
38 2013/06/25 1041 Fregat-MT VS05 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom O3b FM1,
United Kingdom O3b FM2,
United Kingdom O3b FM4,
United Kingdom O3b FM5
Success
39 2013/12/19 1040 Fregat-MT VS06 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Gaia Success
40 2014/03/23 112-01 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 754 Success
41 2014/04/03 1038 Fregat-M VS07 Soyuz-ST-A European Union Sentinel-1A Success
42 2014/06/14 112-02 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 755 Success
43 2014/07/08 1025 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meteor-M №2,
Russia Vernov,
Russia DX1 [ru],
United Kingdom UKube-1,
United Kingdom TechDemoSat-1,
United States SkySat-2,
Norway AISSat-2
Success
44 2014/07/10 1032 Fregat-MT VS08 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom O3b FM3,
United Kingdom O3b FM6,
United Kingdom O3b FM7,
United Kingdom O3b FM8
Success
45 2014/08/22 1039 Fregat-MT VS09 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 5,
European Union Galileo 6
Failure
46 2014/10/30 1026 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 17L Success
47 2014/11/30 1044 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-K № 12L Success
48 2014/12/18 133-01 Fregat-MT VS10 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom O3b FM9,
United Kingdom O3b FM10,
United Kingdom O3b FM11,
United Kingdom O3b FM12
Success
49 2015/03/27 133-02 Fregat-MT VS11 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 7,
European Union Galileo 8
Success
50 2015/09/11 133-03 Fregat-MT VS12 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 9,
European Union Galileo 10
Success
51 2015/11/17 1033 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia EKS № 1 Success
52 2015/12/11 2004 Fregat-SB Zenith-3SLBF Russia Elektro-L No.2 № 2 Success
53 2015/12/17 133-04 Fregat-MT VS13 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 11,
European Union Galileo 12
Success
54 2016/02/07 112-03 Fregat-MT Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 751 Success
55 2016/04/25 133-08 Fregat-M VS14 Soyuz-ST-A European Union Sentinel-1B Success
56 2016/05/24 133-05 Fregat-MT VS15 Soyuz-ST-B European Union Galileo 13,
European Union Galileo 14
Success
57 2016/05/29 112-04 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 753 Success
58 2017/01/28 133-07 Fregat-MT VS16 Soyuz-ST-B Spain Hispasat 36W-1 Success
59 2017/05/18 133-09 Fregat-M VS17 Soyuz-ST-A Luxembourg SES-15 Success
60 2017/05/25 111–301 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Tundra № 2 Success
61 2017/07/14 122-02 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Kanopus-V-IK,
Russia MKA-N № 1,
Russia MKA-N № 2,
Russia Mayak,
Russia Iskra-MAI-85,
Ecuador Ecuador UTE-YUZGU»,
Germany Flying Laptop,
Germany TechnoSat,
Japan WNISAT-1R,
Norway NorSat-1,
Norway NorSat-2,
United States Flock-2k 1...48,
United States CICERO 1...3,
United States Corvus-BC 1...2,
United States Lemur-2 42...49,
United States NanoACE
Partial failure
62 2017/09/22 112-05 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 752 Success
63 2017/11/28 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meteor-M №2,
Russia Baumanets-2,
Canada LEO Vantage 2,
Canada Helios-Wire BIU,
Japan IDEA-OSG 1,
Norway AISSat-3,
Germany D-Star One,
Sweden SEAM,
United States Corvus-BC 3,
United States Lemur-2 58...67
Failure
64 2017/12/26 2006 Fregat-SB Zenith-3SLBF Angola Angosat-1 Success
65 2018/02/01 122-03 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Kanopus-V № 3,
Russia Kanopus-V № 4,
United States Lemur-2 74,
United States Lemur-2 75,
United States Lemur-2 76,
United States Lemur-2 77,
Germany S-Net A,
Germany S-Net B,
Germany S-Net C,
Germany S-Net D,
Germany D-Star One
Success
66 2018/03/09 133-06 Fregat-MT VS18 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom O3b FM13,
United Kingdom O3b FM14,
United Kingdom O3b FM15,
United Kingdom O3b FM16
Success
67 2018/06/16 112-06 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 756 Success
68 2018/11/03 112-08 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 757 Success
69 2018/11/07 133-14 Fregat-M VS19 Soyuz-ST-B Europe MetOp-C Success
70 2018/12/19 133-10 Fregat-M VS20 Soyuz-ST-B France Composante Spatiale Optique Success
71 2018/12/27 122-06 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Kanopus-V № 5,
Russia Kanopus-V № 6,
Japan GRUS-1,
South Africa ZACube-2,
Spain Lume-1,
United States Flock-3k 1...12,
United States Lemur-2 88...95,
Germany D-Star One iSat,
Germany D-Star One Sparrow,
Germany UWE-4,
Finland ICEYE-Dummy,
Israel SAMSON-Dummy 1...3
Success
72 2019/02/21 112-07 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Egypt EgyptSat-A Success
73 2019/02/27 133-15 Fregat-M VS21 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom OneWeb-0006,
United Kingdom OneWeb-0007,
United Kingdom OneWeb-0008,
United Kingdom OneWeb-0010,
United Kingdom OneWeb-0011,
United Kingdom OneWeb-0012
Success
74 2019/04/04 133-17 Fregat-MT VS22 Soyuz-ST-B United Kingdom O3b FM17,
United Kingdom O3b FM18,
United Kingdom O3b FM19,
United Kingdom O3b FM20
Success
75 2019/05/27 112-09 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 758 Success
76 2019/07/05 122-04 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meteor-M No.2
Russia Sokrat
Russia VDNH-80
Russia AmurSat
Sweden SEAM-2.0
France MTCube
Germany SONATE
Germany Beesat 9...13
Germany MOVE-IIb
Estonia TTU-101
Ecuador Ecuador-UTE
United States El Camino Real
United StatesLemur-2 100...107
Israel NSLSat-1
Thailand JAISAT-1
Germany EXOCONNECT
Germany LightSat
Czech Republic Lucky-7
Finland ICEYE X4
Finland ICEYE X5
Germany CarboNIX
United Kingdom DoT 1
Success
77 2019/07/30 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 18L Success
78 2019/09/26 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Tundra № 3 Success
79 2019/12/11 112-10 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M № 759 Success
80 2019/12/18 Fregat-M VS23 Soyuz-ST-A Italy COSMO-SkyMed
European Union CHEOPS
France EyeSat
France ANGELS
European Union OPS-SAT
Success
81 2020/02/07 Fregat-M ST27 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (34 units) Success
82 2020/02/20 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian № 19L Success
83 2020/03/17 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Glonass-M №760 Success
84 2020/03/21 Fregat-M ST28 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (34 units) Success
85 2020/12/29 Fregat VS24 Soyuz ST-A United Arab Emirates Falcon Eye 2 Success
86 2021/02/28 122-07 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1b Russia Arktika-M №1 Success
87 2021/03/22 122-05 Fregat-M Soyuz-2.1a South Korea CAS500-1
Japan ELSA-d Target, Chaser
United Arab Emirates DMSAT-1
Japan Fukui Prefectural Satellite
Japan GRUS-1 × 3
Israel ADELIS-SAMSON x 3
Germany BeeSat × 4
Tunisia Challenge One
Russia CubeSX-HSE
Russia CubeSX-Sirius-HSE
Slovakia GRBAlpha
Netherlands Hiber-3
Canada Kepler-6,7
South Korea KMSL
Saudi Arabia KSU_Cubesat
United Kingdom LacunaSat-2b
Saudi Arabia Shaheen Sat 17
Brazil NANOSATC-BR2
Russia OrbiCraft-Zorkiy
South Korea Pumbaa, Timon
ItalyKenya WildTrackCube-SIMBA
Spain 3B5GSAT
Italy UNISAT-7
Thailand BCCSAT-1
Italy FEES
Argentina DIY
HungarySMOG-1
Italy STECCO
Success
88 2021/03/25 123-05 Fregat ST30 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
89 2021/04/25 123-11 Fregat ST31 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
90 2021/05/28 123-10 Fregat ST32 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
91 2021/07/01 112-15 Fregat ST33 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
92 2021/08/21 123-03 Fregat ST34 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (34 units) Success
93 2021/09/14 123-05 Fregat ST35 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (34 units) Success
94 2021/10/14 123-14 Fregat ST36 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
95 2021/11/25 111–305 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia EKS-5 Success
96 2021/12/05 133-13 Fregat-MT VS26 Soyuz ST-B European Union Galileo FOC FM23
European Union Galileo FOC FM24
Success
97 2021/12/27 123-04 Fregat ST37 Soyuz-2.1b United Kingdom OneWeb (36 units) Success
98 2022/02/05 111–401 Fregat Soyuz-2.1a Russia Neitron №1 Success
99 2022/02/10 133-19 Fregat-MT VS27 Soyuz ST-B United Kingdom OneWeb (34 units) Success
100 2022/03/22 111-? Fregat Soyuz-2.1a Russia Meridian-M 10 (20L) Success
101 2022/07/07 112-13 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia GLONASS-K 16 Success
102 2022/08/09 123-06 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Iran Khayyam
Russia CubeXS-HSE-2
Russia CYCLOPS
Russia Geoscan-Edelweiss
Russia ISOI
Russia KAI-1
Russia KODIZ
Russia Kuzbass-300
Russia MIET-AIS
Russia Polytech Universe-1, 2
Russia ReshUCube-1
Russia Siren
Russia Skoltech B1, B2
Russia UTMN
Russia VIZARD-SS1
Success
103 2022/10/10 112-16 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia GLONASS-K 17 Success
104 2022/10/22 142-503 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia Gonets-M 23, 24, 25
Russia Skif-D
Success
105 2022/11/02 111-306 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia EKS-6 Success
106 2022/11/28 112-?? Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia GLONASS-M 761 Success
107 2023/05/26 142-01 Fregat Soyuz-2.1a Russia Kondor-FKA №1 Success
108 2023/06/27 142-02 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia Meteor-M №2-3
Russia Ahmat-1
Russia ArcCube-01
Malaysia A-SEANSAT-PG1
Russia Avion
Belarus BSUSat-2
Russia CSTP-1.1, 1.2
Russia Cube-SX-HSE-3
Russia Impuls-1
Russia Khors-1, 2
Russia KuzGTU-1
Russia Monitor-2, 3, 4
Russia Nanosond-1
Russia NORBI 2
United Arab Emirates PHI-Demo
Russia Polytech Universe-3
Russia Rassvet-1 × 3
Russia ReshUCube-2
Russia SamSat-ION
Russia Saturn
Russia Sirius-SINP-3U
Russia SITRO-AIS × 8
Russia StratoSat TK-1
Russia Svyatobor-1
Russia UmKa-1
Russia UTMN-2
Russia Vizard-meteo
Russia Yarilo-3, 4
Russia Zorkiy-2M
Success
109 2023/08/07 112-23 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia GLONASS-K2 13L Success
110 2023/08/10 122-10 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia Luna 25 Success
111 2023/12/16 122-11 Fregat Soyuz-2.1b Russia Arktika-M No. 2 Success

Failures

[edit]

August 2014 failure

[edit]

The Arianespace-operated flight of a Fregat MT ended in failure on 22 August 2014 after the vehicle deposited two EU/ESA Galileo navigation satellites into the wrong orbit. The lift off at 12:27:11 UTC from the Sinnamary launch site near Kourou, French Guiana, appeared to go well. However, a failure was only apparent later when, after the second firing of the Fregat MT upper stage had taken place, the satellites were detected as being in the wrong orbit.[8]

The Independent Inquiry Board formed to analyze the causes of the "anomaly" announced its definitive conclusions on 7 October 2014 following a meeting at Arianespace headquarters in Évry, near Paris.[9] The failure occurred during the flight of the Fregat fourth stage. It occurred about 35 minutes after liftoff, at the beginning of the ballistic phase preceding the second ignition of this stage. The scenario that led to an error in the orbital injection of the satellites was precisely reconstructed, as follows:

  • The orbital error resulted from an error in the thrust orientation of the main engine on the Fregat stage during its second powered phase.
  • This orientation error was the result of the loss of inertial reference for the stage.
  • This loss occurred when the stage's inertial system operated outside its authorized operating envelope, an excursion that was caused by the failure of two of Fregat's attitude control thrusters during the preceding ballistic phase.
  • This failure was due to a temporary interruption of the joint hydrazine propellant supply to these thrusters.
  • The interruption in the flow was caused by freezing of the hydrazine.
  • The freezing resulted from the proximity of hydrazine and cold helium feed lines, these lines being connected by the same support structure, which acted as a thermal bridge.
  • Ambiguities in the design documents allowed the installation of this type of thermal "bridge" between the two lines. In fact, such bridges have also been seen on other Fregat stages now under production at NPO Lavochkin.
  • The design ambiguity is the result of not taking into account the relevant thermal transfers during the thermal analyses of the stage system design.

The root cause of the failure of flight VS09 is therefore a shortcoming in the system thermal analysis performed during stage design, and not an operator error during stage assembly.[10]

Since 22 August 2014, Soyuz ST-B launch vehicles with Fregat-MT upper stages have performed three successful launches, six Galileo navigation satellites have been inserted into their target orbits in frame of Soyuz at the Guiana Space Centre ongoing ESA programme.[11][12][13]

July 2017 partial failure

[edit]

In July 2017, a Russian-operated rideshare flight of a Fregat upper stage ended with 9 of 72 small satellites dead-on-orbit.[14]

November 2017 failure

[edit]

The Russian-operated flight of a Fregat upper stage ended in failure after the vehicle deposited the upper stage, a Meteor MS-1 weather satellite, and 18 secondary cubesats back into Earth's atmosphere due to the first Fregat burn being ignited with the stage in the wrong orientation.[15] The guidance computer on the Soyuz rocket's Fregat upper stage was mis-programmed, causing it to begin an unnecessary turn that left it in the wrong orientation for a critical engine burn required to enter orbit.[16]

Debris

[edit]

The Fregats did not have enough impulse capability to de-orbit themselves after placing their payload into orbit and so several have remained in orbit as space debris.

The Fregat-SB upper stage rocket used to launch the Russian Spektr-R satellite into orbit in 2011, broke into multiple pieces on May 8, 2020 creating even more debris than normal.[17]

Versions

[edit]

Fregat-M/Fregat-MT

[edit]

Fregat-M/Fregat-MT tanks have ball-shaped additions on the tops of the tanks. These additions increase the load capability of the propellant from 5,350 kilograms (11,790 lb) to 6,640 kilograms (14,640 lb), without causing any other changes to the physical dimensions of the vehicle.[18]

Fregat-SB

[edit]

A version called Fregat-SB can be used with Zenit-2SB launch vehicle. This version is a variation of Fregat-M with a block of drop-off tanks ("SBB" or Сбрасываемый Блок Баков in Russian) which makes increased payload capability possible. The torus-shaped SBB weighs 360 kg (790 lb) and contains up to 3,050 kg (6,720 lb) of propellant. The total dry weight of the Fregat-SB (including SBB) is 1,410 kg (3,110 lb) and the maximum propellant carrying capacity is 10,150 kg (22,380 lb).[19]

Fregat-SB was launched for the first time on 20 January 2011, when it lifted the Elektro-L weather satellite into geosynchronous orbit.[20]

All versions data

[edit]
Fregat Upper Stage Family[21]
Stage Fregat Fregat-M Fregat-MT Fregat-SB Fregat-SBU Fregat-2
Engine S5.92 S5.92 LN (Long Nozzle)
Total Launches 44 46 17 4
Thrust (Low) 13.73 kN (3,090 lbf) 13.96 kN (3,140 lbf)
Thrust (High) 19.61 kN (4,410 lbf) 20.01 kN (4,500 lbf)
Specific Impulse (Low) 3,168 N*s/kg 3,222 N*s/kg
Specific Impulse (High) 3,207 N*s/kg 3,268 N*s/kg
Propellant (Max) 5,350 kg (11,790 lb) 6,640 kg (14,640 lb) 7,100 kg (15,700 lb) 10,000 kg (22,000 lb) 10,710 kg (23,610 lb) 12,240 kg (26,980 lb)
Burn Time 1235...874 seconds 1535...1085 seconds 1640...1160 seconds 2310...1635 seconds 2475...1750 seconds 2830...2000 seconds
Flow Rate 4.3...6.1 kg/s
Total Impulse 16.9...17.2 MN*s 21.4...21.7 MN*s 22.9...23.2 MN*s 32.2...32.7 MN*s 34.5...35.0 MN*s 39.4...40.0 MN*s

References

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