Soyuz-2

Soyuz‑2 (Russian: Союз‑2, lit. 'Union‑2', GRAU index: 14A14) is a series of Russian expendable medium-lift launch vehicles and the seventh major iteration of the Soyuz rocket family. Compared to its predecessors, Soyuz-2 features significant upgrades, including improved engines and a digital flight control system that enables launches from fixed platforms and supports larger payload fairings. Developed and produced by the Progress Rocket Space Centre (RKTs Progress) in Samara, Soyuz-2 is used to place payloads into low Earth orbit in standard configuration but can also support missions to higher orbits using an additional upper stage, most commonly the Fregat, though the smaller Volga is available as a less expensive option. Since its introduction in 2004, Soyuz-2 has gradually replaced earlier Soyuz variants and is launched from the facilities of its R-7 derived predecessors: Site 31/6 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Sites 43/3 and 43/4 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northwestern Russia, and, since 2016, Site 1S at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in eastern Russia. The Soyuz‑2 family includes several variants. The base model, Soyuz‑2.1a, debuted on 8 November 2004, followed by the Soyuz‑2.1b, with a 15 percent more powerful third stage, on 27 December 2006. A derivative version, Soyuz‑ST, was introduced in 2011 with modifications for operation at the Guiana Space Centre, the European Space Agency's launch site in French Guiana. Launches from this site were suspended in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.