R-36M1 model - Credit: © Mark Wade. 10,490 bytes. 153 x 409 pixels.

Launch vehicle based on decommissioned 15A18 ICBMs. By the end of 1999, the R-36M2 ICBM had launched 168 times, with four anomalies related to the payloads, and no booster failures.

Launches: 2. Failures: 0. Success Rate: 100.00% pct. First Launch Date: 21 April 1999. Last Launch Date: 26 September 2000. LEO Payload: 4,500 kg. to: 200 km Orbit. at: 46.2 degrees. Payload: 3,200 kg. to a: Space station orbit, 407 km, 50.5 deg inclination trajectory. Liftoff Thrust: 461,000 kgf. Total Mass: 268,300 kg. Core Diameter: 3.0 m. Total Length: 34.3 m. Launch Price $: 20.00 million. in 1999 price dollars.

• Stage Number: 1. 1 x R-36M2-1 Gross Mass: 210,800 kg. Empty Mass: 15,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 461,000 kgf. Isp: 318 sec. Burn time: 130 sec. Isp(sl): 293 sec. Diameter: 3.0 m. Span: 3.0 m. Length: 22.3 m. Propellants: N2O4/UDMH No Engines: 1. RD-264

• Stage Number: 2. 1 x R-36M2-2 Gross Mass: 49,300 kg. Empty Mass: 5,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 77,000 kgf. Isp: 340 sec. Burn time: 190 sec. Diameter: 3.0 m. Span: 3.0 m. Length: 5.7 m. Propellants: N2O4/UDMH No Engines: 1. RD-0255

• Stage Number: 3. 1 x R-36M2-3 Gross Mass: 8,200 kg. Empty Mass: 2,000 kg. Thrust (vac): 1,900 kgf. Isp: 317 sec. Burn time: 1,000 sec. Diameter: 3.0 m. Span: 3.0 m. Length: 1.0 m. Propellants: N2O4/UDMH No Engines: 1. RD-869

• UoSAT-12 Spacecraft: Minisat SSTL. Mass: 325 kg.

  First launch of Russia's Dnepr launch vehicle, a converted R-36M2 ICBM. The Dnepr was launched from a silo. The third stage maneuvring bus (used on the ICBM for dispensing multiple warheads) placed UoSAT-12 into a 638 km x 652 km x 64.6 deg orbit. The third stage separated from the payload at 05:13 GMT and then made a burn into a 599 km x 1403 km x 64.6 deg orbit. UoSAT-12 was the first test of the Minibus platform, at 325 kg a larger spacecraft than earlier 50 kg Surrey UoSATs. It carried a mobile radio experiment (MERLION), a GPS receiver, and imaging cameras.

• Tiungsat-1 Spacecraft: Microsat SSTL. Mass: 50 kg.

  Customer: Astonautic Technology (M) SDN. BHD. Malaysia's first microsatellite built through a technology transfer programme with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd Carried multi-spectral Earth imaging CCD cameras, meteorological Earth imaging CCD camera, digital store and forward communications, cosmic-ray energy deposition experiment (CEDEX)

• MegSat-1 Spacecraft: MegSat. Mass: 50 kg.

  Research satellite owned and built by MegSat Space Division, part of the Gruppo Meggiorin companies in Brescia, Italy.

• SaudiSat 1B Mass: 10 kg.

  Saudisat 1A and 1B were developed by the Saudi Institute for Space Research at KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology), Riyadh, and carried amateur store-forward communications payloads.

• SaudiSat 1A Mass: 10 kg.

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  ICBM-Derived LVs - The range of launch vehicles derived from decommissioned ballistic missiles offered for sale by Russia after the cold war. Credit: Mark Wade. 52,612 bytes. 750 x 526 pixels.

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  Saudisat 1A and 1B were developed by the Saudi Institute for Space Research at KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology), Riyadh, and carried amateur store-forward communications payloads.

• UniSat Mass: 10 kg.

  Experimental satellite developed by the GAUSS (Gruppo di Astrodinamica dell' Universita degli Studi 'la Sapienza') in Roma. Unisat was financed by ASI and MURST (Ministero dell'Universtia e della Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica). It carried NiMH batteries, a magnetometer, and a payload consisting of a space debris sensor and a camera.

• 42 - Isakowitz, Steven J,, International Reference to Space Launch Systems Second Edition, AIAA, Washington DC, 1991.
• 455 - Isakowitz, Steven J,, International Reference to Space Launch Systems Third Edition, AIAA, Washington DC, 2000.