Zenit-3SL

The Zenit-3SL was an <a href="/facts/Expendable_launch_system/CaW43W5z">expendable</a> <a href="/facts/Carrier_rocket/g1GCGFJB">carrier rocket</a> operated by <a href="/facts/Sea_Launch/7LbLz348">Sea Launch</a>. First flown in 1999, it was launched 36 times, with three failures and one partial failure. It was a member of the <a href="/facts/Zenit_(rocket_family)/fkovnBhD">Zenit</a> family of rockets, and is built by the <a href="/facts/Yuzhnoye_Design_Bureau/euSxfxsR">Yuzhnoye Design Bureau</a>. <a href="/facts/RKK_Energia/fThW3H3L">RKK Energia</a> produced the <a href="/facts/Block_DM-SL/k5C7arlB">Block DM-SL</a> <a href="/facts/Upper_stage/WNrmgztj">upper stage</a>, whilst the <a href="/facts/Payload_fairing/V1UezFkV">payload fairing</a> was produced by <a href="/facts/Boeing/tF5sMe9F">Boeing</a>. Launches were conducted from the <a href="/facts/Ocean_Odyssey/TyQxvjdp">Ocean Odyssey</a> platform anchored on the <a href="/facts/Equator/CjaxbVaN">equator</a> in the <a href="/facts/Pacific_Ocean/bdxgXRVM">Pacific Ocean</a>, at a point with 154°W <a href="/facts/Longitude/HsC61ML9">longitude</a>, about 370 kilometres east of <a href="/facts/Kiritimati/IFP22e9D">Kiritimati</a>.
The Zenit-3SL design began in the late 1980s as the Zenit-3, a proposed replacement for the <a href="/facts/Proton-K/TyynRg0F">Proton-K</a>, which would have used a <a href="/facts/Zenit-2/DWGa0bN9">Zenit-2</a> rocket with a <a href="/facts/Block_D/k5C7arlB">Block D</a> upper stage. This proposal was shelved after the <a href="/facts/Dissolution_of_the_Soviet_Union/Fyn5jw3n">dissolution</a> of the <a href="/facts/Soviet_Union/m7wWsPto">Soviet Union</a>, as Russia inherited the space programme, however the Zenit was manufactured in <a href="/facts/Ukrainian_SSR/MAxGCkwN">Ukrainian SSR</a>. Boeing became involved in the programme in 1994. The design was subsequently modified, with a modified version of the <a href="/facts/Block_DM/k5C7arlB">Block DM</a> replacing the Block D.
Sea Launch integrated the rockets in <a href="/facts/California/zLW2vdQJ">California</a>, and transfers them to Odyssey via the <a href="/facts/Sea_Launch_Commander/fX4brjUz">Sea Launch Commander</a> for transportation to the launch site. Once at the launch site, the rocket was erected on the platform, and a three-day countdown was initiated. The countdown was fully automated, and personnel were evacuated from the launch platform to Commander prior to launch.
Zenit-3SL launches predominantly carried <a href="/facts/Communications_satellite/y5RXPMDT">communications satellites</a> into <a href="/facts/Geosynchronous_transfer_orbit/1WwL0SPz">geosynchronous transfer orbits</a>. As of 2009, the only payload to be launched by a Zenit-3SL that was not a communications satellite was a <a href="/facts/DemoSat/bhdwGAIn">DemoSat</a>, on the maiden flight. The only launch to be conducted to an orbit other than GTO was that of ICO F-1, which was intended to be placed into <a href="/facts/Medium_Earth_orbit/7Qmz5XxG">medium Earth orbit</a>, however the rocket failed to reach orbit.

Zenit-3SL open-in-new

Zenit-3SL