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By the numbers

The Soyuz launch vehicle has been in continuous production since 1957, demonstrating its unmatched reliability with more than 1,700 missions to date.
Vega, which made its maiden flight in 2012, is designed with a target payload lift capability of 1,500 kg. on missions to a 700-km. circular orbit.

Soyuz & Vega at the Spaceport

Photo report: Day 1 of the Soyuz “dry run” at the Spaceport in French Guiana

April 29, 2011

The current “dry run” with Soyuz in French Guiana is successfully demonstrating the Spaceport’s readiness to introduce the world’s longest-operating launcher to the most modern launch facilities available today, joining Arianespace’s growing launch vehicle family.

This photo report provides highlights of the dry run’s first day, during which a three-stage Soyuz was transferred horizontally from its integration facility to the launch pad, and then raised to the vertical position. Soyuz’ service gantry was then moved in place around the launcher, followed by installation of the launcher’s upper composite – consisting of the Fregat upper stage and payload fairing. (Click on the images for a larger version):

Soyuz is shown in the Launcher Assembly Building, which is known by its Russian acronym: MIK. The Spaceport’s MIK is sized to accommodate the launcher’s basic assembly, which involves the integration of its four first-stage strap-on boosters, the Block A core second stage, and the Block I third stage.

Riding atop its transporter/erector rail car, the Soyuz begins its transfer to the launch pad. For its initial rollout from the MIK, the transporter/erector advances on its own electric power. It then continues to the launch zone with the use of a multi-mode tractor, which operates both on the launch site’s rail system and as a road vehicle. For the transporter/erector’s final precise positioning on the launch pad, its own electric power is used once again.

Rolling on the central tracks of the launch site’s rail transportation infrastructure, Soyuz begins its transfer, with the multi-mode tractor in the pusher position behind the transporter/erector rail car. The tractor’s bogies are in the lowered position, allowing it to operate on the Soyuz launch site’s rail system.

Soyuz moves through the base of the mobile gantry on its way to the launch pad. At this point in the preparation process, the gantry is in its parked position some 80 meters from the point of liftoff for Soyuz. Since the gantry is located on the primary axis from Soyuz’ preparation zone to the launch pad, the structure was designed to allow the launcher and various service vehicles to pass underneath on their separate rollouts.

The transporter/erector begins the process of raising Soyuz to its vertical orientation on the launch table. Visible to its left and right are the four primary support arms that will suspend Soyuz in a position that is aligned with a 15-meter-wide circular opening in the launch table.

The mobile gantry is shown being moved into position around the launcher. Soyuz is now held in place by its four support arms – which are in their closed position to form a support ring around the launcher’s “waist” – and the transporter/erector rail car has been removed from the launch pad. The gantry is one of the major differences in the Soyuz’ Spaceport launch site from the launcher’s long-operating facilities at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia. With an overall height of 52 meters, it allows for the vertical installation of payloads on the launch vehicle, which is typical in Western operations, rather than the horizontal payload integration process used at the Baikonur and Plesetsk Cosmodromes.

The launcher’s upper composite, consisting of its Fregat upper stage and the ST payload fairing, is hoisted upward in the mobile gantry for integration atop Soyuz, completing the dry run’s first day of activity. The upper composite’s assembly was performed in the Spaceport’s S3B clean room facility, and it was brought to the Soyuz launch site on a purpose-built transport platform that is visible in the lower foreground.

- High-resolution images of the Soyuz “dry run” exercise are available in the Arianespace Image library.
(Photos: ©Arianespace 2011)

- Follow the Soyuz “dry run” at the Spaceport with our complete story and photo coverage:

May 6, 2011: The Spaceport begins operating to the “rhythm” of Arianespace's launcher family trio at the equator
May 5, 2011: Soyuz performs an on-target “virtual” inaugural mission from the Spaceport
May 4, 2011: A Soyuz is “born” at the Spaceport
May 3, 2011: Soyuz is given the “go” for its simulated first launch from the Spaceport
May 2, 2011: Final preparations are underway for Soyuz' first “virtual” flight from the Spaceport"
April 29, 2011: A world's first: Soyuz is in the launch zone at Europe's Spaceport

View the 2011 Soyuz & Vega at the Spaceport archive.

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