Start launch vehicle family

Start family:

Launcher
Manufacturer index
Base rocket
US DOD designation

NATO designation

Payloads
Start-1
15Zh58
RT-2PM/Topol
SS-25
Sickle
EKA-1, Zeya, EarlyBird
Start
15Zh58
RT-2PM/Topol
SS-25
Sickle
Gurwin, Unamsat, EKA-2

 

Start-1 and Start launcher tech dossier:

-
Start-1
Start
Number of stages
4
5
Length of the vehicle
22.7 meters

28.9 meters

Diameter
1.8 meters
1.8 meters
Weight (fueled)
47 tons
60 tons
Propellant
solid
solid
First launch 1993 1995
Last launch Dec. 5, 2000 1995?
Launch sites Plesetsk, Svobodny Plesetsk
Stage 1    
Stage 1 weight 27.8 tons

27.8 tons

Stage 1 length 8.1 meters

8.1 meters

Stage 1 diameter 1.8 meters 1.8 meters
1st stage propulsion 1 solid motor 1 solid motor
Stage 2    
Stage 2 length

4.6 meters

4.6 meters

Stage 2 diameter 1.55 meters 1.55 meters
2nd stage propulsion 1 solid motor 1 solid motor
Stage 3    
Stage 3 length 3.9 meters

4.6 meters

Stage 3 diameter 1.34 meters 1.55 meters
Stage 3 propulsion 1 solid motor 1 solid motor
Stage 4    
Stage weight (fueled) - -
Stage 4 length ? 3.9 meters
Stage 4 diameter ? 1.34 meters
Stage 4 propulsion ? 1 solid motor
Stage 5    
Stage 5 length - ?
Stage 5 diameter - ?
Stage 5 propulsion - ?
Payload:
320 - 550 kg to 300 - 700-kilometer polar orbit
320 - 850 kg to 300 - 1,000-kilometer polar orbit

 

Start launcher development team:

Element Developer Chief Designer Location
Overall design
Moscow Teplotechics Institute (MIT)
Y. Solomonov
Moscow
Production
Votkinsk Plant
V. Tolmachev
Votkinsk, Udmurt Republic
Stages
NPO Soyuz
B. Zhukov
Lyubertsy (Moscow)

 

Canadian site was considered for Start rockets

1996 October: Akjuit Aerospace of Canada and NTTs Complex of Russia signed an agreement to launch Start boosters from a commercial spaceport in Northern Manitoba near Churchill, Manitoba. The construction of the "Spaceport Canada" was scheduled to start in the summer of 1997 and the first launch was expected in late 1998. Both Canadian and Russian government reportedly endorsed the project. (104)

Start-1M concept

In April 2023, Moscow Teplotekhniks Institute, the original developer of the Start series, and the Agat Organization from Roskosmos unveiled a concept of the Start-1M booster at the Sfera Congress in Moscow. Technical specifications presented along with a model of the vehicle indicated that it could deliver between 150 and 700 kilograms of payload to orbits with altitudes between 200 and 1,500 kilometers, while lifting off from Vostochny or Plesetsk.

 


 

Start rocket launch log:

1993 March 25: A Start-1 launch vehicle lifted off from Plesetsk for the first time successfully delivering an experimental EKA-1 satellite.

1995 May 24: A Start launch vehicle failed to reach orbit after a liftoff from Plesetsk destroying the Russian EKA-2, an Israeli Gurwin (Techsat) and the Mexican Unamsat satellites.

1997 March 4, 05:00 local time (2 a.m. GMT): A Start-1 launch vehicle successfully delivered the 87-kilogram Zeya experimental satellite from Svobodny Cosmodrome into a Sun-synchronous orbit. The Zeya satellite was developed at NPO PM design bureau in cooperation with Mozhaisky Academy under a contract with the Russian space forces, VKS.

1997 Dec. 24: Start-1 placed EarlyBird satellite for the US company Earth Watch Inc, into sun-synchronous orbit after launch from Svobodny Cosmodrome in Western Siberia.

2000 Dec. 5: Start-1 booster successfully placed an Israeli-built EROS-A1 commercial imaging satellite into the sun-synchronous orbit after the launch from Svobodny Cosmodrome in Western Siberia.

2001 Feb. 20, 11:48:27 Moscow Time: Start-1 booster launched Odin research satellite from Svobodny Cosmodrome. The satellite separated from the fourth stage of the launch vehicle at 12:04:35 Moscow Time. Odin was reported still operational at the end of 2022.

2006 April 25, 20:46 Moscow Summer Time (16:46 GMT): (planned time: 20:47:16) A converted ballistic missile delivered an Israeli remote-sensing satellite, after a blastoff from a launch site in the Russian Far East. The Start-1 launch vehicle, carrying the EROS-B1 satellite, blasted off from a mobile launcher deployed at the Svobodny.

The payload entered a nominal 508-kilometer circular polar orbit with the inclination 97.3 degrees toward the Equator approximately 16 minutes after the launch. The solar panels of the satellite had been successfully deployed some 30 seconds later.

The mission of the EROS-B1 received more attention from the media that those of its predecessor, in light of recent threats to Israel from the Iranian government. The world press emphasized that the Israeli government, as one of the major customer of the satellite's data, could use it to monitor Iranian military activities, including its nuclear and missile programs.

The launch was delayed from the fourth quarter of 2005 and March 21, 2005.

 

This page is maintained by Anatoly Zak; Last update: April 13, 2023

All rights reserved

 

 

A five-stage Start launcher blasts off on an ill-fated mission in 1995. Credit: MIT


KGCh

Integration of the payload section, KGCh, with the Start-1 booster. Credit: SSC


Start rocket

The rollout of the Start-1 mobile launcher in Svobodny. Credit: MIT


Start-1 launch

The Start-1 launch vehicle lifts off from Svobodny Cosmodrome. Credit: MIT