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Saturday, 10 October 2015

Dnepr

Dnepr is a Russian-Ukrainian Launch System derived   the R-36M Intercontinental Ballistic Missile that is now operated by launch provider ISC Kosmotras to deliver satellites into LEO and polar  orbit. It was  first launched  on April 21, 1999 placing  UoSAT-12, a 350 kg demonstration mini-satellite into a 650 km circular orbit .

The R-36 missile, also known a SS-18 or Satan, was designed by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau in the 1960 . The Dnepr launch vehicle has only a small number of modifications compared to the R-36M ICBM in service. The main difference is the payload adapter located in the space head module and modified flight-control unit. The Dnepr Launch Vehicle stands 34.3 meters tall and is 3.0 meters in diameter with a liftoff mass of 211,000 Kilograms. All three stages use hypergolic propellants.The Dnepr launcher is operated from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, and Dombarovsky Air Base, Orenburg Region, Russia.Dnepr can reach a variety of orbits mostly Low Earth Orbits at inclinations of 50.5, 64.5, 87.3 and 98 degrees. The first Stage is 22.3 meters long and 3.0 meters in diameter and has  two large propellant tanks that hold up to 147,900 Kilograms of storable propellants. .The first stage has a liftoff mass of 161,500 Kilograms. First Stage Control is accomplished by individually gimbaling the four nozzles of the engine by up to 7 degrees to achieve three-axis control First stage burn time is 130 seconds.

     The second stage of the Dnepr launcher is 5.7 meters long and 3.0 meters in diameter. It holds up to 36,740 Kilograms of propellants,The Upper Stag of the basic Dnepr launcher is 1 meter long and also 3 meters in diameter featuring two propellant tanks and  has a total liftoff mass of 41,100 Kilograms.    Dnepr offers a number of different fairing. It is  separated during the third stage burn.

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