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22 August 2006, Pacific Ocean : 03:27:01 GMT, under the power of its RD-171 the powerful medium launcher Zenit-3SL is lifting-off from the platform Ocean Odyssey, carrying the 4465 kg Koreasat 5 for Korea Telecom and the Korean Agency for Defense Development.

Exploited by Sea Launch, a multinational space enterprise, Zenit was regularly launched in the oceans from the platform. Having the possibility to launch from nearly everywhere in the world, Odyssey was the finalization of and old idea aiming to reach the best geographical launching location, the equator, in order to benefit from the best gravity assist possible for the launcher.
Developed in the 70's, Zenit was supposed to become the Soviet next generation medium launcher, replacing Soyuz. Her first stage is powered by what is still to this date the most powerful rocket engine ever designed (for multiple chambers), the RD-171, providing a thrust of 805.88 tons/7,903.00 kN at the surface level, which is burning for approximately two minutes and thirty seconds. The second stage then take over the work with its RD-120 for the propulsion and RD-08 for the maneuvering, both of them accumulating a thrust of 101.1 tons/991.5 kN.
But Zenit suffered the fall of the Soviet Union, alas. Being manufactured in the then independent Ukraine, the launcher never became the Soyuz heir it was supposed to be... the contracts were less and less frequent until a consortium from Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States was created under the name of Sea Launch.
From 1999 to 2013, year of its final bankruptcy, Sea Launch assured 36 flights but with "only" 32 being successful. Three failures and the launch of Telstar-18 in June 2004 being considered as a partial failure, give to Zenit-3SL a "poor" reliability of 88%, much less than its competitors in the medium launchers category.

Despite its numerous failures, Zenit was, is and will stay my favorite launcher ever. The witness of a time when the Soviet regime was coming to an end and a victim of the present situation but whose the power still impresses the enthusiasts.

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*Repost as some white paper was present on the first one (sigh...)

Description
22 August 2006, Pacific Ocean : 03:27:01 GMT, under the power of its RD-171 the powerful medium launcher Zenit-3SL is lifting-off from the platform Ocean Odyssey, carrying the 4465 kg Koreasat 5 for Korea Telecom and the Korean Agency for Defense Development.

Exploited by Sea Launch, a multinational space enterprise, Zenit was regularly launched in the oceans from the platform. Having the possibility to launch from nearly everywhere in the world, Odyssey was the finalization of and old idea aiming to reach the best geographical launching location, the equator, in order to benefit from the best gravity assist possible for the launcher.
Developed in the 70's, Zenit was supposed to become the Soviet next generation medium launcher, replacing Soyuz. Her first stage is powered by what is still to this date the most powerful rocket engine ever designed (for multiple chambers), the RD-171, providing a thrust of 805.88 tons/7,903.00 kN at the surface level, which is burning for approximately two minutes and thirty seconds. The second stage then take over the work with its RD-120 for the propulsion and RD-08 for the maneuvering, both of them accumulating a thrust of 101.1 tons/991.5 kN.
But Zenit suffered the fall of the Soviet Union, alas. Being manufactured in the then independent Ukraine, the launcher never became the Soyuz heir it was supposed to be... the contracts were less and less frequent until a consortium from Norway, Russia, Ukraine and the United States was created under the name of Sea Launch.
From 1999 to 2013, year of its final bankruptcy, Sea Launch assured 36 flights but with "only" 32 being successful. Three failures and the launch of Telstar-18 in June 2004 being considered as a partial failure, give to Zenit-3SL a "poor" reliability of 88%, much less than its competitors in the medium launchers category.

Despite its numerous failures, Zenit was, is and will stay my favorite launcher ever. The witness of a time when the Soviet regime was coming to an end and a victim of the present situation but whose the power still impresses the enthusiasts.

---

*Repost as some white paper was present on the first one (sigh...)