Soyuz (cohete) version
Soyuz (cohete) Soyuz-FG (11A511U-FG)
An evolution of the Soyuz-U with RD-107A and RD-108A engines and improved injector heads. It carried International Space Station crews between 2002 and 2019, and flew the Soyuz MS-10 in-flight abort.
- May 20, 2001
- First launch
- No
- Reusable
History
A transitional solution
The Soyuz-FG appeared in May 2001 as a bridge while the Soyuz-2 was still in development: work on the upgraded RD-107A (boosters) and RD-108A (core) engines had outpaced the rest of the vehicle, so they were put to use early. The new engines replaced the RD-107 and RD-108, swapping 260 two-component centrifugal injectors for over 1,000 one-component injectors, which improved combustion and cut high-frequency vibration in the chambers.
The Station's rocket
Its maiden flight, on 20 May 2001, delivered a Progress freighter to the International Space Station. From 2002 until retirement it was the primary launcher for crewed Soyuz TMA, Soyuz TMA-M and Soyuz MS spacecraft, flying from Gagarin's Start (Site 1/5) at Baikonur, with satellite launches from Site 31/6. For uncrewed missions it could fly with Lavochkin's Fregat upper stage: that configuration first flew on 2 June 2003, with ten such launches marketed by Starsem.
The MS-10 abort and retirement
The Soyuz-FG flew 70 times with a single failure, on 11 October 2018 during the Soyuz MS-10 launch: a faulty sensor caused a booster to strike the core stage shortly after lift-off and triggered an emergency abort. The crew, NASA astronaut Nick Hague and cosmonaut Aleksey Ovchinin, returned safely. After the MS-15 launch on 25 September 2019 it was retired in favour of the fully digital Soyuz-2.