Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M

Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M

The Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M is a Russian orbital launch vehicle combining the modernised Soyuz 2.1a rocket with the Fregat-M restartable upper stage. Operated primarily by Roscosmos and its commercial partners, the configuration is manufactured by Progress Rocket Space Centre (TsSKB-Progress) in Samara, Russia, and represents one of the most capable variants of the legendary Soyuz family, which traces its lineage to the R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile of the 1950s.

Vehicle Configuration

Standing 46.3 metres tall with a core diameter of 2.95 metres, the Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M follows the classic Soyuz arrangement of four liquid-fuelled strap-on boosters surrounding a central core stage, topped by a third stage. What distinguishes this configuration is the addition of the Fregat-M upper stage — an autonomous, restartable propulsion unit capable of multiple ignitions in orbit. This flexibility allows the vehicle to deliver payloads to a wide range of orbital destinations, including medium Earth orbit (MEO), highly elliptical orbits, and geosynchronous transfer orbits, well beyond what the base Soyuz 2.1a can achieve on its own. Its payload capacity to low Earth orbit is 7,020 kg.

Operational History

Our flight record captures 20 tracked missions conducted between 2010 and 2026, of which 19 were fully successful and one resulted in a failure or partial failure — a reliability rate consistent with the broader Soyuz family's strong heritage. The vehicle launches from established Russian cosmodromes, with Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia serving as the primary sites for this configuration.

The Russian Space Forces, Roscosmos, the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, Starsem SA, and GK Launch Services represent the vehicle's principal customers, reflecting a customer base that spans national defence, civil space science, and commercial satellite deployment.

Notable Missions

Recent missions illustrate the vehicle's versatility across military and civil programmes. The Meridian-M series of communications satellites — including the No.20L and No.21L launches — serves Russian government and defence communications needs in highly elliptical Molniya orbits, for which the Fregat-M's multi-burn capability is essential. The Kondor-FKA radar Earth observation satellites (No.1 and No.2) demonstrate the configuration's civil remote-sensing role. The Neitron (Kosmos 2553) mission, launched under the Russian military Kosmos designation, underlines the vehicle's continued importance to national security space programmes.

The CAS500-1 and rideshare mission highlights the vehicle's commercial dimension, carrying a South Korean Earth observation satellite alongside multiple secondary payloads — a mission type facilitated by GK Launch Services and Starsem as commercial brokers for Soyuz launches.

Role and Significance

The Soyuz 2.1a Fregat-M occupies a well-established niche in the Russian launch manifest, offering a reliable and flexible solution for medium-mass payloads that require precise orbital injection. While newer Russian launch vehicles continue development, this configuration remains an active and trusted workhorse for both government and commercial missions well into the 2020s.