Polaris Intelligence
Polaris
Intelligence
About
Ctrl K
Sign in
© Polaris Intelligence 2026
PrivacyTermsAdmin
Launch Vehicles
Vehicle family profile

Zenit

Family-level launch record combining canonical variants, historical missions, public cadence forecasts, and available payload performance specs.

Manufacturer unknownRetired
Admin
Variants
7
Canonical variants linked to this family.
Historical missions
83
Missions in the public mission table with actual launch dates.
Peak listed capacity
Unknown
Maximum payload capacity across listed variants and orbits.

Launch Cadence

Historical missions are grouped by actual launch year. Forecast cadence uses family-level launch-rate rows.

YearHistorical missionsForecast launches
200860
200940
201150
201230
201320
201410
201510
201710

Performance Specs

Payload capacity by variant and target orbit when structured capacity rows are available.

VariantOrbitCapacityAltitudeInclinationSource

No performance specs

No structured payload capacity rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Recent Missions

Latest launched missions using variants in this family.

MissionVariantLaunch
Angosat
Zenit-3SLBF
Dec 26, 2017
Elektro-L No. 2 Mission
Zenit-3SLBF
Dec 11, 2015
Eutelsat 3B
Zenit-3SL
May 26, 2014
Amos 4 Mission

Variants

Canonical variants rolled up into this launch vehicle family.

VariantStagesMissionsStatus
Zenit-2
Not stated34Retired
Zenit-2 11K77.05
Not stated1Retired
Zenit-2M
Not stated1Retired
Zenit-2SB
Not stated1Retired
Zenit-3SLB
Aug 31, 2013
Launch 2013-F01
Zenit-3SL
Feb 1, 2013
SL50 Eutelsat 70B
Zenit-3SL
Dec 3, 2012
SL49 Intelsat IS-21
Zenit-3SL
Aug 19, 2012
SL45 Intelsat IS-19
Zenit-3SL
Jun 1, 2012

Forecasted Missions

Upcoming mission rows with announced launch timing.

MissionVariantAnnounced

No forecasted missions

No upcoming announced mission rows are linked to this vehicle family.

Zenit-3SL
Not stated36Retired
Zenit-3SLB
Not stated6Retired
Zenit-3SLBF
Not stated4Retired
Track
Mentions
34
All verified mentions of this launch vehicle family in source documents.
0.0-5.0
Actions

Kazakhstan transported a training version of the Zenit rocket to Site 1 (Gagarin's Start).

PlanCapabilityGeneralValue 3.0May 7, 2026A training version of the Zenit rocket was transported by Kazakhstan to the Site 1 (Gagarin's Start), where it will remain near Soyuz's launch pad for the tourists to see. Video by RGP "Infracos":
Page1of2

The Baiterek project aims to modernize the Zenit-M launch pad at Baikonur and build advanced, sustainable facilities for medium-class spacecraft.

PlanCapabilityGrowthValue 4.0May 5, 2026El cohete ruso Soyuz 5 realiza su primer vuelo de prueba sin incidentes

Russia intends Soyuz 5 to replace the Ukrainian-built Zenit family of medium-class launch vehicles.

PlanGeneralValue 4.0May 5, 2026El cohete ruso Soyuz 5 realiza su primer vuelo de prueba sin incidentes

The revised Science Power Platform design was planned to fly on Zenit launch vehicles with Progress-derived tugs.

PlanCapabilityValue 4.0Apr 27, 2026Science Power Platform: the ISS’s cancelled power module

Zenit-3F is designed to deliver about 13 to 14 tonnes to low Earth orbit.

CapabilityValue 4.0Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Zenit-3F is developed by Yuzhmash.

CapabilityValue 3.0Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's existing infrastructure.

CapabilityValue 3.0Apr 26, 2026Soyuz-5 is a newer rocket, as simple as that. There is no need to copy an old rocket, and the only reason why the "flamey end" is giving Zenit vibes, is because they decided to use same engine and Zenit's existing infrastructure, which, of course, is not used by Zenit anymore.

Soyuz-5 and Zenit share the same launch pad.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.0Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Soyuz-5 and Zenit have the same first-stage engine skirt.

CapabilityValue 4.0Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Zenit-3F uses an RD-171M first-stage engine burning kerosene and liquid oxygen.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.2Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Zenit-3F had a first flight in 1985.

GeneralValue 2.0Apr 26, 2026As Soyuz-5 launch is getting closer, I often hear some people calling it "a copy of zenit", "not-zenit" etc. Here is a quick comparison of the two rockets. They have the same 1st stage engine skirt (Soyuz-5 uses Zenit's pad) Other than that, Soyuz-5 is a newly designed rocket:

Soyuz-5 uses the same engine as Zenit.

CapabilityValue 3.5Apr 26, 2026Soyuz-5 is a newer rocket, as simple as that. There is no need to copy an old rocket, and the only reason why the "flamey end" is giving Zenit vibes, is because they decided to use same engine and Zenit's existing infrastructure, which, of course, is not used by Zenit anymore.

The first-stage engine skirt of Soyuz-5 was copied from Zenit to allow Soyuz-5 to use existing infrastructure.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.0Apr 26, 2026And if you can accept that only the 1st stage engine skirt was "copied" from Zenit to allow Soyuz-5 to use already existing infrastructure, you should also accept that the rest of the rocket is just as different as any other two-stage medium-lift vehicle, like CZ-12 or early F9.

A rocket with a tapered aft section is being positioned to fit Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Site 45/1 Zenit pad.

PlanGeneralValue 3.0Mar 31, 2026You can literally see where the rocket's end tapers down to fit in with the existing Zenit pad, Site 45/1 at Baikonur:

The rocket has a larger diameter than Zenit.

CapabilityValue 2.5Mar 31, 2026As Zenit as it could be without being a Zenit (it has a larger diameter & new 2nd stage engines, a derivative of the RD-0124 on Soyuz-2.1b's 3rd stage):

Baikonur Cosmodrome’s Site 45/1 is an existing Zenit launch pad.

CapabilityGeneralValue 3.0Mar 31, 2026You can literally see where the rocket's end tapers down to fit in with the existing Zenit pad, Site 45/1 at Baikonur:

The Not-Zenit rocket has not yet rolled out to Launch Pad Site 45/1, the former Zenit pad at Baikonur.

PlanValue 3.0Mar 30, 2026While there are some very interesting things happening in spaceflight this week, "Not-Zenit" debuting is probably not one of them now, as apparently the rocket still hasn't rolled out to the launch pad (Site 45/1, the old Zenit pad) at Baikonur yet:

Baikonur Site 45 includes a Manned Spacecraft Servicing Unit built to service the Zarya-Zenit stack.

CapabilityGeneralValue 4.0Mar 23, 2026Zarya: the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice

The Zarya spacecraft was designed to use the Zenit launch vehicle.

CapabilityPlanValue 3.6Mar 23, 2026Zarya: the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice

The Zenit launch vehicle would deliver Zarya to a 190-kilometer reference orbit at an inclination of 51.6 degrees in the 15-tonne configuration.

CapabilityPlanValue 4.0Mar 23, 2026Zarya: the Super-Soyuz that only lived twice