The Soyuz 2.1v is a lightweight carrier rocket designed to bring between 2,800-2,850 kg payloads into 200 km low Earth orbits.

This version of the Soyuz 2.1 rocket has no side-mounted boosters and instead uses a heavily modified center stage with expanded fuel tanks, a beefed-up structure, and a completely different first stage engine than the Soyuz 2.1b, from which it is derived.

It uses the same second stage as the Soyuz 2.1b.

Built by TsSKB Progress, the rocket stands 44 m tall and 3 m wide.

It weighs 158,000 kg at liftoff.

Image: SpaceX

The Plesetsk Cosmodrome is located 800 km north of Moscow, Russia.

Founded in 1957, it was originally established to support the Soviet Union’s R-7 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches—the same rocket family that later evolved into the Soyuz launch vehicle used today.

From its inception until 2000, Plesetsk was less active than Baikonur Cosmodrome due to its geographic limitations, primarily allowing launches into Molniya and polar orbits. However, following the fall of the Soviet Union and Russia’s loss of direct control over Baikonur (now in Kazakhstan), Plesetsk has seen a significant increase in launch activity, particularly since the early 2000s.

Today, Plesetsk is primarily used for military and commercial launches to high-inclination and polar orbits.

The site has also been the location of three fatal ground accidents, resulting in a total of 58 casualties:

- 1973: A Cosmos-3M rocket exploded on the launch pad, killing 9 people.

- 1980: A Vostok-2M rocket exploded during fueling, killing 48 people.

- 2002: A Soyuz-U rocket explosion resulted in 1 fatality.

Image: Roscosmos