Kosmos Launch Vehicle "C"
THE FLEXABLE INTERMEDIATE LAUNCH VEHICLE (“C”)
Interkosmos/Kosmos-3M Series SL-8
Overview, Supporting Facilities and Launch Vehicles of the
Soviet Space Program *
1976-1980
* Prepared by the late Charles S. Sheldon II and Geoffrey E. Perry M.B.E. Dr. Sheldon was the Senior Specialist in Space and Transportation Technology, Mr. Perry is a Senior Teacher at Kettering Boys School, England, and the leader of the Kettering Group of amateur satellite observers.
THE FLEXIBLE INTERMEDIATE LAUNCH VEHICLE ("C")
Small, relatively modest Soviet payloads for 5 years came only from Kapustin Yar, and after that also from Plesetsk, but not from Tyuratam. In 1964, however, a new series of flights began at Tyuratam with a vehicle which was neither a B-l, nor the large A class. It can be designated the C-l, and starting in 1967 it also came into use at Plesetsk. It was first used for a space launch from Kapustin Yar in 1973.
As first used, it put up multiple payloads, initially three at a time, then five at a time, and now eight at a time. Starting at the end of 1965 and most of the flights since have been single payloads. The earliest launches were in eccentric orbits, and then came flights with circularized orbits, and these have been at increasing altitudes.
This performance seemed in excess of what could be expected of the B-l launch vehicle both because of the many multiple payloads, and the demonstrated capacity to achieve circularized orbit at higher altitudes. In addition to that the appearance of the flights from a cosmodrome not used for the regular small Kosmos or B-l flights was a further indication. Even where flights of the B-l and the C-l come from the same cosmodrome, there are marked differences in inclination, suggesting the use of different launch pads.
As Western analysts sought a military missile which might fit the needs of a first stage of the C-l, the SS-5 of Skean came to mind. This had been paraded in Moscow, and was believed to have a range as a missile of close to 4,000 kilometers. It was also known as the missile which followed the Sandal into Cuba and posed an added threat then because of its greater range. The SS-5 and the C-l are shown in figure 13.
The Skean-based C-l type of launch vehicle has not yet been put on display by the Russians, but finally some photographs are appearing, and they confirm the use of this particular missile for the first stage. The first photograph was obtained in the West by Maarten Houtman of the Netherlands. The exact dimensions are not known, but some ratios have been developed by Phillip S. Clark. (39) The vehicle may be 2.44 meters in diameter and about 31.6 meters long. It probably could put over 1,000 kilograms into low Earth orbit but has not been used that way. More likely the payloads range from about 900 to 500 kilograms, decreasing with altitude. The initial reticence to disclose anything about its rocket engines or performance again suggests a role which is largely military. Even the Skean missile when paraded in Moscow carried a plate to hide its power plant. Kenneth Gatland reported that it had four nozzles and it was later found that the first stage was powered by two RD-216 engines, each with two chambers, fueled with unsymmetrical dimethyl hydrazine (UDMH) and nitrogen tetroxide.
References:1. SOVIET SPACE PROGRAMS: 1976-80, SUPPORTING FACILITIES AND LAUNCH VEHICLES, POLITICAL GOALS AND PURPOSES, INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN SPACE, ADMINISTRATION, RESOURCE BURDEN, FUTURE OUTLOOK PREPARED AT THE REQUEST OF HON. BOB PACKWOOD, Chairman, COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, SCIENCE, AND TRANSPORTATION, UNITED STATES SENATE, Part 1, Dec. 1982.
39. Clark, Phillip S., The Skean Program, Spaceflight, vol. 20, pp. 298-304, London, August6 1978.
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