Head to head

Soyuz 2.1a vs Zenit-2

Two vehicles in the same payload class. Every figure below comes from the same two sources for both rockets, and a row appears only when both publish the input.

Payload to low Earth orbit

Relative

Soyuz 2.1a: 7,020 kg

Zenit-2: 13,740 kg

Side by side

9 comparable figures

The highlighted value wins the row. Rows where neither direction is better, like length or stage count, highlight nothing.

Metric	Soyuz 2.1a	Zenit-2
Flights flown	58	35
Success rate	98.3%	82.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	7,020	13,740
Payload to SSO (kg)	4,230	5,000
Liftoff thrust (kN)	4,149	7,300
Length (m)	46.3	57
Diameter (m)	2.95	3.9
Launch mass (t)	312	459
Stages	3	2

Soyuz 2.1a

Flight record

98.3% success rate57 of 58 flown · 1 failed

2004peak 2023 · 7 flights2026

Maiden flight 2004-11-04. Still flying.

Zenit-2

Flight record

82.9% success rate29 of 35 flown · 6 failed

1985peak 1987 · 5 flights2004

Maiden flight 1985-04-13. Retired.

Soyuz 2.1a is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia.Zenit-2 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Soyuz 2.1a · Zenit-2.

Specifications from Launch Library 2 by The Space Devs, launch records from Space Index. Derived figures are computed here; see sources and method.