Head to head

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M vs Tsiklon-3

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 2.1b/Fregat-M: 8,200 kg

Tsiklon-3: 4,100 kg

Side by side

10 comparable figures

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

Metric	Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M	Tsiklon-3
Flights flown	36	122
Success rate	100%	94.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	8,200	4,100
Launch cost	$48.5M	$15M
Cost per kg to LEO	$5,915	$3,659
Liftoff thrust (kN)	4,150	2,713
Length (m)	46.3	39.27
Diameter (m)	10.3	3
Launch mass (t)	313	189
Stages	4	3

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M

Flight record

100% success rate36 of 36 flown

2017peak 2021 · 8 flights2026

Maiden flight 2008-07-26. Still flying.

Tsiklon-3

Flight record

94.3% success rate115 of 122 flown · 7 failed

1977peak 1985 · 12 flights2009

Maiden flight 1977-06-24. Retired.

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia (company profile on Space Index).Tsiklon-3 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M · Tsiklon-3.

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