Head to head

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat 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: 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	Tsiklon-3
Flights flown	26	122
Success rate	92.3%	94.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	8,200	4,100
Launch cost	$80M	$15M
Cost per kg to LEO	$9,756	$3,659
Liftoff thrust (kN)	4,150	2,713
Length (m)	46.3	39.27
Diameter (m)	2.95	3
Launch mass (t)	312	189
Stages	4	3

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat

Flight record

92.3% success rate24 of 26 flown · 2 failed

2006peak 2011 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 2006-12-27. 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 is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia.Tsiklon-3 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

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