Head to head

Soyuz 2.1b vs Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat

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: 8,200 kg

Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat: 8,200 kg

Side by side

11 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	Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat
Flights flown	25	26
Success rate	100%	92.3%
Payload to LEO (kg)	8,200	8,200
Payload to GTO (kg)	3,250	3,250
Payload to SSO (kg)	4,900	4,900
Launch cost	$80M	$80M
Cost per kg to LEO	$9,756	$9,756
Length (m)	46.3	46.3
Diameter (m)	2.95	2.95
Launch mass (t)	312	312
Stages	3	4

Soyuz 2.1b

Flight record

100% success rate25 of 25 flown

2008peak 2021 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 2008-07-26. Still flying.

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.

Soyuz 2.1b is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia (company profile on Space Index).Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia.

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

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