Head to head

Soyuz 2.1b 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 2.1b: 8,200 kg

Zenit-2: 13,740 kg

Side by side

8 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	Zenit-2
Flights flown	25	35
Success rate	100%	82.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	8,200	13,740
Payload to SSO (kg)	4,900	5,000
Length (m)	46.3	57
Diameter (m)	2.95	3.9
Launch mass (t)	312	459
Stages	3	2

Soyuz 2.1b

Flight record

100% success rate25 of 25 flown

2008peak 2021 · 4 flights2026

Maiden flight 2008-07-26. 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 2.1b is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia (company profile on Space Index).Zenit-2 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

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