Head to head

Soyuz-U-PVB vs Tsiklon-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-U-PVB: 6,900 kg

Tsiklon-2: 2,820 kg

Side by side

7 comparable figures

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

Metric	Soyuz-U-PVB	Tsiklon-2
Flights flown	74	105
Success rate	97.3%	98.1%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,900	2,820
Length (m)	51	39.7
Diameter (m)	3	3
Launch mass (t)	313	182
Stages	2	3

Soyuz-U-PVB

Flight record

97.3% success rate72 of 74 flown · 2 failed

1984peak 1999 · 9 flights2009

Maiden flight 1984-03-21. Retired.

Tsiklon-2

Flight record

98.1% success rate103 of 105 flown · 2 failed

1969peak 1976 · 8 flights2006

Maiden flight 1969-08-06. Retired.

Soyuz-U-PVB is built by Progress Rocket Space Center of Russia.Tsiklon-2 is built by Yuzhnoye Design Bureau of Ukraine.

Full specifications and the complete launch history for each: Soyuz-U-PVB · Tsiklon-2.

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