Head to head

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

Zenit-2: 13,740 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	Zenit-2
Flights flown	74	35
Success rate	97.3%	82.9%
Payload to LEO (kg)	6,900	13,740
Length (m)	51	57
Diameter (m)	3	3.9
Launch mass (t)	313	459
Stages	2	2

Soyuz-U-PVB

Flight record

97.3% success rate72 of 74 flown · 2 failed

1984peak 1999 · 9 flights2009

Maiden flight 1984-03-21. Retired.

Zenit-2

Flight record

82.9% success rate29 of 35 flown · 6 failed

1985peak 1987 · 5 flights2004

Maiden flight 1985-04-13. Retired.

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

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