Launch vehicle

Launch vehicle – In a broad sense, a launch vehicle is a multistage rocket that is designed to launch various objects and devices into outer space: spacecraft, equipment, materials, substances, etc. As a rule, it has from 2 to 5 steps.
The expediency of using launch vehicles is determined by the mass of the payload, which can be placed into low-Earth orbit of the minimum possible radius with a height of about 200 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. There are four types of them: light – type Cosmos-2, Cyclone-2, Taurus, Pegasus, Conestoga, J-1, M-5 with a load capacity of 0.5-1.5 tons; medium – type Soyuz, Lightning, Zenit-2, Delta-2, Atlas with a load capacity of 3.5-7.5 tons; heavy – type Proton, Titan-4, Delta-3, Ariane-5 with a load capacity of 10-25 tons; superheavy – type Energia, Saturn-5 with a load capacity of 80-120 tons. Russia has also begun using conversion rockets for spacecraft launches, which have been decommissioned and are used to launch satellites. For example, such rockets as: “Start”, “Rokot”, Dnepr have a payload capacity of 1-4.2 tons. See also the Cosmodrome.
The upper stages are used after the launch vehicle puts the payload into an intermediate orbit for subsequent actions – putting the spacecraft into a working orbit or an interplanetary trajectory. In fact, these were the last stages of launch vehicles. During such maneuvers, the spacecraft’s main rocket engines, which are also called marching ones, can be used.