USSR. The Zenit launcher was created by Mikhail Yangel’s Bureau: NPO Yuzhnoye, in 1973, as a rocket for military satellites to be launched from Plesetsk. Due to the toxic pollution caused by the Proton fuel, it was decided to use kerosene, with liquid oxygen, like the first stage of the Saturn V. It was later adapted to become the first stage of the gigantic Energiya and the Buran, the Soviet shuttle (both now canceled). It flew in 1985 and was declared operational in 1987. It uses RD-170 engines (called RD-171 on the Zenit), developed by Valentin Glushko’s Energomash. The second stage uses RD-120 engines. It carries 14 tons to LEO, is 57 meters tall, and weighs 459 tons. It is used for military launches, with a troubled history and poor reliability. But then it finds new life with Sea Launch, the American-Russian-Norwegian-Ukrainian company (Boeing 40%, Energiya 25%, Kvaerner 20%, Yuzhnoye 15%), which launches from a floating platform in the middle of the Pacific, based in Long Beach, California.
