Zenit-3SL

Zenit 3SL Sea Launch Zenit

Mission Profile

The Zenit-3SL (Zenit 3SL, Sea Launch Zenit) was a three-stage Ukrainian-Russian launch vehicle in the Zenit family, the ocean-launched variant operated from the Sea Launch equatorial platform for maximum geostationary transfer orbit performance. Standing 59.6 m tall with a 3.9 m diameter and a liftoff mass of 473 tonnes, it generated 7,550 kN of liftoff thrust and could deliver 6,100 kg to geostationary transfer orbit. First flying in March 1999, the Zenit-3SL launched from the Odyssey platform on the Pacific equator, offering the best physics for GTO delivery, and operated successfully for over a decade before the Sea Launch programme was disrupted by geopolitics and financial difficulties.