Dnepr Launch Vehicle

Dnepr was a three-stage expendable orbital launch vehicle converted from decommissioned R-36MUTTH/RS-20 (SS-18) intercontinental ballistic missiles by a Russian-Ukrainian program led commercially by ISC Kosmotras. The first two missile stages were retained, while the deployment bus served as a controlled third stage for satellite release. Twenty-two orbital Dnepr missions flew from silo complexes at Baikonur and Yasny/Dombarovsky between 1999 and 2015; 21 succeeded and one was lost during first-stage flight in 2006.