Proton launch vehicle
Proton is a Soviet-developed and Russian-operated heavy-lift expendable launch-vehicle lineage using hypergolic propulsion. The original two-stage UR-500 evolved into the three-stage Proton-K and modernized Proton-M, supporting scientific satellites, space-station modules, planetary spacecraft, government missions, and commercial payloads since 1965.
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Identity
- Aliases
- Proton rocket family
- Family Name
- Proton
- Full Name
- Proton launch vehicle
- Status
- active
- Type
- rocket
Details
- Description
- Proton is a Soviet-developed and Russian-operated heavy-lift expendable launch-vehicle lineage using hypergolic propulsion. The original two-stage UR-500 evolved into the three-stage Proton-K and modernized Proton-M, supporting scientific satellites, space-station modules, planetary spacecraft, government missions, and commercial payloads since 1965.
- First Flight Year
- 1,965
- Operator
- Propulsion Configurations
- Entries
- Count
- 6
- Placement
- core
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- first-stage
- Variant Notes
- Six exact RD-253 engines on the Proton-K first stage.
- Count
- 3
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- second-stage
- Variant Notes
- Three exact RD-0210 engines on the Proton-K second stage.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- second-stage
- Variant Notes
- One exact RD-0211 engine paired with the three-RD-0210 Proton-K second-stage engine block.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- upper-stage
- Stage
- third-stage
- Variant Notes
- One exact RD-0212 integrated engine block on the Proton-K third stage.
- Name
- Proton-K
- Notes
- Exact three-stage 8K82K Proton-K family branch. Block-D, Block-DM, and Briz-M fourth-stage variants are intentionally omitted because their distinct upper-stage systems are not part of this configuration.
- Entries
- Count
- 6
- Placement
- core
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- first-stage
- Variant Notes
- Six exact RD-275 engines on the Proton-M first stage.
- Count
- 3
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- second-stage
- Variant Notes
- Three exact RD-0210 engines on the Proton-M second stage.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- main
- Stage
- second-stage
- Variant Notes
- One exact RD-0211 engine paired with the three-RD-0210 Proton-M second-stage engine block.
- Count
- 1
- Placement
- upper
- Propulsion System
- Role
- upper-stage
- Stage
- third-stage
- Variant Notes
- One exact RD-0212 integrated engine block on the Proton-M third stage.
- Name
- Proton-M
- Notes
- Exact three-stage 8K82KM Proton-M family branch. Briz-M, Block-DM, and other fourth-stage variants are intentionally omitted because their distinct upper-stage systems are not part of this configuration.
- Rocket Specs
- Reusability
- expendable
Links
- Official Url
- https://www.roscosmos.ru/45020/
- Wikipedia Url
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_(rocket_family)
Assets & Meta
- Creation Time
- April 26, 2026 at 15:54:05 UTC
- Updated Time
- August 1, 2026 at 10:37:44 UTC
- Image
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