Editing Dnepr (rocket) (section)

== History ==
[[File:Dnepr 2013.ogv|thumb|Dnepr launch video]]
The Dnepr was based on the [[R-36 (missile)|R-36MUTTH]] [[Intercontinental ballistic missile]] (ICBM){{spaced ndash}}called the ''SS-18 Satan'' by NATO{{spaced ndash}}designed in the 1970s by the [[Yuzhnoe Design Bureau]] in [[Dnepropetrovsk]], [[Ukrainian SSR]]. among the outstanding authors of the project there are people like [[:ru:Губанов,_Борис_Иванович|Boris Gubanov]], [[Sergey Alekseevich Sopov|Sergey Sopov]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Казанский национальный исследовательский технический университет имени А. Н. Туполева - КАИ |first=Казанский национальный исследовательский технический университет имени А. Н. Туполева - КАИ |date=2024-04-02 |title=Первый заместитель генерального конструктора Научно-производственного объединения "Энергия", ведущий конструктор ракетно-космического комплекса "Энергия-Буран" |url=https://kai.ru/web/en/boris-ivanovich-gubanov |access-date=2024-04-02 |website=kai.ru}}</ref>

The Dnepr control system was developed and produced by the [[Khartron|JSC "Khartron"]], [[Kharkiv]]. The Dnepr was a [[multistage rocket|three-stage]] rocket using storable [[hypergolic]] liquid propellants. The launch vehicles used for satellite launches have been withdrawn from ballistic missile service with the [[Russian Strategic Rocket Forces]] and stored for commercial use. A group of a total of 150 ICBMs were allowed under certain geopolitical disarmament protocols to be converted for use, and can be launched through 2020. The Dnepr was launched from the Russian-controlled [[Baikonur]] cosmodrome in [[Kazakhstan]] and the [[Dombarovsky (air base)|Dombarovsky]] launch base, near Yasny, in the Orenburg region of Russia.

In February 2015, following a year of strained relations including the [[Euromaidan]] and the [[Russo-Ukrainian war]], Russia announced that it would sever its "joint program with Ukraine to launch Dnepr rockets and [was] no longer interested in buying Ukrainian [[Zenit (rocket family)|Zenit boosters]], deepening problems for [Ukraine's] space program and its struggling [[Yuzhmash]] factory."<ref name=pa20150206>{{cite news |last1=Messier |first1=Doug |title=Russia Severing Ties With Ukraine on Dnepr, Zenit Launch Programs |url=http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/02/06/russia-severing-ties-ukraine-dnepr-zenit-launch-programs/ |access-date=8 February 2015 |work=Parabolic Arc |date=6 February 2015 |archive-date=15 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215052356/http://www.parabolicarc.com/2015/02/06/russia-severing-ties-ukraine-dnepr-zenit-launch-programs/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> However [[ISC Kosmotras]] reported that they would continue to fulfill their obligations for three Dnepr launches in 2015,<ref name=sfn20150206>
{{cite news |last1=Clark|first1=Stephen |title=Customers assured of Dnepr rocket's near-term availability |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/2015/02/06/customers-assured-of-dnepr-rockets-nearterm-availability/ |access-date=8 February 2015 |work=Spaceflight Now |date=6 February 2015 }}</ref> of which only one took place.<ref name="gcat-r36">{{cite web |last1=McDowell |first1=Jonathan |title=General Catalog of Artificial Space Objects - R-36 |url=https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/launch/R-36.html |website=planet4589.org |access-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418115205/https://planet4589.org/space/gcat/data/launch/R-36.html |archive-date=18 April 2022 |date=18 April 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the end of 2016, no further launch had materialized and the remaining customers had switched to alternative launch providers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/iridium-next.htm |title=Iridium-NEXT |work=Gunter's Space Page |first=Gunter |last=Krebs |access-date=30 December 2016 |quote= Kosmotras has received a contract to provide supplemental launch services on Dnepr launch vehicles. Dnepr can carry two satellites on each launch. One Dnepr launch, carrying the first two satellites, was planned, but it was delayed and finally canceled due to bureaucratic hurdles.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/grace-fo.htm |title= GRACE-FO |work=Gunter's Space Page |first=Gunter |last=Krebs |access-date=30 December 2016 |quote= Originally a launch on a Dnepr rocket from Baikonur in 2017 was planned, but with Dnepr becoming unavailable, the launch was switched to a Falcon-9 v1.2 subcontracted from Iridium, flying together with five Iridium-NEXT satellites in December 2017.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/paz.htm |title=Paz |work=Gunter's Space Page |first=Gunter |last=Krebs |access-date=30 December 2016 |quote= Originally Kosmotras was contracted to provide the Dnepr launch vehicle for a launch from Dombarovsky (Yasny) in 2015. After an 18 months delay, Hisdesat canceled the launch contract in July 2016. Launch on a not yet disclosed vehicle is planned for 2017.}}</ref><ref name=retired />

[[ISC Kosmotras]] proposed using a Dnepr rocket to launch a modified version of the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz spacecraft]] with no orbital module and reduced service module, intended as a recoverable microgravity laboratory or an emergency vehicle for cosmonaut rescue.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://danielmarin.naukas.com/2010/07/01/una-soyuz-en-un-misil/ |title= Una Soyuz en un misil |access-date=22 February 2025}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2025}}

Business magnate [[Elon Musk]] tried to purchase refurbished Dnepr rockets for a low price from Russia but returned empty-handed after failing to find any that were affordable. This led him to the creation of a successful private rocket launch company now known as [[SpaceX]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-02-23|title=Is SpaceX Changing the Rocket Equation? {{!}} Space {{!}} Air & Space Magazine|url=http://www.airspacemag.com/space/is-spacex-changing-the-rocket-equation-132285884/?no-ist|access-date=2022-01-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223105751/http://www.airspacemag.com/space/is-spacex-changing-the-rocket-equation-132285884/?no-ist|archive-date=2017-02-23}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Elon Musk's Space Dream Almost Killed Tesla |date=14 May 2015 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/|access-date=2022-01-07|work=Bloomberg |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326155146/https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015-elon-musk-spacex/ | archive-date=2022-03-26 |url-status=live |first1=Ashlee |last1=Vance |author-link=Ashlee Vance }}</ref>