Proton (rocket family)

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Proton (Russian: Протон, lit. 'proton', formal designation: UR-500, GRAU: 8K82, Sheldon: D-1, DoD: SL-9/-12/-13) is a Soviet and Russian hypergolic expendable heavy-lift launch vehicle family. Developed by the Soviet space program, its first launch was in 1965. The Proton-K flew 310 missions from 1967 to 2012; the modernized Proton-M, operational since 2001, is flown by Roscosmos for commercial and state payloads, scheduled until 2029. Components are manufactured in the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, Moscow, and Chemical Automatics Design Bureau, Voronezh, then transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, where they are assembled at Site 91 to form the launch vehicle. Following payload integration, the rocket is then brought to the launch pad horizontally by rail and raised into vertical position for launch. As with many Soviet rockets, the names of recurring payloads became associated with the launch vehicle itself. The moniker "Proton" originates from...

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