Ukraine's little-known space feats

Many space programs and rockets likely wouldn't exist without Ukraine's space industry.

Ukraine has been a major player in the world's space industry since the 1950s. Today it is a top designer and manufacturer of space launch vehicles, rocket engines, spacecraft and electronic components.

One of Ukraine's leading space manufacturers is the state-owned company  Yuzhmash, which works closely with  Yuzhnoye, a Ukraine-based designer of satellites and rockets. Both companies were founded in the 1950s and answer to the State Space Agency of Ukraine (SSAU).

Key role in the world's space scene

The European Space Agency's (ESA) successful rocket family Vega, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, has a Ukrainian made rocket engine in its upper stage — the part that detaches from the rocket and then places the payload into the desired orbit.

The Vega launch vehicle is used to launch small payloads, and a newer version, the Vega-C, is currently under development and expected to debut later this year.

Another important rocket family designed by Yuzhnoye is the Zenit, which aimed to replace the outdated, Soviet-era Tsyklon and Soyuz rocket families. After 71 successful launches, the last flight of the Zenit rocket family took off in December 2017.

Since its first flight in the 1960s, the Soyuz family has been the most-used launch vehicle in the world. After the end of the 2011 Space Shuttle and until SpaceX's Falcon 9 mission in 2020, Soyuz rockets were the only approved launch vehicle for sending astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

The ISS constantly needs new deliveries of supplies. For that, they use different spacecraft like SpaceX's Dragon, the Russian Progress or the Cygnus, which is carried by an Antares launch vehicle jointly developed by the US company Northrop Grumman and Ukraine's Yuzhnoye.

Additionally, parts of the rocket engine technology currently being developed by Rocket Factory Ausburg, a German start-up trying to build the cheapest rocket in the world, come from Ukraine's Yuzhmash, according to Golem.

Ukraine's 'Rocket City'

Yuzhnoye and Yuzhmash are both headquartered in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, dubbed "Rocket City" after its space industry.

So far, no official attacks have been reported in the city, but Reuters reported an eyewitness video of an alleged explosion near Dnipro on Feb. 24.

Two days later, Euronews reported that masses of men and women from Dnipro were volunteering to join the fight. This was further confirmed by Al Jazeera Witnesses, which reported "people collecting food, water, clothing and even making Molotov cocktails to throw at tanks."

During the Soviet era, Dnipro was one of the main centers for space, nuclear and military industries and played a crucial role in the development and manufacture of ballistic missiles for the USSR.

One of the most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) used during the Cold War was the R-36, which later became the base of the Tsyklon launch vehicle families. Both the R-36 and the Tsyklon were designed by Yuzhnoye and manufactured by Yuzhmash.

Dnipro's famous aerospace industry has also attracted foreign companies like Texas-based Firefly Aerospace. The company was purchased in 2017 by Max Polyakov, who opened a Firefly Aerospace research and development center in Dnipro the following year. 

Ukraine's space program also involves projects such as space debris removal missions and anti-asteroid protection systems.

It has successfully launched many satellites for communication, imaging and scientific purposes into orbit and is in the process of developing a new space launch vehicle, the Cyclone-4M, based on the Zenit and the Tsyklon.

Edited by: Clare Roth