Joint Stock Company "GK Launch Services" (GK) provides commercial launches services via Soyuz-2 from the Russian spaceports: Vostochny, Plesetsk and the Republic of Kazakhstan (Baikonur). The need to establish the company was driven by the following reasons: the exclusive rights of the European "Starsem" for Soyuz-2 launches expired in 2016; by the time, the large Dnepr and Rockot programs were wound up. To keep up with the growing international demand for satellite launches and to increase the workload of the Russian space industry and launch sites, Roscosmos State Space Corporation decided to establish a Russian commercial operator of Soyuz-2 launches, GK Launch Services. The company was founded by Joint Stock Company GLAVKOSMOS (75% of the stock) and Limited Liability Company INTERNATIONAL SPACE COMPANY KOSMOTRAS (KOSMOTRAS) (25% of the stock) on April 25, 2017. GK provides launching services via Souz-2 for commercial use from 3 geographically dispersed spaceports: ? Vostochny ? Baikonur ? Plesetsk Soyuz-2.la Launch Vehicle. It is a launch vehicle designed for orbital insertion of various purposes satellites. Soyuz-2.la features high injection accuracy and uplift capability. Such performance is achieved by the advanced control system and enhanced engines of the first and the second stages. Soyuz-2.lb Launch Vehicle. As compared to Soyuz-2.la, the upgraded Soyuz-2.lb version uses a new engine on the third stage, which has improved performance providing higher uplift capacity. Fregat Upper Stage. This multi-purpose upper stage is designed and produced by NPO Lavochkin (Lavochkin Research and Production Association). It provides highly accurate insertion of spacecraft into target orbits. Multiple restart capability of its main thruster (up to 7 ignitions) enables optimal delivery of payloads to several orbits within one mission. The unique feature of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle equipped with Fregat upper stage is that it is capable of placing satellites into almost a
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